Customer Reviews Of APC BR900 900 VA 540 Watts 7 Outlets UPS

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Customer Reviews for APC BR900 900 VA 540 Watts 7 Outlets UPS - Retail
Newegg.com's Product Ratings and Reviews feature enables Newegg.com customers to help each other make informed buying decisions.

Review Summary (19 Reviews):
Excellent	9ReviewsExcellent	47%
Good	3ReviewsGood	16%
Average	2ReviewsAverage	11%
Poor	1ReviewsPoor	5%
Very Poor	4ReviewsVery Poor	21%
Excellent	0Reviews	0%
Good	0Reviews	0%
Average	0Reviews	0%
Poor	0Reviews	0%
Very Poor	0Reviews	0%
Excellent	0Reviews	0%
Good	1ReviewsGood	50%
Average	0Reviews	0%
Poor	0Reviews	0%
Very Poor	1ReviewsVery Poor	50%

Reviewer	Product Review
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: more than 1 year	12/15/2009 8:42:18 PM Desinged to Fail Pros: It worked ok for about 2 years. Cons: It died after about 2 years. This is not an isolated incident but as a result of design. After the unit overheated and started beeping I opened it up and found out why. It has a 40mm sleeve bearing cooling fan with an expected life of 20000 hrs. or approximately 2 years and 4 months when running 24/7. This fan seized up allowing the unit to overheat and damage several components; How convenient since the warranty is only 2 years. BE WARNED this unit will likely fail a few months after the 2 year warranty expires. Other Thoughts: I had a (BX900; sold as a BackUPS XS 900) which uses the same design but has a black casing. I used to only buy APC surge protectors and UPSs but after seeing a product like this designed to fail just after the warranty expired I will never buy another APC product. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Chris Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	9/21/2009 11:41:53 PM Higher Electric Bills Pros: They keep equipment safe. These actually tell you what the load is, how often the power goes off and what cause the power outage, be it a brown-out, black-out, etc... Cons: They can draw more power to keep the battery charged than you might actually plug into the unit. My electric bill doubled by adding 2 of these to the existing A/C load. Other Thoughts: If you're in the market for one of these... if you get the cheap ones you tend to get what you pay for. The more expensive ones have longer battery life(in years), but they also cost a lot more for the electric bill. My other comment is below this one somewhere. One of these units was DOA. Wasted 2 hours with customer service on the phone to get them to believe there was an issue with the unit(wouldn't recognize the utility power). Then I had to pay to send it back to APC to get a real working unit. Customer service certainly isn't what it used to be from some of the manufacturers. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: more than 1 year	7/24/2009 10:21:16 AM Pros: Still protects against power surges. Cons: This no longer works as a battery backup. In under two years from when I purchased it, the UPS began to die during normal usage of the computer hooked into it, causing everything powered by battery backup to die. It would insist there was a problem with a low battery even when there hasn't been a power outage for months. I no longer have my computer plugged into the battery backup part (for obvious reasons) but into the surge protector side. My router and modem are plugged into the battery backup side-nothing else. And sometimes even when my computer is shut down, power's on, and I'm sitting reading a book, I will hear the UPS's power-out alarm start wailing, or it will restart, with nothing actively drawing power except a router and a modem with nothing connected through them turned on. Other Thoughts: I purchased this unit a few years ago, as I was going to be staying in a house with frequent power outages. It worked fine for 1 year, then I moved into the city. Lasted about another month. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
xelectronictech Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: more than 1 year	7/12/2009 8:29:28 PM Short lived Pros: Worked great for 18 mos. (warranted for 3 yrs). Something got too hot inside and burned out. Cons: A bit too noisy for me. Too short lived for the amount of time I owned it. I'll take durability as my number one characteristic. Other Thoughts: It costs so much to send to have it repaired. I just ate the loss. I am looking a new one and it AIN'T gonna be APC again 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Chris Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	6/5/2009 11:16:54 AM Bad Customer Service Pros: When they work, they keep machines running during an outage. Cons: Devices fail after repeated brown-outs. Batteries get to where they will not hold a charge if they're "on battery" for more than a few times. Customer service does not pay for the return shipping of the devices when one of them fails due to MANUFACTURER DEFECT. Other Thoughts: I'm going to look for another brand rather than APC. They used to provide excellent service. In this case I have to pay for shipping of my DOA unit back to them after I already paid to have it shipped to me. If one of these is DOA I would recommend sending it back to Newegg instead of going through the manufacturer's RMA process. Had to wait 2 weeks for a working back-up after I made my initial purchase and I have to pay to ship the defective one back (with a weight of 26 lbs). 