Customer Reviews

APC BACK-UPS RS BR1500 1500VA/865W UPS System

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This item is BR1500, which also called RS model vs. the BX1500 called XS models. External battery BR24BP can be used for both BR1500 and BX1500. The capability to connect external battery is great, since that can help reduce the downtime when California experiencing "rolling black" in the summer.

There are basically 2 differences between the Back-UPS RS(BR1500) and the Back-UPS XS (BX1500) models besides their names.


1. The Back-UPS RS models have both 1-line 2-wire phone/fax/modem data-line protection and 10/100base-T ethernet protection, where as the Back-UPS XS models only has 1-line 2-wire phone/fax/modem protection.

2. The Back-UPS RS models have both Boost* and Trim** as features of Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR), where as the Back-UPS XS only has Boost. When the input voltage increases above the high transfer point of a Back-UPS XS model it will only go to battery.


*AVR Boost: The UPS is compensating for a low utility voltage. While the UPS can run in this mode indefinitely without any negative impact on the UPS, the circuit should be checked by a qualified electrician if the utility voltage is consistently low.

**AVR Trim: The UPS is compensating for a high utility voltage. While the UPS can run in this mode indefinitely without any negative impact on the UPS, the circuit should be checked by a qualified electrician if the utility voltage is consistently high.

BX1500 does not have the AVR trim feature, when AC line voltage is higher than spec, it will switch over the battery power till the line voltage drops into the spec range.

Please note this is called "backup UPS", not the "smart UPS" line. Backup UPS does not produce pure sine wave. When power lost, it will take some milli-seconds to switch over to battery power. "Smart-UPS" produces sine wave and the output AC was from DC source all the time. When AC input lost, the AC output will not have any interrupt.

For most computers, the "backup-UPS" is good enough, since the power supply inside PC always have capacitors that can hold for about 100MS or longer. When "backup-UPS" switched over in about 20MS, the computer will continue operates without much impact. But for A/V equipment, this may be an issue, especially the output is not pure sine wave. I would not recommend use this UPS for A/V equipment.

Note that the RS is the version (vs the XS) that is expandable with the BR24BP battery pack. I've got two of the RS1500s, and recently we had a 90 minute long power outage. The standard 1500s can't keep my PCs (three) and network equipment (routers/cable modem, etc.) up for more than 20 minutes. With the add-on pack, I expect to get close to the 90 minute duration (longer than that, go ahead and shut the large loads down!).

(I use the other 1500 for my Home Theater setup. PCs can't take fickering power, and neither can DVRs (which are really just PCs) or rear projection TVs with high-wattage bulbs; good to have something to smooth out the power and also let the fan cool down the bulb!)

Highly recommended, with or without the external batter pack!
(also, I can't even find the XS on the APC website... old model?)

***UPDATE*** As of January 2010, this is still working great. In November I replaced the battery just as a precaution, even though the original was still keeping things running for at least a couple of minutes. The battery (which I bought on this site) was pretty simple to swap out. Happy 2010!

The reason I had to spend this much for a UPS (in January of 2007) is because I wanted to keep my Dual-Core Pentium PC with two hard drives and DVD drives, two external hard drives, an LCD monitor, a modem, and a network hub running for a few minutes when the power goes out. Whatever a salesman tells you, you can't do all that for much less than what this costs. I tried!

Both APC and Tripplite have good calculators on their websites that tell what size UPS you need for the amount of things you have relying upon the UPS. My advice is to upgrade one notch from what the calculator suggests. Modern PC's (plus modems and hubs) take much more power than they did five years ago.

I've had APC in the US since 1992 and while working as an IT manager in China for five years, so I trust it and find that the brand is still reliable.

This slim tower design fits nicely under my desk and allows for different sized plugs to be arranged sensibly in the back.

One little snag to this UPS worked itself out: when I first got it, a faint unpleasant smell came from the unit. I called APC and got through very quickly. They admitted knowing of the problem and said give it three weeks to burn off some circuit-board lamination materials. Within ten days the smell was gone and I now have no complaints. APC also said that future units would not have the problem. Plus I found out that APC's customer service was excellent.

Last note: when comparing the price, be sure to note that this is the RS series; some stores have an older, discontinued model that looks very similar.

Overall, I'm very satisfied and feel the price was fair for equipment and data protection. Fast delivery from Amazon.

