Northern Lights catch you coming down

A good vacation, can open you to new ideas and experiences that in retrospect should have been obvious.

For me, I finally listened to the group Ladytron and fell in love with their early hit Playgirl.  I was turned off by Ladytron because it was categorized as electro-clash, which left me with a bad feeling.   But at 228, 229, 230... plays according to Itunes... I cant imagine living it without them.

The same can be true for UPS brands you are not familiar with.  Powerware and Tripplite used to make some dumpy looking UPSes.  When compared to APC, they just seemed boring & cheaper knock offs.   Yet today they are better looking and performing products. 

While they cant play digitally edited analogue electronic sound shapes with a haunting voice, it might be time to look at these other UPS brands again

Powerware 3000 

Tripplite 3000va
 

New APC Line

Our friends at APC have launched the next generation of SmartUPS units featuring green energy efficient technology.

Their press releases tout these advantages

1.  Increased intelligence that makes management and monitoring easier 
2.  Increased efficiency that saves on utility costs
3.  Increased control with ability to configure locally or via software and switched receptacle groups
4.  Increased resilience with better diagnostic capabilities and improved warranty

Obviously, 1 and 3 have been desperately needed for awhile now, but 2 and 4 are a bit optimistic.

Increased efficiency alledged comes from the better handling of voltage regulation without using the energy intensive transformers.  Even APC admits this might only save 1-4%.  Hardly a “green” product.

As for resilience and batter warranty.  I don’t know about all units, but increasing from 2 to 3 years is still just the industry standard and not really that notable.  Further, with this new “Smart” LCD screen telling you how many days you have left before you need to change the battery, it sounds like a good racket to make you buy batteries before you need them

Anyway, we cant wait for the 5^th generation of SmartUPS units to be fully rolled out.  APC needed this new launch to counter the dramatic improvements that Powerware and Tripplite have made in the last few years.

For more info here is their Youtube peppy video

And their press thingy

Happy 2010 - back from a much deserved vacation

The Bob in WeBobUPS is back after enjoying a nice holiday break.  Like many of you, no matter where I went it was cold.  Fortunately, roaring fires and aged whiskey kept me alive.

So many great things to talk about in 2010... so lets get started...