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Chris Tech Level: high Ownership: more than 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	5/25/2009 1:01:39 PM You get what you pay for. Pros: * Keeps computer running during short brownouts and blackouts * Shuts computer down when battery gets low during an outage * Relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of the equipment it's protecting * Provides cleaner voltage/amperage/wattage than the utility company Cons: * Device will increase your electric bill above the price of the equipment you plug in unless you're running a full load. * The batteries in these devices tend to fail rather quickly (within 2 years) * The steady auditory reminder that you're on battery power is annoying over an extended period. Other Thoughts: I've ordered several of these over the past few years to protect computer and A/V equipment. They work great and definitely help to protect your machines. Of the 2 I've ordered recently, one will not recognize A/C power and will be RMA'd back to the manufacturer. The other is fine. VA is for volt amps and not the wattage of the unit. Be sure to buy the proper size unit for the load requirements. I have some older 350VA models which squeal like crazy when I plug in one of my 700watt machines to the battery side of the unit. Also if you overload the non-battery side of the unit for too long you will trip the unit due to excessive heat. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
GTI_jeffrey Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/30/2008 8:52:21 PM Excellent! Pros: APC PowerChute works great. This unit looks sleek. The gap between each power socket is well spaced. I like it a lot. Cons: none so far Other Thoughts: provide around 20 mins of backup power for my computer. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
six2one Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	11/6/2008 11:39:27 AM WORKS GREAT IN C2D 2.0GHZ iMAC!!!!!! Pros: this is a great price for some good mac compatible memory! works great in my C2D 2.0ghz imac! Cons: none! 1 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Zephrant Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/29/2008 3:42:12 PM No issues Pros: Works great. Was not hard to configure under Linux (Fedora) for auto-shutdown and monitoring. Cons: None 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Brian Tech Level: high Ownership: more than 1 year	4/2/2008 7:23:39 AM Linux support for APC UPSes Pros: I have the Back-UPS XS 900. This UPS looks to be as close as to what I have. I love this thing. I run a Mac Mini, Linksys WRT54G, DSL Modem and Netgear GS108 switch off of it and last weekend it ran for over an hour and a half when the power was out due to a storm. Before the Mac Mini, I had a Debian Etch box. Cons: none Other Thoughts: I don't understand why another reviewer stated that Linux support is limited. Far from it! If you have a APC UPS, be sure to check out http://www.apcupsd.org. It can shut down the computer when the battery is near exhaustion. There's an included apcaccess program that lets you monitor the UPS whenever you want. There's lots of examples on the Internet that parse that output and do all kinds of amazing things for it. I automatically parse that output and generate graphs that monitor my UPS on my website. Find out how at http://www.mauter.com/ups-howto.html. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Stan Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	3/8/2008 1:47:05 PM Vital component! Pros: Great system. Sometimes it is hard to find a decent UPS that will do what you need, you have to either educate yourself to make sure it will meet your needs, or you just buy something that you know will be strong enough. This system will meet the needs of most computer users. I put off buying a UPS, always opting when I had money to buy a new video card or something else. Well, all that came to an unhappy end when a power surge and outage fried my power supply and my video card (I was lucky that was all that died). I went out and bought this UPS (in black), and I am glad I did, as well as an excellent power supply (don't skimp on power supplies!). This UPS has saved my computer several times already during power outages, and has also cut in during power fluctuations. I have no doubt that it is also extending the life of my computer by keeping the power supply clean. The WIndows software is nice, and provides some excellent information on just what the supply is doing. Cons: None. Get one, and APC is a trusted name. DO NOt hook your printer to a UPS! Other Thoughts: Recognized in Linux automatically. Although the Linux options are limited, and the company provides no Linux software, it appears to work very well with Linux as well. Have yet to have a power outage while using Linux, only when I work in Windows (I think a higher power is telling me something about Windows). I have no doubts that it would work well in Linux as well. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