So far the APC Back-UPS RS1500VA has been working very well. It switches over to battery power instantly without so much as a flicker on my monitor. The features are excellent in my opinion, with adjustable settings for voltage and noise levels. The description of the unit does not say whether or not it is generator compatible, but the manual seems to hint that the unit can be adjusted to work with a generator.

The unit has plenty of reserve power for multiple or prolongled outages, and the control program lets you specify how long to wait before shutting down your system. The-power out alarm can also be adjusted to not sound during certain times such as at night when people are sleeping, or can be turned off altogether.

The build quality of the unit seems to be excellent and the case is quite sturdy. I've owned APC products before and they have been of excellent quality too, this one is no exception.

One of the other reviewers is incorrect about the difference. I own an XS and it has a connection for a battery pack. I remember reading sometime back that the RS is the better one. Unfortunately I read that after I bought mine. Now a year later I'm shopping for a new one and I had forgotten why RS was better. It's hard to find in depth reviews about a relatively boring (to reviewers anyways) component like this, so the inaccuracy on amazon bothered me. I couldn't locate the original blurb I had read but I found a manual that is a combination RS/XS 1000/1500 manual and I looked for things like "Available only for RS" or something. The difference is the "10/100 Base-T or VOIP" connector and also "On-line Input Voltage Range" (default setting)
88 - 139 Vac (XS model)
88 - 148 Vac (RS model)
I apologize for not being as thorough as usual but I don't have the interest in repeating my earlier research (or signing up for an official amazon name). My UPS has been reliable and I want another one. The market for this type of item doesn't seem to change quickly and APC seems to dominate it pretty well(quashing competition?).This is also the reason I gave it a rating of 3 because 3 represents to me a "C" or "Average" rating. After all, they seem to set the standard right now. My main complaint is that the software is weak and doesn't record spikes etc. unless they last awhile(10 seconds?)(software version 1.5) I'd like to see more of what's going on so I can justify the expense better. Nevertheless I've heard it kick on numerous times in the past year. I'm glad I got it to protect my expensive custom built (by me) computer.
(...)

Also beware, you may find vendors advertising RS and selling the cheaper XS. They may not even notice themselves. The difference doesn't seem to be well known.
Other things:
The (biased) website for sizing your UPS seems to be set much higher than necessary.(probably to encourage puchasing more than you need) And the differences seem minor between products, but I'm no expert here and none of the vendors seem interested in providing the information to delineate the differences clearly.

The actual APC model number for this is "RS 1500" - it's a little confusing.

This is my 2nd purchase of this model from Amazon. I liked the 1st one on my server so much I bought another one for my entertainment center. With a big screen TV, A/V receiver, DVR and satellite box running, I have 15-20 minutes of power with just the enclosed battery (there's an optional external battery to extend the run time - I don't have that). Now I don't lose 15 minutes of something I'm recording just because we got a 1-second power outage (it takes a long time for the satellite box to reboot).

I'd definitely buy again (wait - I already did).

This has been the best investment I've made for quite some time. After experiencing the black out after the earthquake that hit Hawaii last year and having my computer die, I invested into this unit. I read a few reviews from various sites that said there was issues with it and that often times it came broken. I thought to myself the good reviews outweigh the bad so I'm going to try it and see. Sure enough this unit came with no problems. I plugged it in and let it charge over night. I then added my computer and my monitor to it. I've seen it kick in while the lights dimmed at my home and I'm so thankful that it has saved my computer. If anything everyone should invest in one of these for their computers. I fix computers for a living and more often than not people bring in their dead computers due to a power outage or power surge.

I have bought 4 of these now with the additional BR24BP external battery. With a Dell PowerEdge 2950 server (8 HDD, Dual Proc, Dual power supply) my run-time is 53 minutes. Making this the cheapest "Extended Run" UPS from APC.

HOWEVER, please note that the PowerChute Business edition is not compatible with this UPS. You must use Personal Edition - which means you can only monitor one UPS and there is no email notification when the power goes out.

This battery backup is the best one I have found in many years of working with computers. And did you know that, in case of a power outage you can recharge your cell phone from this unit and run your emergency radio from it?

My home based business needs reliable battery backup and APC UPS systems have always done the job. We have power outages regularly here in the desert and I can count on my UPS to keep my files safe.