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This is a printable version of the article found at http://onepc.net/reviews/0046/ To print, press CTRL + P on your keyboard now. |
By Kelly Lu (kellylu@onepc.net) - August 17, 2001
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At the back of your mind, something is nagging at you; call it a sixth sense, if you will. Then, and without warning, the light above you goes out and you hear the life of your computer wiz away, sounding like the air going out of a balloon.
While you're stuck in the darkness, it hits you like a bullet train coming out of a tunnel at 150km/h: a power outage. You realize that you have been so caught up in your work that you forgot to save your paper... you begin to panic...
This is the worst-case scenario when it comes to a power outage, also called a blackout. A blackout will power down your computer without warning and can make you loose the work temporary saved in your computer's memory when you haven't saved it yet or worse, cause permanent data loss and hardware damage.
The only way out of such a situation is to prevent it from happening in the first place. No, I'm not talking about running your computer on a separate power generator, although, that would work also, I'm talking about investing in a UPS battery backup. Just in case you do not know, a battery backup is basically a big battery that can automatically take the place of your computer's A/C power source in the case of a power failure.
After having a personal encounter with a power outage and having all my computers power down without warning (luckily, no data was lost), I thought it was time for me to also look into obtaining a UPS battery backup for my most critical computer systems. The one that I ended up settling on is one from the Belkin Regulator series of UPS power backups: the 650VA Regulator Pro Gold USB.
Specifications
Features: Unlimited dollar connected equipment warranty. AVR technology is a line-conditioning feature that ensures clean and consistent power. USB interface for faster communication between the PC and UPS. Data Recovery Warranty 8 surge-protected outlets, four of which also include battery backup. Shutdown software and 6-foot USB device cable included Internet line and 10Base-T Network protection with built in splitter to protect multiple devices and 6-foot RJ11 cable included 650VA with up to 45 minutes of backup time Cable management BlockSpace™ so you don’t have to sacrifice two outlets to plug in one large AC adapter. AC line, on battery, overload, and replace battery LEDs Compatiable with Mac os 9.0.4 and above. User Replaceable Battery 6ft. Power cord
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From looking at the specs, the Regulator Pro Gold USB is fairly average when it comes to a high end desktop UPS battery backup. Most notable, however, is its unlimited dollar connected equipment warranty along with a USB connection. The USB connection might seem better than a serial solution, but might not necessarily be so. While USB might be easier to install and manage, it is not properly supported by all OS's, including Windows 95, which many people still use, and the popular server OS, Linux (without a 2.4 or greater kernel). In cases like Linux, a serial solution like most other UPS battery backups utilize, will the only choice.
Upon my first glace at the Belkin Regulator Pro Gold USB, I noticed that it was very small-this is, of course, compared to the mega-sized network UPS battery backups that I am used to seeing at our school. With a stylish shape and color, the Regulator Pro Gold USB boasts a similar look and feel as other exterior Belkin components, such as their 7-port USB hub.
Two rows of four outlets can be found on the top of the UPS for easy access. One of these rows provides battery backup while the other only provides surge protection. This was disappointing to me at first, since I expected all 8 outlets to support battery backup, but after a little thought, it makes sense to only have 4 outlets with battery backup because anything more would drain out the battery too fast. The 4 outlets with only surge protection can even be thought of as a valuable extra since many other UPS battery backups lack them altogether.
Four LEDs at the front provide for a clear picture of how your power source is doing. Also at the front is the only button present, which controls just about everything such as power on and off and test modes.
The rear is where the USB jack is, which connects to one of your computer's USB ports through the provided USB cable. Also present at the rear are in and out jacks for phone and network surge protection. You connect either your network or phone line through the "in" jack, and out through the "out" jack, and the Regulator Pro Gold USB will smooth out any power surges that might travel through those lines. Belkin also included a telephone cable to so you won't have to.
Finally, one of the Belkin Regulator Pro Gold USB's unique features is the built-in cable management feature. Basically, it is just a piece of soft plastic (or maybe even rubber?) shaped like a handle (although, Belkin specifically states that it should never be used as one) that attaches to the rear of the UPS. The user then pulls all their power cables through this "handle" at the rear, to keep all the cables from flopping in all directions. I found this feature to work somewhat well, but felt that the design is flawed because of the fact that it is too large to hold down any of the cables to prevent them from tangling within the handle.
To top everything off, there's a plastic cover at the back that can be flipped out to facilitate for a battery replacement, just in case the battery that comes included with the Regulator Pro Gold USB becomes damaged or requires servicing, which shouldn't be very likely.
