APC (American Power Conversion) APC BACK-UPS RS 800VA (APC (American Power Conversion)-BR800)

• Reviewed by: cool1986

  Strengths: This unit has a compact footprint and is attractive in appearance no matter where you install it. It has a resettable circuit breaker that I have not see on other brands. Excellent build quality.

  Weaknesses: None, except the User's Manual could be somewhat better written and in a "booklet" format instead of a double-sided 17" x 11" sheet.

  Overall: The BR800 is a terrific value in Uninterruptable Power Supplies. There are (7) outlets (compared to (6) for most other brands in this class) and they are widely spaced allowing for use of plug-in "wall-wart" transformers. The "boost and trim" AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) does not draw from the battery during low voltage brownouts. It even has data line and phone/modem/fax line surge protection. This is a quality unit. What more could you ask for? I will not hesitate to buy more of these as the need arises.

• Reviewed by: wu35079

  Strengths: good build quality, good price

  Weaknesses: none so far

  Overall: got the unit for my server at the office. honestly, I haven't had any chance to actually experience its performance since there hasn't been any blackout yet. But based on my previous experiences with APC products, I am sure that it will meet if not exceed my expectation.

• Reviewed by: jsiirola

  Strengths: Works as you would expect it to. Nice form factor.

  Weaknesses: PowerChute software does not work well with Linux.

  Overall: The BackUPS RS-800 is a solid UPS. The best thing I can say about it is that there really are no surprises. It works out of the box and does everything a UPS is supposed to. The 800 has plenty of power to run a small home setup: I am currently using it for 2 old servers plus some networking equipment and it claims it can go for ~30 minutes. Turn on the monitor and that drops to ~20 minutes... still respectable. The RS-800 is physically designed well: small form factor, convenient port layout on the back, indicators on the front. The power cord is long enough that you probably don't need an extension cord (a problem with some other UPSs). My only (minor) reservation is that the APC PowerChute software doesn't work well with Linux. PowerChute for Linux does not come with the unit, but is free to download from APC. I played with it for a while and couldn't make it work. Fortunately, there is another option: apcupsd (available on SourceForge). Apcupsd works straight from the install without any custom configuration for RedHat 9, and after a little tweaking for Fedora Core 3 (Fedora's problem, not apcupsd). I was pleased enough with the RS-800 that I bought several RS-1500 (basically the 800 with a bigger battery) for servers at the office.

• Reviewed by: harrylaurel

  Strengths: easy to set up with enough power outlets for my equipment.

  Weaknesses: none that i can see at this time.

  Overall: chose this unit because i used apc surge protectors before and liked the product. this ups is compact, had no problem setting up and is working well. i look forward to years of dependable service.

• Reviewed by: nadya$

  Strengths: The plus is replaceable battery. Easy to setup and use. Excellent software, good online price.

  Weaknesses: The big minus is getting the included battery fit into the unit, because the connecting cable is inflexible and it is difficult to fit it under the lid.

  Overall: It is a replacement for a BELKIN UPS that was in use only a couple months and leak the battery. It has been used for two month and had no problems. Software could have more options, however it is easy to install and use.