Customer Reviews

APC BE750G Power Saving Battery Back-UPS

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I purchased one of these items on May 10, 2008. Since I had a blackout on 6/27, I figured I could finally write a review.

First, this is my first APC, as well as my first battery backup, product. I've owned a number of surge protectors in the past, but since I had purchased a new computer, I wanted to try a backup device.

After a deal of research, I finally went with this one, after the value for the money, and the positive reviews APC had received.

This model offers 10 outlets, of which 5 can run off of the battery. This also offers a master, and three 'slave' outlets. This means that if the master is off, the three outlets can optionally be shut off as well (helpful for printers, monitors, speakers, ...) It's optional, so you can shut it off (which I did).

It also offers a USB connection, so you can monitor the status of the battery using APC PowerChute Personal Edition.

Along with charge percentage, it gives the number of volts being passed into it, and the watt load on the battery, which seems to translate into a battery estimate (how long equipment can run).

PowerChute offers a couple of options, for when the power goes off - preserve the battery, or keep the computer on for as long as possible.

Having had a blackout, albeit at night, I can suggest what I had happen. First, my computer appears to have been put to sleep. When it started back up, SpeedFan began running my two fans at 100%. In short, the battery handled the blackout perfectly.

If you're worried about alarms going off at night, there are settings to disable the alarm between particular hours, or disable it entirely.

Finally, while this comes with a battery, they do recommend you replace these every three years. You can run self-tests manually to verify the battery. I did have a bit of trouble when first hooking up the battery, but it was relatively minor.

(As a guy who's interested in statistics, I would also have liked to have been able to pull more information from PowerChute - for example, via a battery log of what's happening when I'm not at my computer. Granted, it'll tell you when the battery kicks in, but I'd like to know what voltage is being passed, and whether usage watts are spiking or moving throughout the day. What happens when I'm running tasks, or if I have my computer sit for a couple of hours with the monitor off?)


Overall, I'm *extremely* happy with this product, and will *definitely* be purchasing another one of these to hook up my Playstation 3 and Sony Bravia.

You have to do your homework and read the fine print on these. For example, 750 sounds like a big number, but that's the volt/amps and not the wattage, which is the number quoted on power supplies. The real problem is the Active PFC (Power Factor Correction) power supplies which have been required since July 2007. You can read about this in the FAQs on the APC website. As I understand it, the Back-UPS and Smart-UPS SC, are not true, pure sine wave UPS, and are not suitable for any Active PFC computer power supply rated 500W or more. This would include many Core i7 and older serious gaming machines. These bigger modern power supplies require true, pure sine wave UPS's like the Smart-UPS, Smart-UPS XL and Smart-UPS RT, according to the informative but confusing (to me) PDF that I downloaded from APC, Application Note #147. Of course, you need to calculate the correct load of your equipment to determine which model is suitable for you.
I have several of these UPS's and they have served me well with my older smaller PCs, but they are not suitable for my new machines. They cut out and shut down my Dell XPS 435T with a 475W power supply. I should have done my homework and upgraded my UPS instead of using the one I already had.
I still rate it 5 stars, because it does what it is supposed to do very well, if you choose the correct model for your equipment.

I've had an APC Back-UPS unit for several years now and have been very satisfied. When other people in my rural neighborhood have had blown hard drives or mother boards due to "dirty" power, I've not had a bit of trouble. Buying a UPS is a wise investment to protect your sensitive electronic equipment. However, when I went to upgrade trouble started to brew.

Recently, I purchased the BE750G directly from APC's website. I was uncertain about which UPS would work best with my computer, so I used the online wizards at the APC site to help determine the best UPS. The wizard asks questions about the type of computer you have (tower vs. mini desktop), monitor size, and what other type of peripherals you might have connected to your computer. The wizard will also ask you what type of processor you have. I entered all of this information into the wizard and was presented with the BE750G. Click... I made the purchase. Once the UPS arrived, I connected it to my computer following the directions and did a quick self-test of the unit. Within two seconds of clicking the self-test button in the provided Power Chute software, all power to my computer was dropped and it went off.

I called APC tech support and they asked me what type of computer I had. I explained that it was a Dell Studio XPS 435T with the new Core i7-920 processor. The tech support representative did a bit of research and found that the power supply in my computer is not compatible with the APC unit I had purchased. I was told that the BE750G provides power in or as a "stepped approximation to a sinewave" when on battery power and that the power supply in my computer required a UPS that provides a "pure sinewave" when on battery power. It all sounded like Greek to me, I just knew it didn't work.

Okay, so time to return this paper weight back to APC for a refund. But hold on, APC wants to charge me a 15% restocking fee even though it was their website that told me the unit would work with my computer! Aggravating! I'm still waiting to negotiate a peace agreement with APC over this, but have learned a valuable lesson. Do your research!