Installation of the Belkin Regulator Pro Gold USB was very easy. Plug in all the appropriate power cables, and hold down the power button! After a period of 2-4 hours, it will be fully charged and ready to fend off those nasty power problems!
Connecting the Regulator Pro Gold USB was equally uneventful. Once the USB cable was plugged in, my Windows 2000 system automatically detects it and prepares it for the installation of Belkin's UPS management software, Sentry BullDog, which is compatible with a whole range of OS's, from all the different flavours of Windows to the different flavours of UNIX, including Linux, to Novell Netware and even Mac OS 9! This enables the user to use the full set of features that are in the Regulator Pro Gold USB on almost any system-with USB support.
Sentry BullDog is, surprisingly, loaded with features that will show you the status of your Belkin Regulator Pro Gold USB in any way possible, and allows the user to configure a whole bunch of options. One of the configuration panels, shown below, allows users to choose which action to perform under individual situations, such as a power outage or when the battery is running low. My only complaint with the software is that it might be too complex and loaded with too many features for the novice user. Other then that, Belkin's Sentry BullDog is a very powerful and flexible tool to manage a user's Regulator Pro Gold USB from virtually any platform imaginable.
Along with Sentry BullDog, the installation CD also includes the files needed to set up Windows 2000 and XP's native support for UPS battery backups. With this installed, the user can manage how their computer behaves when running on the battery backup, and Windows also will add an icon to your tasktray to show the battery level, much like with a notebook, when the computer goes into battery power mode.
The Test
To test out how the Regulator Pro Gold USB handles power outage situations, which is one of the main reasons why I opted for a UPS battery backup, I simply unplugged it from the wall outlet after it had fully charged. I had my LCD monitor and Athlon 650MHz system plugged into two of the battery backup jacks.
Sentry BullDog handled this situation very well, as the moment the power was lost, it alerted me with a message box on the screen, and again every 1 minute or so, that there was a power failure. It also alerts the user through the computer's sound system in the form of a pleasant female voice with a British accent (gotta have that accent!), which I thought was a very nice touch on Belkin's part. Of course, for users of other UPS battery backups, they'll feel right at home with the constant beeping coming from the Regulator Pro Gold USB.
I did, however, notice that Sentry BullDog was reporting the wrong battery level-when the Windows 2000 battery meter, which I'm assuming is correct because of how it drops in a linear fashion, reported a battery level of 92%, Sentry BullDog had been reporting a battery level of 67% for the past 5 minutes! This could be confusing, and stressful, in some cases, to some users if they realize that their battery life had just dropped by 33% in only less than a minute, when it was actually only about 3-5%.
The battery life reached 80% after about 25 minutes, which is very impressive and shows that Belkin's estimate of 45 minutes was a very conservative number. At this time, the Sentry BullDog began its shutdown sequence (the battery level for this action can be changed to allow for a longer operation time; 30% is what I use to leave plenty time for the system to shutdown)--strangely, it gets the battery level right this time. The shutdown sequence conducted by Sentry BullDog was very elegant, as it went as far as to save all open documents that were not saved already into temporary locations on the hard drive to prevent any data loss before it tells the system to shut down properly. After powering back up the system again, Sentry BullDog reported details of the shutdown process such as which document was saved and to where. This is a very pleasant feature and I can already see its usefulness.
With the recent energy problems in California and with more energy problems being predicted for more areas of North America and the world, it is becoming more and more important to protect your technological investments with a UPS battery backup. Even if you're a casual user, a UPS battery backup will not only prevent your computer from loosing data, but it can also help prevent permanent hardware damage as well.
With an unlimited dollar connected equipment warranty, which is one of, if not, the best offer in the industry--especially for a product that is only about $180 USD in initial investment, the Belkin 650VA Regulator Pro Gold USB is built to protect your equipment from the harms of power failures, surges and more. Plus, with the help of a USB connection to the computer instead of the aging serial, installation and maintenance becomes a cinch-although, the USB connection also prevents the Regulator Pro Gold USB from being installed on certain hardware and software configurations as well. The included monitoring software, Belkin Sentry BullDog, is a very flexible piece of software allowing the user to customize actions and alerts to however they wish them to be. The Belkin 650VA Regulator Pro Gold USB is an excellent choice for anyone looking to protect their equipment-which should be everyone.
[Ed: I just thought that I would mention that Belkin also has a Serial version of the above-reviewed Regulator Pro Gold USB for users who cannot handle USB (some Linux users, for example). --August 17, 2001]
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