Belkin 1500VA Dual Form Factor Small Enterprise UPS with AVR

Power Up

Strengths: Great price and design, silent, lots of connections, Mac and PC interface.

Weaknesses: None that I can see, other than missing a volume control for the very loud beeping which occurs during tests (this can be muted).

Summary: I have always used APC in the past at work and at home.

However, I own lots of Belkin products and decided to try another one.

It was far less in price, smaller for more watts, is dead silent, black,

can stand or lay down easily and has lots of connections. What more

can you ask for in a battery? Yes, the internal batteries can be replaced

and there is software for Mac and PC both. Although the software was

reviewed by some as being poor, I find it great for most personal use.

(The Mac version is very simple to use and understand but there seems

to be more options for the PC.) I would strongly reccomend this to

anyone and already have, several times. I hope they come out with

larger ones for businesses and home entertainment systems as well

because I would certainly get more.

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• You wrote that there's software for Mac OS with this UPS...howeve...
• I understand your requirements, as they were part of mine as well...
• I called Belkin Tech Support this afternoon about the software fo...

Best VA for the buck

Strengths: High load rating, compact form factor, number of outlets, quiet, good value

Weaknesses: Battery run time greatly exaggerated

Summary: It is a nice unit capable of supporting high end PC and some more. I have a PC with 1.25TB raid array and the load registers at about 30%. It is quiet, light and small.

However this comes at a price. The battery runtime at full load is listed as 2 hours(!) on the spec sheet.

However when the AC feed is disconnected, the battery goes from 100% full to 70% full instantly and then goes down 2-3% every minute. So I would estimate the runtime as 25-30 min under 30% load. Nowhere near 2 hours. At full load it should provide enough time for shutdown, nut no more thatn that. Other than runtime I am quite satisfied with this UPS

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Great value on UPS

Strengths: Good looks. Great price for what you get.

Weaknesses: The software.

Summary: 2006-04-19 00:13:39 I bought this UPS for about $130 with shipping. This is a great value for a 1500VA UPS unit. Competing products from most other manufacturers are $200 and up. I connected my home theater PC and HDTV to this box and got things up and running within minutes. This UPS has a lot of options for connecting it to monitoring software: you can use serial port, USB, or network cable. I used the USB port and got it connecting with the included Bulldog software quickly. The only weak point of this UPS is that the Bulldog software is not the most intuitive thing to use. I went into the menus and configured it to shut off my PC 5 minutes after the power goes out, but I'm not completely confident that it is configured right. There are way too many options and all of the individual options are labelled in such a way as to be unclear. I guess I'll find out during the next power failure whether I set things up correctly.

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Great UPS

Strengths: Price, quiet operation, small form factor.

Weaknesses: None.

Summary: After fighting with APCC over the replacement of a $1500 UPS that kept melting batteries less than 18 months after purchase, we gave up and decided to try the Belkin product. We bought two of these units to replace the larger APCC unit. It was 5x less expensive and takes the same amount of space. Over 1 year now on those systems with no problems.

I recently received another one of these units for my home PC (like them enough at work to start using them at home). One of the transformers from a cellphone charger blew up and took the UPS with it. I called Belkin to ask about repair on a 30-day old unit. No questions asked, no hassle - they answered the phone took my name and gave me an RMA... then told me to ship the unit back for a FREE REPLACEMENT!!! 7 days later I had a brand new Belkin UPS at my house, which has now been working perfectly for 3 months.

Based on the great customer service, no-hassle no-questions-asked returns, I've now spec'ed out Belkin as the ONLY UPS we use on all desktop & mid-range server installations. We've now deployed over 50 Belkin UPSes at client sites with not one problem!

No more APCC products for us or our clients - Belkin does it right AND FOR A LOT LESS $$$!

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Great Deal!

Strengths: 1500 VA at a fraction of the cost that other brands offer.

Weaknesses: It said rack mountable on the site, but have not figured out if I need to purchase additional parts.

Summary: 2006-05-02 14:41:56 Purchased this for $145. Did a lot of research and anything comparable to the 1500 cost over $200. We have installed in a server room to support 3 of our servers. It does the job well. I would recommend this to use at home or at the office. For the price, even home users will get their money's worth.

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Great UPS for the price!

Strengths: - Good value: $129.99 at buy.com when I got it - 8 outlets with backup power and surge protection

Weaknesses: - None so far

Summary: This is a great UPS. My favorite thing is that it comes with 8 outlets with backup power and surge protection. My previous UPS's would have half the outlets with backup power and surge protection and the other half with only surge protection. It also comes with a USB cable to attach to your computer if you like for management as well as a network port and monitor connection. Also once the power goes out and it starts beeping you can shut the beeping off by pressiong the power button quickly (if you hold it down for 2 seconds you power it off) - my other UPS just keeps on beeping which is really annoying. Great product! Great value!

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There's simply nothing other than Belkin to delive ...

