APC BR1500 Back-UPS 1500VA for Home/Office Computers

Other products by APC

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 3.4 x 14.6 inches ; 25.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 29 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000936B6
• Item model number: BR1500
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

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  Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Power Protection > Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)

• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 18, 2003

Product Description

Product Description

Adjustable voltage sensitivity, Adjustable voltage-transfer points, Audible Alarms, Automatic restart of loads after UPS shutdown, Automatic self-test, Battery replacement without tools, Battery-protected and surge-only outlets, Boost and Trim Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR), Cold-start capable, Dataline Surge Protection, Hot-swappable batteries, Intelligent Battery Management, LED status indicators, Lifetime data recovery warranty, Multiple mounting methods, Power conditioning, Resettable circuit breakers, Safety-agency approved, Scalable runtime, Serial Connectivity, Transformer-block spaced outlets, USB Connectivity, User-replaceable batteries . 2 YEARS REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BR1500 and BX1500 Backup UPS, December 20, 2006

By	Edison "hightech lover" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars APC RS1500 (vs XS1500), May 9, 2005

By	Richmond Sweet (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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?)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best UPS I've had for home office, and most expensive, March 21, 2007

By	Acontius "Acontius" (Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.