Customer Reviews

Cyberpower CP685AVR UPS - 685VA/390W AVR 8-Outlet RJ11/RJ45 Compact Design EMI/RFI USB

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Got the UPS for my 2.0 GHz DP PowerMac and 20-inch ACD. I was specifically attracted to the automatic voltage regulator feature of this UPS. We have an automatic emergency generator for our house, and during power outages units like the APC Backup Pro 650 would cycle on and off and chirp like crazy. Apparently the line voltage fluctuates too much on generator power. A few days after setting up the Cyberpower UPS, the power went out during an electrical storm and the unit seemed to work flawlessly. One note: I was trying to figure out why no OS X software came with the included CD. After calling the company, I found out that you only need to install the software for Windows PCs. With Macs, all the software controls are built in to OS X. You just plug your components into the UPS, hook up the USB cable, start the computer. On start up, the computer recognized the UPS automatically, and you can set everything (e.g. how many minutes before shut-down, presence of UPS icon on menu bar, etc) through System Preferences. Sweet. Another reason to own a Mac. It just works.

I was concerned that such a reasonable price I would be getting crap. Software works well and will tell you when you had a outage or a shortage / brownout (it kicks in to keep voltage constant). I have a large system dell 24in lcd, dsl router, wireless router, dual core tower, external hard drive. It will run for over 10 minutes no problem. Software said it will do 14 if needed. Has auto shutdown that you can program to take over in an outage. I have mine set to 5 minutes without power before auto shutdown is engaged.

I bought the 800VA/450W USwith Avr and had very satisfactory results, so when I bought a smaller UPS for my parents I bought another CyberPower, the 685VA/390W. The setup was, like the 800, direct and simple, and no driver software was needed (even though my parents were still using an old -- but upgraded -- iMac Blueberry with Jaguar.) This is a good product, and is serving my parents well in an area plagued with brownouts, blackouts, surges and power dips. Just make sure you do some shopping before you buy: I wound up buying both at the top of their price range.

Did not bother to install the Cyberpower software (did not want something else starting up with Windows to slow startup time). The device is recognized by Windows XP and I just use the system power settings (Control Panel -Power Options) to set how long before shut down, hibernation, etc.). I was able to run about 22 minutes (with computer not being used at all except to check the remaining battery power with the icon in the taskbar). I had ONLY my 18" NEC monitor and my computer plugged in. Nothing was plugged into the surge only plugs. My computer is fairly "high-end". It's an old HP a250y but I have put in 2 new large hard drives, an Nvidia GeForce 6800 GS/XT 256 RAM video card and a Rosewill 550 watt power supply. Very pleased and surprised at the performance of this UPS. My last UPS, a TripLite, could only manage 3 minutes on battery before shutdown with the originally equipped HP Pavilion a250y!

I've owned this product for a couple months now, and only experienced a brief outage or two, but this battery backup has performed flawlessly. The load for this unit is perfect for home use, but be aware that only 4 outlets are surge- AND battery-protected - - this is fine if you choose your components wisely (there's no reason to plug some items in to the battery-protected outlets). The software is easily installed and can gracefully power down your PC during an extended outage.
So far this unit has out-performed the comparable APC unit that I also owned...

In terms of what the main function of this device is (battery backup), it performs great. Had a power outage shortly after acquiring it and everything worked perfectly. Setup on a Mac is so easy. No software required, it just "shows up" in the energy settings of the Mac and you can tell it to shutdown after a certain length of time and so on.

THE PROBLEM: This model will not allow the Mac to go to sleep. I do this every night so I'm not wasting so much power, but as soon as the Mac goes to sleep, it kicks right back on. If you unplug the USB cable from the AVR685, the Mac will then sleep, but you lose the auto shutdown functions.

Good thing is, Cyberpower is replacing this unit with the 800AVR as this apparently is a known issue with the 685 and Macs.

The only other thing I'd like is for the 4 battery backup plugs(the other 4 are surge protector only)to be further apart to better accommodate AC adapter bricks.

Purchasing this item for a client of mine, we have purchased over 100 of them. When on battery, the unit stays on for over 10 minutes with a standard high end pc with a lcd monitor. We just purchased another 20 and with FREE shipping from Amazon, over $193 in shipping costs were saved.

The price was comparable with the APC ES550 and this unit has 8 receptacles instead of the 6 on the APC. The replacement batteries is slightly more expensive than the APC's, but they hold slightly more juice.

The software that comes with the unit is usable and does shut down the system cleanly when power does not return before the battery runs out.

You can tell that this unit means business by it's hefty weight and sturdy construction.

I purchased this unit after having unsatisfactory experiences with an APC unit that I also own. The APC unit is perhaps a little bit _too_ sensitive and kicks in way too often (like when the laser printer warms up). The software on the APC unit also seems less responsive (it takes a good 2-3 seconds to initialize from the task tray even on a fast 3.2GHz Core 2 Duo with 3 WD Raptors.

While the APC unit has saved my butt at least once, I would definitely recommend this unit over a competing APC product for the superior software interface and less jumpy behavior. For anyone doing serious work on their machines, this is little unit is a must have.

Easy to setup and I feel a lot better protected against surges now. Software shows exactly how much battery life you can expect, along with the current voltage and logs of power outage and surge times. Excellent choice to protect electronics!

**I take back 3 of the stars. I'd take them all back if I could. This unit quit entirely within 2 month of installation.** Two things about this battery backup that I find problematic: When there is an episode, the battery doesn't just beep once, it beeps intermittently over about a minute even if the episode has passed. Also, the software regularly incurs a "runtime" error that disables the backup monitor.
NOT RECOMMENDED