This product is one of the reasons why I've started buying Belkin for other enterprise level solutions. Luckily these units have not caused me any grief (unlike Belkin wireless networking components... but that's a different review).
History
This is still a fairly new product, just reaching the 3-year mark with Belkin so it is hard to get a good historical record of their performance. However, I do know from experience with HUNDREDS (yes, I really do mean hundreds) of various desktop, home, and enterprise class UPS systems; some will FAIL. Miserably. Others will just need a battery replaced.
So far, my personal history with this unit has been good. I've had my first unit for nearly 3 years now and it still works perfectly. None of the 4 additional units added since then have shown problems either. So a short history with this product, but a good one.
About Replacing Batteries
You want a unit that only needs batteries replaced when the time comes. ALL UPS units will go through batteries about once every 3-4 years depending on the quality of power coming in. Poorly designed UPS units will NOT fare well when the time comes.I have had several UPS units melt down. Literally. I have had very bad experiences with several Tripp Lite UPS systems in this same class, "Power PC" level I like to call it. The Tripp Lite units had literally started melting the battery cases which made it IMPOSSIBLE to pull out the battery & replace it. The entire unit had to be scrapped.
This Belkin model is showing now such signs. I check the almost-3-year-old unit a month ago and the battery looked fine. Kind of surprising since the Tripp Lite unit had built in fans (supposedly to run cooler) and this Belkin unit uses simple convection cooling (no fans/mooving parts).
All UPS units will need batteries. All higher end batteries are expensive. Expect to pay $70 - $100 for a new battery for this unit (and many other UPS units in the "Power PC" class). That is nearly the cost of buying another brand new unit.
Features
Some of the features I like about this unit include:
No fan = no noise
EIGHT battery based outlets
ALL outlets are battery (no surge-only which avoids the "WHAT?!?!? I thought I was plugged into a UPS mistakes)
Ethernet (Cat-5) surge protection
Phone line surge protection
It lies flat (good for server racks) or stands up (good for under the desk)
UPS and Serial Port communications to talk to your PC & tell it to shut down (with installed software)
Optional SNMP support, which is GREAT if you are plugging in more than a single PC to this unit. UPS/Serial connections only talk to one computer. SNMP can do the same for an entire network of computers... not that you'd have more than 2 plugged into this unit at the most... but still a nice feature (we plug small servers into these things).
A Note About Belkin Support
With this specific unit the support has been outstanding (my Wireless network product support was absolutely abhorrent so I can't give a general "awesome" rating to Belkin support overall) - which basically means the TWO TIMES I had to call them went surprisingly well.
First call - nearly 3 years ago... I plugged a defective charger for my cell phone into one of these units (the very first one I bought) and it blew up. The entire unit popped & let out a puff of smoke. It was 3 days old. I was sad.
A side note...I was also pissed at Motorola for sending me a defective charger for my new phone, but again... another review. The tell-tale sparks when I plugged it into a non-UPS outlet on the other side of the room clued me in AFTER I blew up the Belkin. I new the Belkin was good because I had been running my computer & monitor on it for 3 days without ANY problems beforehand.
Anwyay, back to the story... I called Belkin support and told the guy (who answered within 60 seconds of being put on "hold" by the computer-voice operator) what happened. He said that he'd request an RMA and put me on hold. "Oh boy...", I thought, this is going to be a long painful process. Instead he got back on the phone within 3 minutes, he asked for my address and phone number and told me they were sending me a new unit. He then gave me an RMA number and their address and asked me to ship the defective unit back.
3 days later the new unit arrived. I hadn't even gotten their old unit in a box yet.
That rocked.
They got their old unit back & I didn't even have to send a copy of a receipt, cut out a UPC symbol and mail it to them, NOTHING.
This is how customer service & product support should be. Always. Everywhere. They won a new customer for life because of this & I'll still buy their UPS products whenever I have an option even though their wireless division is a disaster.
The 2nd call? Well much less interesting. I had some technical questions about the unit, the SNMP cards, and the software that it ships with. The tech person I spoke with new all the answers & again answered the phone quickly. Exactly as it should be.
Summary
This unit is great for protecting your Power PC, a couple of mid-range PCs or even some moderate-duty servers.
Would I buy it again? Definitely & do. In fact I just got another one today for a new development server at the CyberSprocket.com HQ.
Also, the price is right. There are competitors in the same ball park or cheaper but some of them I *know* are not as well designed & at this point I'm not going to take a chance. This is a good product at a great price.
The only downside? Belkin does not make enterprise class backup solutions like this but bigger. They also seem to be phasing out this model... maybe I'm wrong, but I no longer see it listed on their site. In fact I may buy a few more for future expansion, just in case!
More details
Quality
Excellent quality
Reliability
Very Reliable
Design & Look
Good
Value for Money
Excellent value for money
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