American Power Conversion (APC) Back-UPS CS 350VA Review

Bottom-Line: the APC Back-UPS CS 350VA does what it is supposed to do-protect my wife's computer from harmful electrical events and provide a stable source of emergency power.

My axiom on blackouts and or sporadic power outages is the same as hard drives: the question is not if it will happen, but when it will happen.  And when it happens will your computer equipment be protected from those inevitable power surges that accompany them?  I have learned the hard way that the sensitive electronics that make up the insides of my computers need to be protected from errant electrical interference, having had to replace two motherboards as a result of electrical power surges.  Add to that the constant treat of data lose as a result of unplanned for power outages, and it becomes clear that a robust, reliable, smart Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is essential. 

I have over the years relied on the UPS units from American Power Conversion (APC).  The company has been making UPS systems since 1984 and is the industry leader in UPS and related technologies.  From very small home systems to very large multi-battery enterprise systems, APC has something for everyone.  So when it came time to protect my wife's new desktop computer recently, I purchased a new APC Back-UPS CS 350VA to compliment it.

What is a UPS?

A UPS is a hardware device that is placed between a power outlet or source, and your computer, peripherals and or printer. The UPS is designed to protect the computer and related equipment from "power outages, surges, electrical noise and power spikes," by; 1). automatically switching power over to an internal battery whenever AC power is lost; 2).  providing a source of clean, regulated power whenever a noise on the line is detected, and; 3). protecting the equipment attached to the UPS from spikes and surges.

Each UPS is rated as being able to handle a load (output) expressed in Volt/Amperes (VA), and watts (W).  The level of equipment the UPS can handle depends on this rating.  The CS 350VA is designed to provide 350VA with a 210W output.  When planning on which UPS to purchase for your needs, care must be taken to account for ALL the equipment you plan to attach to the battery backup outlets on the back of the UPS.  This is accomplished by adding up the wattage each piece of equipment will draw.  Failure to account for all of the equipment can result in overload, and thus inadequate protection for your equipment. 

The Product

APC targets the Back-UPS CS 350VA squarely at home user and or small office user.  The Back-UPS CS 350VA is a 350A/210W UPS designed to provide short-term emergency (battery) power to a computer, monitor, and essential peripherals in the event of a power outage or noise.  According to APC product literature, the Back-UPS CS 350VA can provide up to 5 minutes of power at full load (210 watts), and approximately 18 minutes with a half load (100 watts).  This is enough time to enable you, or the system itself, to save work and shutdown the computer in an orderly fashion.

The Back-UPS CS 350VA is equipped with three battery-powered/surge protected outlets and three regular surge protected outlets on either side, with one of the three  outlets on each side spaced to provide room for those ubiquitous transformer blocks.

My Viewpoint

Once installed and powered up the UPS can be monitored via the aforementioned USB cable (included) and PowerChute Personal Edition software, which can be installed on a Windows 98 or later, or MAC OS X computers.  As I stated above, the USB cable is a hybrid: the USB port plugs into your computer, but a RJ-11 port or serial plugs into the UPS on the other end.  However, once the USB cable is plugged into your computer, the OS recognizes it as a UPS and installs the necessary software to communicate with it. 

Then you can install PowerChute Personal Edition to monitor and configure the UPS for the type of protection you want; i.e. in the even of a power outage you can elect to have the UPS keep your computer on battery power as long as possible, or you can choose to have it shutdown the computer automatically.  Since most power outages in my neighborhood last less then five minutes, I have configured the CS 350VA to do an orderly shut down after five minutes on battery power.  Right now the only pieces of equipment plugged into the unit are the computer, monitor, and printer.

To me a UPS is a must have, and the APC Back-UPS CS 350VA is a solid investment in my book.  The average life of a UPS battery is approximately four years, and my CS 350VA cost me $30.00 (I took advantage of APC's trade-up program, plus my brother works for the company).  Since installing the CS 350VA, we have suffered through three blackout including one hit in the middle of the night that lasted in excess of 30 minutes just the other night.  When I woke up at 4:30am (my usual waking time), I noticed that my wife's computer was off (we leave our computers on 24/7/365).  But the power had been restored, so I turned on the computer and it came out of hibernation just as it was designed to do; the CS 350VA had done its job.     

In the final analysis the APC Back-UPS CS 350VA does what it is supposed to do-protect my wife's computer from harmful electrical events and provide a stable source of emergency power-and it does it exceedingly well.  With enough power to support almost all of today's power-hungry computers, monitors and printers, not to mention the odd peripheral the APC Back-UPS CS 350VA is the idea solution for home and small office users.