Strengths: ~900watt load, rj45,

Weaknesses: none

Summary: There's simply nothing other than Belkin to deliver this much power at this price point, and after using Belkin UPS's for 5 years I think they're reliable. Calculating the number of watts that you can plug into it without anything going poof, this unit should go to around 870-900w, which is enough to have my 6.1 HT receiver (which usually pulls less than 200w) plus computer (monitor powered separately, because i can). Note that the "va" rating would ideally equal watts, as far as my non-technical grasp discerns (a watt = volts x amps), but the power factor of most UPS circuitry seems to call for dividing by 1.78 to yield the wattage that it can support at full load. I'm not too interested in long-lasting server performance, but rather in AVR, which "clicks" in quite frequently in my house as AC, laser printer, power tools, etc. turn on and off, so it's a great feature for me. I also have very short power failures such that my non-UPS computer once upon a time would simply reboot occasionally as power flickered. Thus I was interested in the total load I could plug in, but now am also ready for a short insurgency with my 1500va battery. Note that an average wall socket might be rated only at 15a, of which 80% are safe to use without making electrical engineer types sweat. x120V = 1440watts per wall outlet to keep things safe. So this UPS comes pretty darn close to covering anything you'd want to plug into a sincle circuit breaker. Anybody who knows this area better than me, feel free to correct any of this. Google is the source of my consumer wisdom on this topic. The unit comes with simple props to go underneath if it's in tower position. It's more compact than i expected, and is only slightly warm to touch with ample venting. A couple of drawbacks: it boasts 1-in, 2-out rj45. But it does NOT work like a hub, and you cannot plug two workstations directly into it. Belkin told me it's intended for routers and modems, so whatever. Plugging a second device into the ethernet jacks nullifies the first device, so it doesn't feel like a packet collision problem. Second, the Belkin Bulldog software is and has always been nutty. Very poorly organized interface. Note, too, that during the battery test my HT receiver hummed ominously from its innards, not from the speakers, so it may not be a good cheap HTPC alternative after all.

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Belkin 1500VA/830Watt UPS Is A "Best Buy"

Strengths: 8 Battery/Surge/AVR Protected Outlets; 830-Watt battery backup power rating; 1000 Joules Surge rating; USB connectivity; Mac OS X Tiger Compatible (OS 10.4.x); Excellent design, form factor, & size

Weaknesses: None discovered

Summary: I searched for a week, looking for the "right UPS" for my new Dual Core 2.3GHz PowerMac G5 computer, twin 20" LCD displays, two external FireWire hard drives, a Logitech Z-5300e speaker system, and a couple of other important peripherals before I found the Belkin F6C1500-TW-RK. It took another couple of days before I could be convinced to buy one. I wanted to be sure the Belkin was Mac/Apple compatible, especially in regard to OS X Tiger 10.4.x which the G5 runs; and it took a couple of phone calls to Belkin Tech Support, an email there also, and correspondence with one of the reviewers here before I felt comfortable ordering one.

I really like the 8 AVR/Surge/Battery Backup protected NEMA power outlets of this unit, which means I can power up my entire G5's office system off of the Belkin UPS. Now I don't have to worry about my external FireWire hard drives going down in a power outage, which was a big concern. It's especially comforting to know that Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) is working full-time also, on all the outlets. I found that there was no need to install the Bulldog software package also, another plus, because OS X Tiger's Energy Saver Control Panel recognizes the Belkin UPS as "native", and you can control shutdown of the computer within the OS. All you have to do is hook up the UPS to the G5 with a supplied USB to device cable (7 feet long), and the computer and the UPS can communicate. It's pretty slick, really!

I don't like installing 3rd-party software if I don't have to, and installing the Bulldog software package puts a KEXT file, a comapc startup item, and some other goodies into the System Folder, which is just another thing to deal with or go wrong, the way I look at my operating system. I simply set the Energy Saver CPanel to shut down the G5 if the UPS's battery power supply is less than 4 minutes, or 50% of its reserve is reached, whichever comes first, and left it at that. The Dual Core 2.3GHz G5 has a 710-Watt rated Power Supply at full load, so it's a pretty heavy duty unit to provide backup power for, and the Belkin UPS will protect it fully.

The form factor of the Belkin is nice and compact, at 3.5" by 13" by 15", and just about 24 pounds, which makes it one of the trimmest/slimmest/lightest Enterprise Class UPS's available. I have it underneath my work station, upright mounted, and it takes up very little space considering all that it's capable of doing. I like the fact that this UPS doesn't have a fan also. It's just another thing that won't go wrong down the road, that is having a fan that could get clogged with dust, or break or fail for some reason. The Belkin UPS has plenty of thermal slots/passages/ducting and holes for cooling, so I expect it to work well for the long haul.

One of the main reasons that I chose the Belkin over the APC RS1500VA is the much higher surge protection rating of the Belkin UPS: the APC is only rated at 410 Joules, while the Belkin's rated at 1000 Joules, more than double the protection for less $$$.

Previous to this Belkin, I've only owned APC UPS's, but this UPS has changed my mind about value and performance in the Enterprise/Small Office Class of UPS's.

