Home > Consumer Reviews > APC 1300VA Battery Backup with LCD

We bought two of these for use with two new computers (DELL Studio XPS 435) and when we tested them, we found that the UPS would not power the PC. Upon researching the issue, we found that the new PCs have power supply units, like those in many new PCs, which have circuits to implement power factor correction (PFC) as part of compliance with Energy Star 4.0.

Unfortunately, PSUs with PFC are not as forgiving of the step-approximated sine wave of this type of UPS. We will now order a different model. According to the APC website, APC UPS models which do output a Pure Sine Wave include: Smart-UPS, Matrix-UPS, and the Symmetra Power Array.

If you are shopping for a UPS to accompany a new PC, double check that the PC can support a "Stepped wave." If not, get a different model UPS. If you cannot find that information, my suggestion is to check the PC product info for the Energy Star 4.0 rating, and if the PC has that rating, go with the Pure Sine Wave product lines mentioned above.

The reason I purchased a UPS is because I have a large amount of brownouts where I live. Usually the power goes out for as much as 10 seconds at a time. I wanted a UPS that could keep my equipment working for the period that the power was out, even if that time was extended for up to 20 minutes.

I have owned one UPS before and it was also an APC. It was pretty old school, but did the job so I thought I should stick with what I know works. The equipment I have connected to this UPS is:

-home WinXP Media Center PC used in the living room as a TV/TIVO
-HP external hard drive (320GB) for movies, recorded TV, and music
-TrendNet router
-Zoom cable modem for my Internet and TV connections
-22" LCD TV/PC monitor
-cable signal amplifier
-compact stereo speaker system (subwoofer & right/left)

In over 1 month of ownership, I have had 3 brownouts and experienced NO loss of function for any of these devices. None of my devices even "know" that they are receiving power from this UPS. I was worried because I read it uses a modified square wave and that some computers don't work well with that, but I have seen ZERO bad effects from my PC running off of this UPS. Once I was watching TV on one channel and recording on another and, again, there was no interruption at all.

Something to note: The maximum number of backup outlets is 6 so you can't keep more items up than that during a power outage. The other outlets are for surge protection. I don't use them because I have other surge suppressors. Another neat feature of this device is the APC software that comes with it. My PC seems to work well with it. The software starts when the PC starts and can tell you some of the same things the front panel on the APC tells you. The front panel of the APC actually shows what voltage it's running on and how much load is present.

Amazingly, I have never gone over the first segment of the load bar; it has three segments total. My PC is the only item that makes it hit that segment, however; the other devices don't make a dent in the load visually (even the HP external hard drive doesn't make any load appear). I find that strange since I am using a 550W power supply and have two TV tuners and other cards in that PC. I assumed the load bar would at least hit the halfway mark. But this means that the whole setup could run for up to 29 minutes with no power (after full charge) according to the literature, which is amazing!

This is just a fantastic product and for a reasonable price when compared to other large voltage uninterrupted power supplies.

We have never used anything but APC products for our home office battery backup needs.
Their products are well made, they perform as specified, and they have longevity.
And Amazon.com is awesome!
Best service, best price, easy ordering, and incredibly fast delivery!

I've owned APC UPS's for 6+ years. I started off with the small tan APC UPS which frequently died but were replaced by warranty replacements. Now that the batteries died, I upgraded to the bigger APC UPS's. The 1300VA is one of the smallest ones that I own.

I bought APC UPS's since every place I worked, they used APC. Some of them were size of cars and others were smaller units. They were put onto critical workstations that had to be up 24/7.

They're very reliable and worth every penny. I have one on each computer and on the entertainment center. I have never had a device die due to surges, brownouts or power failures. When my neighbors moan how their computers, TV's, microwaves died during an electric storms, I just shrug since I mentioned to them that they should get a UPS or a good surge-protector (not the junk that you find in your local hardware store) but they didn't want to spend the money.

I have well over $5K invested in a home theater. The TV and other component warranties don't cover electric surges or brownouts. I can't afford to replace or fix these items if they get fried.

I set the voltage sensitivity to the tightest values. As much as I hate the subjective word 'easy', the software is really easy to use. The software isn't necessary but the software makes it easier to use rather than setting the values on the LCD.

I haven't had a failure with any of the the bigger APC UPS's. On the smaller tan UPS's, APC readily replaced them without a hassle.

Anyone who doesn't have a good UPS has a serious case of denial.

The only 'con' that I can think of is that they give off a fair amount of heat which is no problem in the winter. To save energy in the summer, I turn off the entertainment center UPS since we only watch TV for a few hours at night.

As an aside:

I also have Isotel Tripp-Lite Ultras on every household appliance that has electronics (microwares, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.) After the $1000+ washing machine electronics were fried several times during electric storms, the technician told me that they wouldn't replace the expensive electronics any more under warranty unless I had a surge protector. I bought the better Isotel Tripp-Lites (http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-ISOBAR6ULTRA-Protector-Suppressor/dp/B0000513US/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1250595281&sr=8-5, or, http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-ISOBAR8ULTRA-Outlets-Suppressor/dp/B0000511U7/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1250595281&sr=8-4) for every appliance and I've never had an appliance die since.

I ordered this box last week after losing an external hard drive to disk failure. The PC Tech at my local retailer suggested getting a UPS system to keep my hardware safe from power noise and surges. He recommended this unit - but his company was out of stock. Amazon's price was about 10% higher - but I did not want to risk losing more hardware so I bought it.

The unit was easy to setup and to integrate with Windows XP Professional. It has software that can be installed to monitor your pc. It automatically runs a self-test every two weeks to check battery and system performance. A manual self-test can be ran within the software as well. The software has a meter that gives an estimate for battery power to run all devices currently connected to the battery. The unit also has a nice LCD display that is not too bright, Users can check system status and voltage information with the press of a button.

Unit has been running now for about 5 days. It is very quiet and although heavy, it takes up very little space. Also, I have not noticed the burning smell that some folks have mentioned in other reviews of APC UPS systems.

So far so good. If unit continues to perform well - I will purchase another unit for my home entertainment center.