[alexr007]

Recently I had an old desktop get fried by a power surge during a storm. I now have an Emachine "mini PC" and a Lenovo G555 Laptop.
Both run Windows 7 Premium.

My budget is pretty tight. So I want to get enough protection, but I can't afford extra bells and whistles- and I would like to get avoid spending more for more than I need.

I guess my first question is if I need to buy separate backup power supply/ surge protection for each of these machines. 9I did notice that most of the items i saw around the $75-$90 range had 6 to 8 outlets. This led me to think that I might only need to buy one power supply product.

Anyway, I would really appreciate any related advice, information, etc.

Thanks!

 

[gcavan]

You will have to decide what route you want to go. Just a few points to consider:

Surge protector: Delivers just that, protection from voltage spikes. Size it for the total connected load.

UPS: Uninterruptible Power Supply - Provides surge protection and also conditions the AC supply to protect from over and under voltage. Also provides a few minutes of backup power to give you time to shut down your equpment. Many come with software which will automatically save and close any open files and soft shutdown your computer. In your particular situation look for something in the 750 - 1000 VA range

 

[Tyree]

A UPS is the best all around protection and would suffice for both units. Most have 3 battery receptacles.
A good option for the E-Machine is a better quality PSU. They use very low quality units that are very susceptible to power issues.

 

[alexr007]

Thanks for the terrific info!

 

[Tyree]

You're welcome!

 

[Jrik]

This is a question, not an answer but 'New Thread' doesn't appear anywhere so I'm posting my question here, hoping a moderator will move it to the proper place; I can't.
I had a 'Powerware 5110 1500 VA', for less than 2 years, it ran my pc, monitor, printer, speakers, 4Ext. HDDs, for agbout 15 minutes; giving me time to finish or save, Then it stopped working, wouldn't shutdown; a friend had the same happen & gave me his battery, I tried it but it made odd beeping I think green light was flashing (I forget, havent used it for a while) anyway it wasn't in the manual; I wrote to Eaton, they could only think it was had it. What with this one & my friends one, I don't intend buying 'Powerware' again' I'm going to try 'A P C'. Has anyone else had problems like this?

 

[Tyree]

"New Thread" is located at the top left hand corner of each section.
I would tend to agree with Eaton's reply.
What caused the UPS to go to battery power? Did you experience a power failure?

 

[Jrik]

I looked for 'New Thread' top left but it wasn't there, I even looked at other forums to see if it'd come back cos I think it was there when I first opened it.
Yes, 2, that was what first alerted me when it didn't last long after a power failure, I looked & it seemed it hadn't recharged the battery properly; the second time it hadn't recharged the battery at all, which was when I tried my friends battery cos that was good. I had no argument with Eaton Powerwares explanation, I just thought it should've lasted longer & when my friends one failed in the same timeframe I rightly or wrongly assumed Powerware was unreliable.

 

[Tyree]

It is not uncommon for a UPS to fail when they take a hit. The battery is generally still good but the circuitry gets damaged.
I've never used any UPS from that company so I can't comment on there reliability. I've used CyberPower-TrippLite-APC.