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Belkin 650VA Regulator Pro Gold USB
By Kelly Lu - August 17, 2001
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You're sitting in front of your computer with a huge headache-but you're relieved that you're almost done. For the past 4 hours, you've been working on this paper that's due tomorrow; your future is dependent on it. You strain to see the text on your monitor, the text that you just typed 2 seconds ago. All you have to do is the conclusion now...
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.
On to: First Impressions
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