Labs

Trust's 950VA UPS is almost identical to the 600VA version, but it can work with more demanding PCs that require up to 480W of power. It's a little heavier than the 600VA UPS but still not as back-breaking as Belkin's 800VA UPS.

As with the cheaper 600VA, the 950VA comes with few extras to speak of. It has two IEC UPS sockets, one surge-protection socket and an RJ-11 socket that will protect your phone or ADSL equipment from voltage spikes. Two female-to-male

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IEC cables are included in the box, so you can connect your PC and monitor straight away. Like the 600VA, the 950VA comes with a WinPower software CD, but as there's no PC connection the software is pointless. The unit has no status lights apart from the power light, but as the UPS beeps continuously while running on battery power, you don't really need a power status LED.

The 950VA UPS ran for a reasonable 22 minutes and one second while the PC was idle, but under load it could manage only nine minutes and eight seconds, putting it near the bottom of the group. As there's no way of connecting the UPS to your PC, it can't save files and shut down your computer automatically. If you leave your PC with unsaved work open, you'll have to rush back and save your files if the power fails.

Trust's 950VA UPS is a reasonable choice if you have a fairly power-hungry PC and you want a large battery to keep it going. We'd recommend spending a little more for the advanced software features and flexible plug layout of APC's Back-UPS ES 700VA, however.