[dougd1]

I am in the market for a UPS and, at my local Fry’s store, I noticed, on the shelf right next to the APC UPS’s that I have always bought, there were APC’s by CyberPower. In comparing them side by side, all other things appearing more or less equal, a CyberPower APC seemed to offer slightly more wattage for about 15 to 20 percent less than an equivalent APC UPS. Of course these are just claims on the outside of packing boxes but this got me to thinking.

I have always purchased APC because they are the best, right? But who are these CyberPower guys and why are they so much cheaper than APC for the same thing?

I came up with several possible answers to this question but I don’t know which is right.

1. Perhaps APC really is that much better and is worth the premium.

2. Perhaps CyberPower is just making a bunch of inflated claims in a vain attempt to keep up and they should be ignored. (Really, I guess, reason 1 and 2 are pretty much the same thing.)

3. Perhaps APC is living off, and getting a premium for, it’s reputation. Maybe a CyberPower UPS is just as good and I might get just as good a UPS at a less boutique price.

I’ve looked around, some, on the internet for reviews but I didn’t really find anything helpful. In fact most of what I found seemed more like sales promotion than legitimate reviews. I know this can happen with any area of review but it seemed more prominent and obvious with the UPS reviews I saw than other categories of reviews. One ‘reviewer’ did not even include APC in his ‘roundup’ of test units. Also, the only thing he seemed concerned with was battery life in the event of full power failure. Battery life is nice but I’m much more concerned with how effective the unit is at protecting against over, and under, voltage events which are, of course, far more frequent occurrences than full power failures.

I realize UPS’s are not exactly the sexiest components to talk about, PC World does not even have a category for them in their hardware review section, still it is a component that if you are going to bother with it at all you need it to be good, so if anybody knows of any good reliable reviews or has any knowledge or opinion on UPS’s, particularly CyberPower versus APC, I would certainly appreciate hearing about it.

[mjd420nova]

My experience with CyberPower units is that the batteries don't seem to last as long as the ones in an APC unit. This may or maynot balance out when comparing the initial cost against the battery life. The replacement batteries would not become a factor as I've used the same replacement batteries for both units and the CP units then are pretty much equal with the APC units. I have noticed that the CP units will require replacement batteries sooner than the APC units when subjected to equal number of outages. Most failures will manifest themselves after an extended outage or after a repeated outage cycle of three or more cycles within a week. Something to concider depending on your individual application and how often you experience an outage. APC units offer power conditioning along with outage protection and the CP units only have that as an option on their higher end units.

[Slik]

I'll vote for APC.

If you have the space in your computer set-up, buy a UPS which can use an external 12 volt battery and add any of a motorcycle battery, a shoulder bag cell phone battery or an easily adapted lithium ion battery pack from a portable power tool. Be aware that the motorcycle battery may generate noxious fumes if being fast-recharged. The best external battery packs seem to be made by Superior in California.

[waldojim]

I would recommend reading the warranties listed on the box... that tells you alot about the company.

for example: Belkin Lists the product as a 3 year warranty that guarantees the equipment and data recovery ($300k protection)
http://www.tripplite...txtModelID=3198 provides a 3 year warranty for the product, and $200K lifetime Surge protection - no data recovery.
APC Has a 3 year warranty and $150K connected equipment, but covers data recovery.
Cyber Power will also say 3 years (get to this in a second) and Lifetime equipment protection for $375K. BUT reading the warranty papers, you are only waranted IF there was an equipment defect. They will not guarantee they will protect you in the event of a WORKING unit. Bolding added.

Quote

In the event of damage to the Connected Equipment, your exclusive remedies, and CyberPower’s sole obligations, are as follows for
Connected Equipment. If (a) the Product purchased and owned by you is defective in material or workmanship; ( the Limited Warranty
requirements have been met (except that the three year limitation of the Limited Warranty does not limit the Connected Equipment
Guarantee, which is for the lifetime of the Product), and; © none of the limitations or exclusions on warranty coverage apply (or than the
three year limit), CyberPower will (as CyberPower elects, as permitted by law), repair, replace, or pay the Agreed Damage Amount (defined
below) for, the item(s) of your electronic equipment directly and properly connected to the product (the "Connected Equipment") if that
Connected Equipment is (x) damaged by AC power line transients, spikes, or surges on properly installed, grounded, and code-compliant
120 volt power lines in the United States and Canada, or by transients, surges or spikes on standard telephone equipment lines, or Base
10/100T Ethernet lines that are properly installed and connected (a "Power Disturbance") and (y) is directly plugged into and properly
connected to a CyberPower Product in its original condition which is properly operated when a Power Disturbance passes through the
CyberPower Product and (y.1) exhausts the protection capacity of the CyberPower Product or (y.2) damages the CyberPower Product.

Now this is long winded - but there is one more point. Read them carefully, as some will not protect if you ever RESET the unit. I know with the way the cyber power warranty reads, I would never own one. I also know I have used 3 belkin surge suppression units for nearly 10 years now. The warranty on these state that Belkin will replace connected equipment should it EVER be damaged while connected to a belkin unit. AND if the surge suppressor itself ever expire via surge, the would replace IT.

While I understand there is a difference in the surge suppressors and the UPS's, Belkin does seem like the kind of company to stand behind the product. That said, APC does not have the limiting factors in the warranty some of the others have, though they do make you jump through hoops to get it...

Sorry if that seemed pointlessly long...

This post has been edited by waldojim: 10 November 2009 - 03:08 AM