Although the BE750G doesn't work with my computer, I'm 100% certain that it would work with older computers. I'm so confident of this that I purchased a second APC unit (SMT750) for my home office. This one should work. APC products good. APC sales... not so good.

I purchased the APC BE750G four months ago, and upon installation immediately had "unable to communicate with APC battery back up" error messages and alert sounds. Numerous calls to APC tech support resulted in no fix. First APC sent me a new USB cable, then APC had me reload all the USB drivers, then (various other...). Finally APC admitted there is a known problem with this unit, and advised me to uninstall the PowerChute software and use the native Windows software. When using the native Windows software, the "unable to communicate..." error/alert sounds go away. However, I use APC products because of their robust PowerChute software which has many more options than the native Windows software. I again called tech support on 1/27 and was advised that a fix has still not been developed, and that replacing my unit with a new unit would not solve the problem. I told APC that I would give them another 30 days to fix the problem or I would return the unit and ask for full refund plus shipping. This unit does not work as advertised, and I would advise against purchasing it until/unless APC resolves the recurring "unable to communicate..." problems. This link to the APC forums (which I found by Google search) documents that many others are having the same problem that I am: http://forums.isxusergroups.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2213&start=60&tstart=0

I don't have a lot of experience with UPS units as this is the first unit I have ever used, but this UPS is fantastic. I loose power ALL the time where I live. The screen never even jiggles or shows any sign that the computer had switched over to UPS save for the popup window to let you know it is now on backup power. Very dependable. The software is very useful too. It lets you know how long the unit will last on the current load in real-time and lets you set how long you want it to stay on full load before it starts to shut down each device. Great product!

Good thing the master control feature can be turned off. If you plug an iMac into master and any USB or firewire controlled device in the controlled outlets, you are in for some entertainment. When the iMac goes to sleep, the UPS will power down the USB or firewire devices, which the iMac will still detect as a device removal, which will cause the iMac to wake up and pwer is restored t the devices. The iMac will quickly go back to sleep, which will cause the devices to power down, which will then ... and then ... forever and ever.

Otherwise, a nice product. What I noticed most is how much the battery weight has decreased over the years. I have two older 650 models and now this 750.

And yes, iMacs don't need any additional software. With Windows, YMMV.

This is my second unit; the first one was replaced under warranty. The features and layout are very nice, and the unit did allow me a clean shutdown during various power outages. However, the second unit also expired early and didn't last very long. I'm no longer going to use APC branded products.

Apc Back-ups Es BE750G 10 Outlet 750VA 120V Master Control. Excellent and well known trade mark. Our iMAC O.S. X.5.4 (Leopard) recognized it immediately and no need to use "Apples" energy saver utility screen. Seems quite sensative to power fluctuations and responds beautifully. I give it a A!

Very brief review here, just to recap my experience on my new (late 2009) 27" iMac.

Set-up was very easy. Plug everything in, and connect the USB cable to the iMac to have the UPS options appear. I love not having to install UPS software on the Macs like you do with Windows, and all the functionality you'd need is available in the OS X control panel.

After the battery in the UPS was fully charged, I tested its usefulness by pulling the UPS power plug out of the wall outlet. Immediately there was a click and buzz from the UPS, and the battery kicked in. Yay! The APC BE750G had no trouble powering my iMac i7 27" and the attached 24" Apple Cinema Display, and several hard drives etc. I had set the computer to shut down after 1 minute of battery power, which it did with no issue.

So, what concerns me, and why the 4-star review? Well, I've only had the UPS a month, after, up to this point, not having had any power issues/surges/outages. In that month, the UPS has clicked on TWICE for about 10 seconds, and then clicked off. My Mac detected this and reported to me that it will shut down in 1 minute, which it didn't, of course, since the "power came back." This is interesting to me since I have other devices not hooked into the UPS in the same room that are still functioning with NO power loss, like my TV and receiver, which are plugged into a different UPS. That UPS reports no such power issues.

So, perhaps there's something funky with my particular UPS, but I can't wholeheartedly recommend it because of these oddities, which are perhaps firmware related. But, as stated, for when there's a power outage, you can be sure the APC WILL save the day.

4/5

SAVED MY DATA!

Shortly after installation of this unit, we had a massive and lengthy power outage. Performing as advertised, the APC Back-Ups kept the desktop and auxiliary drives up and running and provided ample time to back up and shut down.

Under such circumstances, a good idea to then shut off the backup so as not to drain the battery unnecessarily.

Ample outlets, but not all of them are battery backed up. The accompanying documentation lacks some clarity in my opinion, but an E-Mail contact to their tech. support was promptly answered.