The Back-UPS RS 800VA comes from APC's business range. It has plenty of UPS sockets and a long battery life, but is also expensive. While Belkin's 800VA-rated UPS delivers only 450W, APC's RS 800VA can power a 540W PC. The rear of the unit has four UPS sockets and one surge protection socket. These are all of the female IEC kettle-plug type. Like Trust's 1200VA Management UPS, the RS 800VA comes with just two female-to-male IEC cables. If
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you want to take advantage of all the sockets and power two computers, you'll need to buy extra cables. These cost around £3 from www.disking.co.uk.
The RS 800VA has a superb battery life. It kept our idle test PC running for over 51 minutes, and managed to power it for nearly 33 minutes during intensive use. Both results are the best in the group.
The supplied PowerChute Personal software is easy to use. Monitoring the UPS's battery charge and load status is a simple task, as is setting what the UPS should do when the power goes out or the battery is running low. The software lacks some of the advanced features you'll find in Trust's WinPower or Belkin's Bulldog Plus, though, and it seems a shame that APC didn't include the more powerful PowerChute Business edition with this fairly expensive device.
If you need a UPS for a fairly powerful PC and want it to last for as long as possible, the RS 800 is a good choice. It is expensive, though, and you can buy a cheaper unit that provides more power.
By Chris Finnamore
SPECIFICATIONS:
Four UPS sockets, two surge-only sockets, Windows shutdown, Windows file save, modem protection, Ethernet protection