Another thing, the warranty on the Belkin is 3 years, while APC products are only 2 years. Plus the Belkin 1500VA UPS has a $200,000 Lifetime Protection Warranty for damaged equipment as a result of the unit failing, even including a data recovery service should it be necessary to use one. That kind of warranty speaks volumes about the confidence that the manufacturer has in the product.

So overall, this UPS is a winner if you need surge protection, AVR, and battery backup for a higher end computer like a Dual Core PowerMac G5 and its peripherals. I recommend it 100% to other Macintosh owners, especially those running Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.x, where you can control the UPS from within the operating system itself without having to install the Belkin software package. The features are rich, the design is nice, the form factor and weight are excellent, so I don't think you can go wrong with the Belkin F6C1500-TW-RK. Unless another manufacturer comes up with something better, this UPS is going to stay at the top of this class of products.

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Looks good but does not last long

Strengths: 8 outlets, dual form factor, looks nice.

Weaknesses: Does not last long

Summary: I bought this unit mainly to protect my AV components that are black. This unit looks nice under other AV components and has more outlets (8) than most UPS's. The AVR feature will come in handy during the frequent brown-outs in my area, and I may be able to enjoy the music through short black-outs. Furthermore, I won't have to set the clock again after black-outs. As a UPS for a computer, however, its performance was disappointing. I have an APC Back-UPS Pro 1100VA UPS which seems to be almost twice as heavy as this unit. I performed a run-down test and the APC UPS lasted 36 minutes while this Belkin UPS lasted only 21 minutes with the same computer/monitor setup.

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Belkin 1500VA UPS with AVR

Strengths: Attractive case design and very easy to use.

Weaknesses: Belkin product line for UPS not as widely known as APC.

Summary: I decided to replace my APC units rather than swapping out batteries in my server rack at home. Yes, I am that kind of geek. This product case is extremely well designed and looks right at home in a modern setup. After seeing the quality and attractive design, I will probably add one to my home theater setup as well. Interestingly, the LEDs and labels are perfect for both horizontal shelf mount and vertical upright (no need for the base supports, it does well without them). Make sure you can charge the batteries overnight without anything plugged in to ensure proper battery conditioning, essential for any product with a battery. The APC brand is trusted and well known, however this Belkin product has thouroughly exceeded my expectations at a price that could not be ignored.

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A great value

Strengths: High capacity, small form factor, 8 outlets, AVR, can monitor for 2 systems.

Weaknesses: None

Summary: This UPS is a great value. I have 2 other Belkin UPS's used individually on machines in my home. I currently use 2 systems at work, an old P3 500 MHz, and a PD Dual-core 2.8 GHz, along with 2 external drives. The combined load on the UPS is only 20% of its load factor according to the supplied software. Although not advertised as such, the unit can easily be monitored by 2 systems by connecting one to the USB port and the second to the serial port (both cables supplied). One of the systems should be tagged as the master control system (choose settings, schedule tests, etc) while the second is tagged as a slave, only monitoring the UPS. However, there are 2 places in the setup where you make such choices. I found that I had to do a complete setup on both systems, but then choose 'Slave' from a configuration tab.

All in all, this Belkin UPS gives you everything you would want in a small enterprise system at a price none of the more popular manufacturers come close to.

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Don't trust Belkin

Strengths: Looks nice

Weaknesses: The company warranty Unreliablility Does not protect your computer!

Summary: I would advise not trusting Belkin. I had been a loyal customer, until my computer was knocked out by a power surge. Then, their warranty is phony. They claimed there was nothing wrong with their surge protector, though they couldn't explain how my computer had been zapped during a power surge. I had to replace my computer at my own expense, and they "settled" by sending me $50, and a replacement Belkin. Now, a year and a half later, this Belkin simply blew up when I was in the process of plugging it in after a thunder storm had passed. Forget it! I'm switching my loyalty to APC.

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Don't be fooled by the name

Strengths: It works

Weaknesses: NOT RACK MOUNTABLE

Summary: Even though the Belkin user manual calls it a "tower-rack series" it is not rack mountable. This web site also lists it as 1500VA TOWER/ RACK UPS 120V 8OUT AVR USB/ SER 200K CEW

Mfr Part# : F6C1500-TW-RK

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Best UPS Ever!

Strengths: This UPS is quiet, has 8 back up outlets and runs over 20min on battery power.

Weaknesses: The shutdown software is only of average intuitiveness. But if you can use MSWord, you can load and set the software.

Summary: I've been using Belkins for a few years now, and decided to go all out. This one is so powerfull, I should have bought it long before now. We have a 3.5ghz cptr, 17" monitor, DSL box, and telephone connected to it and it still went 20 minutes on battery power.

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Great UPS for the Money

Strengths: Slim, 8 outlets, light-weighted

Weaknesses: No software for UNIX/Linux, No rackmount kits

Summary: It's a great little UPS for a standalone server or workstation. The rating of 900 watts and 1500VA is better than the comparable APC, Tripplite and other brands. I wish it came with some kind of rackmount kits. But the price would be much higher then. Overall, it's a very good UPS and keep my server running all the time.

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