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 Everyone has probably had an important paper due for class or had some important work material due the next day and something happened where your computer just shuts down and you lose everything. Often it shuts down because you lose power in your home or there was a sudden surge of power and your surge protector tripped. Your computer lost power and you wish there was a way your computer could of remained on long enough for you to at least save your work. Well there is a way. They are known as a Uninterruptable power supply (UPS). The most known brand is APC and it is a brand I have personally used for years not once did I ever have a problem with them; but their devices tend to be a bit of an eye sore and expensive. So last week when we were asked if we would be interested in reviewing the Ultra 1500VA UPS we said sure why the heck not.
The first thing we noticed when researching the product before it even arrived at our offices was that it was cheaper than other units that offered the same Voltage-ampere (VA)* rating and wattage. The Ultra 1500VA retails for $199 USD. It also had some features that more expensive competitor models did not have such as automatic voltage regulation** (AVR). The Ultra UPS also offered up to 60 minutes of battery backup time 3 times more than other similar models.
Some specs before we get on with the review:
(Click here to view Specs)
But you know what they say, you get what you pay for and often times their right. The cheaper product almost always is an inferior one but sometimes you are just buying the name brand.
With summer upon us here in NYC and being that we are located in an old building power sags, spikes, and the occasional power outage is the norm for us here at HardwareGeeks.com HQ especially when it is extremely hot and humid outside. The spikes typically are caused by the air conditioning units kicking in. The power outages are caused by the same thing especially during the middle of the day when a lot of power hungry devices are sucking up the juice. The typical power outage last no more than 5 minutes most are corrected with in 1 minute or less but when the power does return it returns with a rush causing every single surge protector to pop. So we decided the best place to test the Ultra UPS was right here in our offices.
 When the unit arrived here yesterday the first thing we did was unpack it and plug it under my desk. The unit is heavy weighing in at 30 pounds. It has a display on the front that shows the current voltage and battery level. It also has indicators that can show what state the unit is in.
 We let the unit sit plugged in for an hour and then installed the included software on the computer and connected the UPS to the computer. Once we installed the software, we checked to make sure the software was connecting to the UPS and it was. It showed the current inbound and outbound voltage levels which were 122 Volts for both and the load level. Since there was nothing plugged into it yet it's load level was 0.
We shut down the computer and turned off the monitor. We plugged then proceeded to plug in the Computer, Monitor, wireless mouse/keyboard and a router into the 4 battery powered plugs back of the unit. The unit comes with six plugs, two of the six plugs are only surge protectors in those two we plugged in two printers.
Everything that I would need to be up and running in the event of a power outage was plugged into the other plugs. We then turned on the monitor and the computer. As soon as it powered up I checked the UPS Monitor software and it showed that the inbound and outbound voltage was still 122 volts but now it also showed a load of 11%.
Then as if on cue power went out. An error message popped up on screen along with beeping from the device to inform me of the power outage. Battery power seemed to drain quickly going from 100% to 73% in a matter of seconds. (Click here to view screen shot) The timer on the power failure warning started at 300, power was restored before the battery drained even more.
The quick power drain concerned me a bit but since the power outage did not last long so I wasn't sure if my concern was warranted or not. So I decided right then and there to configure the UPS monitor software and then let the UPS sit over night before testing it. I set the software to shut down my system in the event of a power outage after 5 minutes. Hoping that would be enough time.
But my concern was unwarranted. I pulled the plug out of its wall socket and watched the battery power level drain away on the UPS monitor software. Like before it reached 73% in a matter of seconds. But after 5 minutes it still was at 73%. Since it was set to shutdown my system it did exactly that. After the shutdown I plugged the unit back in waited for the battery level to reach 100% changed the settings to reboot my system after 30 minutes and I pulled the plug again.
Once again for the 3rd time in a row the battery level quickly drained to 73% in a matter of seconds. 10 Minutes passed it was at 71%. 20 minutes passed it was at 34% and my system shut down. Without plugging in the unit I just powered up my computer and opened up the UPS monitor software. Battery power was at 10%.
It went kind of downhill from there in less than 5 minutes it had dropped to 3% and I just plugged the unit in from there. So the UPS gave me about 38 minutes before the battery was 97% drained. Pretty good more than what I expected especially when I saw the level drop to 73% in a matter of seconds.
The unit and its software both performed flawlessly as they should have and I for one feel comfortable with it. I have used Ultra products before and they in my opinion aren't cutting corners anywhere to keep the price of its UPS unit low. It seems to be built as good or better than the APC units we have.
To conclude this device is rock solid and great and for that we award this product our 5 gold star Must Have award.
For more information about this product visit:
http://www.ultraproducts.com
*Volt-ampere (VA) is a measurement of power in a direct current (DC) electrical circuit. The VA specification is also used in alternating current (AC) circuits, but it is less precise in this application, because it represents apparent power, which often differs from true power.
**Protects your electronics from electrical damage caused by dangerous spikes and sags.
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