- $25,000 equipment-protection policy
- Runs up to 20 minutes on battery
- Phone/data line protection
- Includes PowerChute Plus power-management and diagnostic software
- 2-year comprehensive warranty
Technical Details
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
APC is the de-facto standard for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and surge-suppression products, and the Smart-UPS 620 is no exception. It's a solidly built, high-quality unit with four receptacles for your equipment, an automatic biweekly self-test of the battery, easy-to-follow instructions, and a two-year comprehensive warranty. A set of diagnostic LEDs on the front panel, coupled with audible alarms, will notify you when the unit is serving load from the battery, when the battery is low, or when the circuits are overloaded and some load needs to be removed.
The manufacturer advertises the unit offers 15 to 20 minutes of run time from its battery; however, in our tests, it served a workstation for only 14 minutes before quitting. When we tested the Smart-UPS 620 with two workstations connected, the run time dropped to seven minutes. Basically, the more machines you place on the unit, the less time the battery will be able to provide power. The amount of time you need to safely shut down the services running on those machines will dictate the total number of machines you can place on this UPS. This is, of course, assuming you're on the premises when the power interruption occurs.
If you're not on the premises when this happens, however, you're not necessarily out of luck. The Smart-UPS 620 comes bundled with PowerChute Plus software, which is compatible with Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Windows NT; Novell NetWare; and SCO UNIX. The software receives information on the unit via a management serial port on the back of the UPS, and the software allows you to monitor and diagnose the power usage through the UPS. When you're off-site, you can configure custom responses to different power events: the software can notify you via e-mail or pager, shut down the server, or run a command file. The APC Web site offers free software downloads for other operating systems, including Linux and Mac OS. You must be a registered user on the Web site in order to download any software, but registration is free.
The Smart-UPS 620 features outlets for RJ-11 (phone) and RJ-45 (10Base-T/100Base-Tx) wiring. Passing your data lines through this unit protects you in two ways. First, it constantly conditions the electricity coming through the line, eliminating noise and interference, both of which can result in decreased throughput and potentially lost data. Second, it protects your Ethernet hubs, modems, and NICs from getting fried due to surges and spikes that enter via the phone wiring (which is common if you live in an area that gets a lot of lightning storms).
The Smart-UPS 620 also features a customer-replaceable battery. While APC purports that the battery is hot swappable, this is a little misleading: what you get is a single-battery unit that you can replace without powering down the machines you have connected to it--if the normal building wiring is functioning properly. You cannot, however, replace the battery if the unit is serving the load from the battery. Also, to replace the battery on Smart-UPS 620, you need to unscrew an access panel, shimmy the battery out, unplug the leads, then add the new battery. This is no small feat, as the access panel is located on the bottom of this 26-pound unit. Plus, you'll most likely have the unit tucked away under a desk or in a closet, where it's not easily accessible.
With its high-quality construction, management software, and phone/date line protection, the Smart-UPS 620 is a great choice for any home or small office. But if you absolutely cannot tolerate any downtime for your machines, you should consider UPS products designed for data centers; these feature multiple redundant batteries that you can remove with a convenient pull handle. --Alex Edelman
Pros:
- High-quality construction
- Phone/data line conditioning
- Good management software available for many platforms
- Biweekly self-test provides peace of mind
Cons:
- Hot-swappable battery is difficult to install while the unit is in service
- Lots of workstations eat up potential battery-backup time
Product Description
APC 620 VA Uninteruptible Power Supply with Software
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Watchdog,
By E Thomas Souvie (Sterling Heights, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: APC SU620NET Smart-UPS 620 Network (Electronics)
My APC 620 UPS is like a vigilant watchdog prowling my streams of incoming electrons for those intruding spikes of voltage that will shred my little IC's to bits. My watchdog eats all obnoxious spikes for lunch in mille seconds. This vigilant watch dog will fetch the needed electrons from its sealed lead acid battery to keep my home office uninterrupted of its diet of electrons. I can monitor my watchdog through a computer interface via the Smart-UPS 650 PowerChute plus software to tout his vigilance and to establish his range of policing. I had no trouble in setting up the APC 620 system. Hardware is a no brainer, just plug in what you want to protect. The software defaults were perfectly adequate for a home system. My system, a loaded HP Pavilion with 19 inch monitor, HP PSC500, DSL modem with Ether hub, 2-line telephone and a 13-watt desk lamp (to help me find a flash light). The APC 620 will keep me up for about 15 minutes and the software will log out and shut down my system. Over all, this dog is a keeper.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Problems with mine...,
By Iona Sun (Detroit, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: APC SU620NET Smart-UPS 620 Network (Electronics)
It was so so so sensitive to line voltage that it would shutdown and alarm when it wasn't necessary... on a couple occassions waking me up in the middle of the night.
Eventually it failed to the point where it just randomly shutdown my computer.
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