MiDiMaN888 Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week	8/1/2007 9:13:26 PM This unit definitely has always on fan inside Pros: APC is the most reliable brand in the world of UPS. I have ES750, BX800, BX1000, BX1350LCD, all work well and quiet. Cons: Always on, uncontrollable and unstoppable fan, which is loud and unacceptable. Other Thoughts: I bought the BX900 (same design as BR900), this model is a bit different from other models. The BX/BR800 has no fan, the BX/BR1000, 1200, 1350LCD all have fans inside but they are turned on only during the battery mode, which is acceptable for noise control. Because the battery will only last for a few minutes at full load during power outage. Under regular mode, there is no fan noise from these models. If you don't want "always on" fan noise, get lower or higher models instead. I am telling you here, hope saving newegg from RMA nightmare and the buyers from further trouble with fan noise. 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: average Ownership: 1 day to 1 week	7/13/2007 5:55:54 AM Nice UPS Pros: Contrary to some of the other reviews, my BR900 has no fan and is very quiet. My unit was manufactured in May 2007. So far I'm very satisfied with this product. Cons: None. Other Thoughts: Even though there is no fan, the unit does not get excessively warm. Has air openings on the top and sides. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Aredridel Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	5/17/2007 5:11:57 PM Solid Pros: Actually solves the power issues we have in our rural location. It lasts longer than the cheapies we've had in the past. Cons: None 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Doke Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	5/16/2007 9:41:32 AM bad thermal design Pros: cheap for a name brand ups Cons: bad thermal design. Almost no air vents, and they're very, very tiny. Internal 40mm fan is noisy, and has a cheap sleeve bearing that doesn't last even 1 year. Other Thoughts: Normally APC is an excellent brand, but they dropped the ball on this one. The fan was obviously added very late in the design phase. It's litterally "bolted on" to two of the heatsinks, and it's leads are soldered to the board in a space marked for a capacitor. The heat sinks are just blocks of alumninum, without even any fins for air to blow through. The case has only a few incredibly tiny vents that can't pass enough air for the fan. The fan died within a year, and I couldn't find the warranty paperwork, so I replaced it with a nice Vapo Bearing fan (purchased from Newegg). I also drilled some holes in the case so there would be at least a little air flow. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	4/5/2007 8:49:37 AM Standard of the industry Pros: We always buy APC for power protection. Best brand we have ever used. Cons: 0 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Bob Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	3/19/2007 8:09:53 AM Noisy - Not for quiet office operaton Pros: Does what it is supposed to do. Cons: This unit's fan makes considerable noise - 45 dBA. Evaluate carefully if you plan on using this unit in your home office (especially if you are sitting close to it). Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Michael Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: more than 1 year	1/12/2007 2:57:22 PM RS Line is a great choice Pros: When electric levels are too low, it boosts them up to normal. When too high by just a bit, it trims the level back to normal. When there is a surge, it runs the computer and other devices on the battery until the surge passes. Cons: none Other Thoughts: For consumers APC has four lines of UPS: ES, CS, LS and RS. For my money, the RS line is the best value, offering all the features you could want in a UPS, but at the lowest possible price point. Cheaper UPSs skimp on features. If you're going to buy a UPS, might as well get a good one. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
sparcs Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	2/20/2006 2:51:21 PM Could be a lot worse... Pros: Line interactive, NOT STAND-BY! A true UPS does not "switch", but non-switching units, on a per KVA basis, are expensive. Have to keep in mind, you're avoiding a 1-5 minute window where power is a problem. This unit will work fine, but don't short yourself on capacity. Do the math. Cons: Stepped Sine wave while on battery... Could be worse. Good power supplies can handle this for sort periods of time, so its acceptable. Pure Sine Wave is pricey. Other Thoughts: As a manager of a several hundred UNIX server farm, I think know UPS. Four V-16 CATS, a battery room large than most homes, would be nice. Wondering about topology? Search APC for topology in the knowledge base. You'll get an education. 8 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!