Belkin's 800VA Universal UPS can supply up to 450W, so it's powerful enough to run a fairly high-specification PC. Like APC's ES 700VA, Belkin's UPS units have standard UK three-pin sockets rather than kettle-style IEC sockets. This makes it easy to connect other devices, such as a printer or broadband router, and keep them running if the power fails. It has three UPS sockets and a surge-only socket.
The 800VA kept our PC going long after we pulled out the plug. The battery kept our
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idle PC running for 40 minutes, which gives you plenty of time to return and save your work. It also ran for 28 minutes with the PC under load. Strangely, it lasted longer under load than the higher-rated Belkin 1200VA, even though its idle performance was not as good.
The Belkin 800VA can connect to your PC with either a USB or a serial cable. The supplied Bulldog Plus software looks ancient and is confusing at first, but it is powerful. It doesn't integrate with Windows as APC's PowerChute package does, but it can shut down or hibernate your PC after a certain amount of time on battery power, and can save your open files. Unlike the APC software, Bulldog Plus can even notify you by email when the UPS is running on battery power. For this to work, you need to install it with the Networking option enabled.
Belkin's 800VA UPS has plenty of battery capacity and powerful, if rather confusing, software. If you can manage with a slightly lower power output and don't need email alerts, APC's ES 700VA is cheaper, simpler and has more UPS and surge-protection sockets.
By Chris Finnamore
SPECIFICATIONS:
Three UPS sockets, one surge-only socket, Windows shutdown, Windows file save, modem protection, Ethernet protection
