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Plexus V 500VA UPS with LCD Screen & AVR (Inc Intelligent Shutdown Software)
- £25.87ex vat
- £29.76inc vat
(price includes 2.5% VAT discount)
Need it fast? You have:
Friday, 5th December.
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- manufacturer #: PLEX-023
- quickfind code: 130477
- 665 in stock for next day delivery.
20 reviews
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Product Reviews
My Review plus tips
os:
Windows VistaGot this UPS this morning and setup it up. I suggest you install the software first then plug it in. I use vista and all the drivers were installed for me.
Once the software and drivers are working you need to go into the settings of the program and tell it you connected through usb or the UPS will not appear in the program.
Battery came nearly fully charged so connected everything up straight away.
The device is rather long but the width and height is tiny so can be hidden well.
Power demands
Recieved one of these yesterday and on the whole, it seems to be a nice compact unit, no issues with the build quality, but it may be worth noting that if you have a machine that has greater than a 300W power supply this is going to be too small.
With just my PC attached I could boot up OK, but as soon as I tried to do anything that increases the load the unit goes into overload and beeps constantly.
Would be handy if the description included information as to power supply suitability (would have been even handier if I had checked myself.) Nothing actually wrong with the unit however so 5*
Does what it says
os:
Windows XPI was a bit cautious about buying this, being uncertain about the size of system that it would support, and for how long. I found the guide at http://www.apcc.com/template/size/apc/index.cfm to be very helpful. I run a tower with a 1.2gHz processor, 2 hard drives,DVDRW,CDRW - fairly standard stuff - and a 22 inch widescreen TFT monitor.
When it arrived the unit did not work properly, emitting all sorts of alarm sounds when connected up. It transpired that the 3 amp fuse on the input socket was faulty. With hindsight I now know that the charge already in the battery powered up my system and allowed me enough time to close it down again.
By this time the battery was well and truly drained. However, I replaced the fuse (2 were supplied with the unit)and tried again. All worked well, and 12 hours later I had a 100% charge in the battery. Time to do a test. I pulled the plug of the UPS. The unit kicked in and the software started to do the job of closing down. Reported load of my system was 40%, and a full closedown of all programs, operating system and UPS was achieved in 4 minutes. On reboot I found that the battery charge had reduced to 75%
The objective in getting this was to insure against data loss and corrupted files in the event of a power failure. That is exactly what it does, so 5 stars from me.
The unit is quiet in normal operation, but buzzes as well as emitting an alarm when the mains power fails.
Good stuff
os:
Windows XPI already own a big 1500VA APC UPS for my main pc, monitor and speakers which gives me a solid hour and a half to continue use, however i needed another ups to power our wireless router for a few hours, so, decided on one of these.
in the instructions it states these specs:
UPS-500 = 500VA/300W 1x12V 7Ah
UPS-650 = 650VA/390W 1x12V 7Ah
UPS-1000 = 1000VA/600W 2x12V 7Ah
UPS-1200 = 1200VA/720W 2x12V 7Ah
UPS-1500 = 1500VA/900W 4x12V 7Ah
UPS-2000 = 2000VA/1200W 4x12V 7.2Ah
with these values you should be able to work out with the power consumption, a rough up-time for your setup (Watts = Amps x Volts). However, my main pc has a 550W PSU, intel core2duo, x1950 pro, DDR3 ram etc but when idling only consumes 150 watts or so, rising to 200W with monitor and speakers, hence why i get a reasonable uptime with the APC 1500 UPS i have. (i have a meter on the plug for the APC UPS)
Remember if you have worked out an uptime for your setup, take away maybe 20% of that time, possibly more, as its not a perfect environment, you lose energy through heat, the battery isn't perfect etc etc.
As someone else said - the blue light on the plexus is kinda bright, again as has been said, put some tape over it if you don't like it :p
Please don't take what i say calculation wise as FACT! It works for me but what can i say, there's always someone who will mess it up or complain
Sketchy Linux Support
os:
LinuxBought this to use with my home media server running Ubuntu Server 7.10 which I just set up.
The Linux software wouldn't install properly and they seemed to be intended for models using a serial port connection (this has USB).
As such, I had to use NUT (Network UPS Tools) to view status information and to allow automatic shutdown in case of power failure (which was the primary reason for having a UPS).
I've written a brief HOWTO on getting it to work with Ubuntu Server 7.10 here > http://hypedark.co.uk/index.php?page=displaypost&post_id=578
It should work for any Linux distro with some amendments.
With regards to the longetivity of the UPS, mine lasted for 25 minutes before the low battery alarm started sounding - this was at about 0.3 average load (I don't know what this equates too) but this is perfect for my needs (and at half the cost of other models)!
Reply to Previous Poster
Yes it does come supplied with battery.
Excellent for the Money
os:
Windows XPBought this to protect my XP Workstation at home... AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 1 HD, 1 DVD, 1 DVDRW, Neon Case, lots of Fans. My machine takes 40% of the UPS load without the monitors on it. The UPS will keep my machine up for just under 10 minutes with enough time to shut it down cleanly.
The Software that comes with the UPS enable you to schedule tests at daily /weekly /monthly intervals and also lets you select to "Turn on UPS", "Shut down operating system and UPS", "UPS Self-test until Battery low", "UPS Self-test for 10 Seconds" or "UPS-Self Test for x minutes" at set times... very useful; you can also perform a UPS test by pressing the power button on the UPS for 1 second.
The UPS software can be configured to keep your machine running for x minutes before shutting it down, it also has a low battery shutdown incase you suffer multi power cuts before the battery recharges. The software can also send Email or Pager alerts when you have a power event as well as displaying warnings on the screen.
The CD that comes with the UPS has software for Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista, Lynux, FreeBSD and Novell
One word of warning about the software on Windows XP, if you have Bonic V5.10.45 from Bekeley EDU running on your machine (Seti@Home,Rossea@Home,etc) don't install the UPS software or remove Bonic from your machine, the two bits of software don't get on and cause XP to BlueScreen.
On the whole the ups and software work well and protect your machine & phone/Modem/Fax (RJ11 port built into the UPS). Apart from the problem with the UPS software and Bonic not working together it does everything you would expect at a fantastic price.
Works with Windows Home Server
Just to answer the earlier query - this works just fine with my WHS implementation, and closes down the server before shutting itself down.
I'm very pleased with this UPS - particularly for the low cost.
Easier than my APC!
os:
Windows 2000Plugged in, switched on and installed the software. Simple as that!
Strange - tried the 10 second test. This depleted the battery by 30%+. No monitor attached, only the PC. I assume the battery needed more charge although it showed to be 100%.
For 20 pound I would recommend it.
Specificatons from the manual
Seeing as Ebuyer have listed the same specifications for nearly all the units, here are the specs from the manual.
This basic 500VA unit is a good price for what it does hence 5 stars though if you're looking for a longer run time more batteries = better.
UPS-500 (300W), UPS-650(390W)
1 x 12V 7Ah battery
330l x 85w x 155h
6.5Kg
UPS-1000(600w), UPS1200(720W)
2 x 12V 7Ah battery
300l x 120w x 195h
13.2Kg
UPS-1500(900W)
4 x 12V 7Ah battery
415l x 150w x 230h
21.2Kg
UPS-2000(1200W)
4 x 12V 7.2Ah battery
415l x 150w x 230h
24.7Kg
