Batteries Reviews

This Battery gives power for about 3 hours while compared to sony oem battery which can hold max of 30 min

From a usability standpoint - this unit really addresses the need for multiple line-outs. Three of the six are backup power supplied to your critical electronics - the other three are normal surge protected. However, the spacing for the mega-large resistors from other peripherals actually: 1) fit in the 2 designated spaces without rendering the adjacent outlets useless and 2) because of the breadth and serious weight of the APC, the resistors stay perpendicular - instead of pulling out.

At this price it is very reasonable for a bit of security.

One very nice feature is that it performs a self test every time it is turned on. It switches to battery power for about 5 seconds. So if you aren't sure if the battery is still good, you can just switch it on, and then immediately turn on one or more components plugged into it, and see if they stay up during the test. My last UPS did not do this, and one day the power blinked, and DOWN went my computer! That's when I went shopping for a new one, and my research led me to this unit.

The battery on this UPS is quite easy to get to as well, so replacing the battery when the time comes should be a snap. I had to get into the compartment as part of the installation process (you have to attach one of the wires to a terminal on the battery). Opening the compartment and manipulating the battery was straightforward.

Another cool feature is that this UPS can tell your computer to shut itself down automatically. You have to install some special software (comes with the UPS) and connect the UPS to your serial port with the supplied cable, and configure the software of course. I have not tried to use this feature, since I never leave my machine up unattended, so I can't say how well it works.

This is not a good choice for an unattended machine, like a server. For that you're going to want a UPS that gives you more like an hour of up time. If you plug only the computer into this UPS, you will probably get 15 - 20 minutes of up time, which just isn't enough for a server. You get about 10 minutes with the monitor plugged into it as well, which is a necessity for a home computer.

Anything with less than 350 VA is pretty much useless, so don't even consider smaller models. As it is, you shouldn't plug anything other than the monitor, computer, and a couple of small accessories (modem, etc.) into this one. For example, don't plug your printer into this unit!

If you are a member of "Sam's Club", you should look there for this UPS before buying it anywhere else. Sam's was selling it for around $80. I looked all over the internet, and no one beat this price. They were all right around $100.

I found through several power outages in my building (versus just power fluctuations like in a thunderstorm) that if you have high wattage devices in the three UPS sockets (the 280C has six sockets - 3 UPS and the other 3 only surge protected) that supplied power may only be 15 seconds or less. I had a 21" monitor, my CPU, and a scanner in the three UPS sockets... the 280C would start beeping, warning of power outage... I would start shutting down and then suddenly everything switched off... no clean shut down. Since then I have only the CPU plugged in... no problems (I'm not worried about seeing what I am doing in a power outtage, I just want my machine up constantly since I often use it as a server).

4 stars only since the directions don't indicate that runtime is severely reduced when all three UPS sockets are in use.

(I suspect wcc4 had too many devices plugged into his 280C and a outtage hit when writing his 280C review)

From a usability standpoint - this unit really addresses
the need for multiple line-outs. Three of the six are backup power
supplied to your critical electronics - the other three are normal
surge protected. However, the spacing for the mega-large resistors
from other peripherals actually: 1) fit in the 2 designated spaces
without rendering the adjacent outlets useless and 2) because of the
breadth and serious weight of the APC 280, the resistors stay
perpendicular - instead of pulling out eventually because of gravity.

The price is reasonable.