[X4U] OT: Belkin UPS

[Stroller]

On 7 Jul 2006, at 15:16, Neil wrote:
>
>> Dunno. The 750VA is just 400 watts, the 550VA is 330 watts, the  
>> 1100 is just
>> 660 watts, so the number in the name is not necessarily the  
>> capacity....
>> I'd double-check
>> whether you're overloading the beast.
>
> If the bad cell turns out not to be "definitive," then this is my next
> guess.  I just remembered that my external drive cases each have  
> four hard
> drives.  That makes eight external hard drives. ...  That's  
> starting to sound like
> a lot

You can get devices for measuring power consumption of consumer  
appliances.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009MDBU/104-9324821-0491143? 
v=glance&n=172282

I've been meaning to get one - it seems like a lot for a one-off  
application like this, but I guess you could easily enough save $30  
against the cost of buying the wrong UPS.

> Add that on top of my dual
> G5, powered speakers, 20" display, and iBook.

The powered speakers & iBook don't need to be plugged into the UPS,  
of course. Since sound isn't mission-critical & the iBook has its own  
battery, leaving then plugged in will just make the UPS drain faster.

> ...It didn't occur to me that there could be an effective
> wattage limit in addition to the volt-amp limit (720).

I don't think the 720VA refers to volt-amps. I think in this case  
it's just a model number!!

I had to check because I wasn't sure that I remembered correctly from  
school (oops!!) but watts = volts x amps.

Wikipedia confirms this, although slightly opaquely:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_%28physics% 
29#Instantaneous_electrical_power

Stroller.