People often ask if they need a UPS or battery backup for their computers. My first response is a question, “do you have a lot of power problems or just 1 or 2 times per year?” If your power goes out often, or the brown-outs go low enough to cause a computer restart then yes, you should invest in a UPS (uninterruptable power supply). In the long run this could save you from needing a new power supply, motherboard, or even data loss. If you rarely have power fluctuations then you could probably justify having a good surge protector and no battery backup, but it’s always better to have a working UPS.

The two most common problems I see with UPS users are they buy a UPS and then never test it, and they plug their computer in the surge only side rather than the battery side of the battery backup.

Why is it worse to have a UPS with a dead battery than no UPS at all? Because a power fluctuation that just causes your lights to dim will not usually reboot a PC, but your UPS switches so fast to battery that now your computer cuts off because it switched to a dead battery. So don’t forget to test your UPS every few months. Cyberpower LCD models show you the battery runtime at your current power use so it makes it a very easy test.

What do I recommend? I like the Cyberpower LCD models because the batteries seem to last longer than other brands. Also, you can easily see if you have too many devices connected. The LCD display provides some very useful information at the press of a button.

Surge Protectors and Battery Backups (UPS)