APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA

Features of the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA

Battery

The battery used in the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA is an maintenance free lead-acid battery with suspended electrolyte that is leak proof. APC quotes the typical recharge time of 16 hours. The quoted half load (225W) typical backup time is 19.1 minutes and the typical backup time at full load (450W)is 5.9 minutes.

Communications & Management

The APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA has a USB port that allows communication between your PC and the backup. This allows you to monitor the backup from within Windows. You can see how many events the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA has protected your computer against as well as adjust the voltages both high and low to set specifically when the battery power is used.

A great feature of the USB connectivity between the PC and the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA is that you can have the backup turn your computer off safely 5 minutes before the battery will go dead with your specific power consumption. This is a great benefit if you run your computer all the time and power is lost while no one is around.

Management features also include an LED to let you see at a glance if the backup is online and normal or if the battery needs replaced or the building wiring is at fault. An audible alarm goes off when the backup changes to battery, However, you can configure the alarm to not sound at all, or to just not go off between certain hours.

Warranty, Dimensions, Protection & Filtering

The APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA can protect your computer, phone connection, network (RJ-45) and coaxial cable connections from surges of up to 365 joules. Dimensions for the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA are 4.88" x 11.61" x 8.46" (HxWxD) and the device weighs 19.10 pounds. APC warrants the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA for two years repair or replace and gives an equipment protection policy of $50,000 for the lifetime of the device. That means if while using the APC backup your equipment is damaged, APC will replace it up to $50,000.

APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA in Use

Outlets

A total of ten outlets are available on the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA. Five of the ten are on the battery backup side and the remaining five outlets are surge protection only. The outlets are spaced close together so if you have to plug in anything that has a fat plug like a printer or cell phone charger, chances are you will block some of the surrounding plugs. You can connect your cable modem coaxial cable through the backup for surge protection as well as your phone cord and network cable.

Installation

Installation of the backup was very easy and consisted of nothing more than connecting the battery and plugging the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA into the wall outlet. Once that is done you can plug your components into the backup right away. However, it takes 16 hours to fully charge the battery.

Run Time

I tested the run time on the battery backup with the following components in my test system:

• CPU: AMD FX-57
• Mainboard: ECS KA1 MVP
• Video Cards: ATI CrossFire X1900 XT setup
• PSU: NXZT 650W
• Display: Samsung SyncMaster 215TW
• Speakers: JBL Creature II

All components with an electrical cord were plugged into the battery back up side of the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA. With the components mentioned above, the fully charged battery lasted for 8 minutes and 1 second before the computer shut down. While the battery had power the alarm was a single beep with about 30 seconds between each alarm. Once the backup got down to less than a minute, the alarm was almost constantly going off. I would have had plenty of time to save any data and exit the system manually, or allow the backup to shut it down for me.

Final thoughts on the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA

The APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA performed very well and is a great product that can give you piece of mind. If you are a gamer or any other person that has possibly thousands of dollars invested in your computer, not to mention your data, you need to be running a battery backup like the APC Back-UPS ES USB 750VA. At an MSRP of only $99, it is a cheap way to protect your data and equipment and give yourself peace of mind.