The Computer Hardware Question Thread

[Dako-ta]

Second question.  About UPS (uninterrupted power supplies).  Are they useful, or even worth the price?Thanks for any answers!
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Hi,

Well, since this is labeled a general thread, I think I will jump in with a couple of questions I had been thinking of asking on my own.

How many of you that are using UPS's use special software to auto-shutdown?

I finally found a UPS at a price I couldn't resist (a Belkin unit), but so far, I'm only using it as a 'dumb' UPS. It came with some software and a USB cable which supposedly will shut down the computer automatically (save open files, etc., IIRC) before the battery power runs out, but I haven't hooked all of that up, I'm not sure it's really worth it. At the moment, I'm usually around when the computer is on, so a 'dumb' UPS is adequate.

I would appreciate any comments on the advantages & disadvantages (if any) of going 'whole-hog' and hooking up the USB cable & installing the software.

Also, can anyone give some general guidelines as to how long typical UPS batteries last? I assume there is some finite limit to how long they will work in the UPS before they will have to be replaced, but I have no idea if this is on the order of 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, whatever. I can see there are a lot of variables involved, but still some general idea would be nice to have.

For that matter, now that I think of it, is it worth replacing batteries, or is the cost high enough to make it 'not-worth-it'?

Thanks for any replies.

Regards,

Dako-ta