Right, we just had yet another power cut I am looking at getting a UPS (something which I have wanted for a long time). I think APC are generally very good, so I am going with them.

I have seen a SmartUPS 1000 (well, several) on ebay for dead cheap (£30!!!) that I like the look of. Says 650W output, is that pretty good? It'll only be hooked up to my briefcase computer and ADSL modem, the briefcase computer is only a little Celeron 1GHz which is like.. 18W or something, and it's only got two network cards and two hard disks in (ones a laptop one). How long do you think one of these UPS beasts would last on such a machine?

TIA

I've had great luck with Tripp Lite UPS, though granted, I'm UPSing data centers. At home I use APC because they're cheap and the batteries are easy to replace.

To calculate how long a given UPS will last check out APCs UPS Selector

http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm

VERY nice link, thanks! According to that, A Smart-UPS XL 750VA will power a machine like my briefcase, with an adsl modem and two hard disks for 190 minutes lol, and the output of that thing is 600W. I think the 1000VA will do nicely then (or maybe I am missing something? Maybe the battery is just better in that model?)

You are welcome, sir. I agree, 1000VA will do nicely. I have all that and much more connected to my 650va UPS and it's never failed during an outtage.

Heck, all a UPS really has to do is give you time to shutdown. Anything past that is gravy!

Yeah It says 20 minutes at 300W and I know that system is gonna be no where near 300W. It probably aint even touching 100W to be honest, sooo I think that'll last ages to be honest

Once again, thanks for the fast reply Gonna email the bloke and see just how he tested the batteries. If he only checked the light came on or whatever I think I might look about and see if theres any that have been properly tested. Orrr.. go hunting for places to buy replacement batteries right about... NOW