Buy "a" UPS, now? What if I own three of them? Must I buy another one? Do those owning UPS(es) already still qualify as being under the "moron" banner?
So many profound, sweeping implications here, my head is spinning!!!! Ackthfb!
Anyway, yes, UPSes are nice. One each for my two PCs, and one for my network. Fun side note on my network UPS - as it lacks a Mute button, and it's not connected to a PC, I had to desolder the piezo speaker inside it to silence it. Surgery on electronics is fun, especially when you're going past the "Warning, no user servicable parts inside," or "Danger, hazardous or fatal voltages" warning labels.
The main UPSes are Cyberpower brand, bought from Newegg - 1250AVR and 1100AVR. Both are quite nice. It's handy too that they monitor the incoming voltage - I can quickly tell if there's a mild brownout in progress (this sometimes results in a large air conditioner tripping a breaker, as its current draw increases with lower voltage).
The network UPS is APC brand.
Originally posted by: MDE
UPS = Uninterruptible Power Supply
And to get technical, most consumer-level UPSes are actually SPSes - standby power supplies. These will have a relay that switches to battery power when the unit detects an absense of adequate line voltage. There may be a very slight delay, depending on the quality of the relay. My first UPS, a Tripplite 675VA, would make the monitor blink when it switched to the battery. The quality of the modified sine wave was such that it introduced visual noise on the monitor image. My Cyberpowers do not do this - better relays, and better inverters.
A true UPS will have, for example, a powerful 12VDC power supply, which charges a battery bank, as well as powers an inverter. If the mains go out, the inverter simply starts using the battery bank for its power supply. No switching, as in the SPS, is required. But having a constant-duty inverter, as well as a high-power DC power supply, is expensive, so this design is not used on consumer-level equipment very often.