PC Peripherals UPS for someone who hates APC

lockhrt999

lockhrt999

Not a Fan.
Level H
I hate APC and find them over rated. My current UPS, APC 1100 has flat batteries. And instead of buying new battery set for like 1700, I was thinking of getting smaller single battery UPS and dumping selling the APC body here.

But as I was looking online for other brands, I found all of them to be identical. As it turns out all these make-in-india brands are importing UPS from alibaba for a few bucks a piece (you can search yourself on alibaba).
These brands are:
  • Microtek
  • Luminous
  • Intex
  • Artis
  • Fuji
  • Eaton
  • Vertiv
  • Zebronics
  • Fiecor
  • V-guard
  • Fingers
  • Numeric
  • Circle
There are dozen more.

I'm finding this thing trend in most category of appliances. There a reason why appliances look identical across the brands. Anyway, I don't want to make this thread into another bashing make-in-india bs and I'm not allergic to chinese stuff either. But if I don't want APC and everything else is generic alibaba stuff, then what are my options? Should I just get another set of batteries for my APC and call it a day?
 
What's the reason to hate APC UPS? I thought everyone here loved APC. I bought Microtek UPS 3 years ago and battery is dying.
 
I hate APC esp. their Indian models are seriously crap!
Their standards are looong went south.

These ups are delicate and have witnessed people replacing ups 6-8 times within their warranty until a stable item was received.

For Indian power better to go desi..Microtek/Luminous/V-guard are some good brands which are in fact buy, install and forget ones until their batteries making noise and only which needs replacement.

People are using 10-12+ yr old microtek ups and which are still going strong.

They dont come with any bells/whistles but are pure performers.

I think this much of a testimony should suffice.
 
In that case all are same, buy the cheapest and replace the battery as needed.
I prefer one with the option for monitoring so my primary one is Cyberpower ups (battery changed once in last 8 years). I use a cheap Numeric one for the router as it is in a different room (running three years but the battery change is overdue)
 
ibose said:
In that case all are same, buy the cheapest and replace the battery as needed.
I prefer one with the option for monitoring so my primary one is Cyberpower ups (battery changed once in last 8 years). I use a cheap Numeric one for the router as it is in a different room (running three years but the battery change is overdue)
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Cyberpower was good in 2k14yr but unfortunately their offering diminished for indian markets and now hardly they have anything worthy.
 
nRiTeCh said:
Cyberpower was good in 2k14yr but unfortunately their offering diminished for indian markets and now hardly they have anything worthy.
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No idea of their presence or absence currently. Mine still works fine with one change in battery. The best feature is the monitoring capability which I don't think anyone provides except APC.
 
lockhrt999 said:
I hate APC and find them over rated.
Click to expand...

nRiTeCh said:
I hate APC esp. their Indian models are seriously crap!
Click to expand...

To be fair, the reason for this is because of companies like these entering the market:

lockhrt999 said:
  • Intex
  • Artis
  • Zebronics
  • Fiecor
  • Fingers
  • Numeric
  • Circle
Click to expand...

and then stripping away standard established features, offering consumers models that barely amounted to a battery and a transformer in a plastic box — thereby making APC appear as an expensive, elitist option.

APC then had to drop features to compete in the same price point and that's where we are now, everyone rushed to the bottom so now everyone is equally mediocre.

But it wasn't always like this. My first UPS in the late 90s was a budget APC one that had a serial port and could do safe shutdowns on my Windows 98 SE computer. APC still has models that offer this functionality now with USB and it is those models that I personally consider as the actual APC product. Everything below/cheaper is basically a pretty housing for the same barebones functionality as those brands above.

Basically when you're shopping for a UPS and it doesn't come with software, then it's not an UPS, it's a battery and a transformer in a plastic box. So look for models above the basic ones. These things practically last forever and are trivial to repair by roadside technicians if something does ever go wrong.

I have a APC Back UPS ES 700VA, the only one in that series with a USB connection for safe shutdowns, and it's been working for over ten years with three battery swaps and no repairs since it was always connected through a surge protector.


eshop.se.com

APC BE700Y-IND 420-watt Back UPS

Scroll down to the Product Desription for more information on Extended Warranty
eshop.se.com eshop.se.com

However, it's 5k for that extra functionality and it's basically the same model that I purchased 10+ years ago but also, it's the cheapest model with that functionality.

Reputable Indian brands are:

nRiTeCh said:
Microtek/Luminous/V-guard
Click to expand...

But again, not their most basic, low cost models.
 
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My APC Back-UPS Pro 1500G has been working great, I just replace the battery every 2 years. It's been I think around 9 years since I've had it, I even remember I purchased it for 10K from PrimeAbgb back then, and now it's around 18K.
Mine has started to die now, I don't blame it though, giving me F02 error when it tries to switch to battery. the APC centre has told me its a board issue and will need to get it replaced, estimated 3K for the board with 6 months warranty + new batteries which would be an additional 2K I think.
whether you like APC as a brand or not, there are no other good options in India for the UPS period.
 
APC used to have monitoring software in budget friendly models
that was useful for me. now it seems difficult to get such models
 
nRiTeCh said:
I hate APC esp. their Indian models are seriously crap!
Their standards are looong went south.

These ups are delicate and have witnessed people replacing ups 6-8 times within their warranty until a stable item was received.

For Indian power better to go desi..Microtek/Luminous/V-guard are some good brands which are in fact buy, install and forget ones until their batteries making noise and only which needs replacement.

People are using 10-12+ yr old microtek ups and which are still going strong.

They dont come with any bells/whistles but are pure performers.

I think this much of a testimony should suffice.
Click to expand...
I agree to this on word to word. Indo-Chinese generic brands I listed work like plug and forget. APC, on the other hand require attention like a high maintenance girl friend (HMGF). APC are noisy like HMGF. Require pampering like HMGF. Require visit by technician like HMGF. Scream bloody murder when batteries are worn out like HMGF. They make everything about themselves like HMGF.

Indo-chinese brands still let you run your computer with flat batteries. They don't turn off your computer in the middle of the work.

You guys should read APC reviews on amazon. Many reviews will say that they had to change PCB, battery or repair the whole UPS and then go ahead to give 5 stars.

And what's up with that APC UPS with bright green LED strips on the front. Who thought it was a good idea. Reminds me of some movie theaters who have bright distracting green EXIT signs next to the screen.

aasimenator said:
whether you like APC as a brand or not, there are no other good options in India for the UPS period.
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I think, it's more like there are no good option at all.

My APC is cooking batteries in 2 years. It likes to keep them warm and some bright 5th grade german engineer thought it was a good idea to mount batteries sideways. The acid comes out and evaporates due to heat.

Having said that I think I'm just going to get new set of batteries this time and postpon the decision to 2025.
rsaeon said:
My first UPS in the late 90s was a budget APC one that had a serial port and could do safe shutdowns on my Windows 98 SE computer.
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My first Ups was from powersafe and even that had this option. Sadly, my first computer didn't have the required port to accept data from UPS.

I have owned UPS from at least half dozen brands and in total used a dozen or so brands. APC was the most problematic. The best UPS in my experience was Pcom. I never owned a Pcom UPS but that thing ran like tank and didn't even make a noise. Who knows whatever happened to this brand.
 
rsaeon said:
Basically when you're shopping for a UPS and it doesn't come with software, then it's not an UPS, it's a battery and a transformer in a plastic box. So look for models above the basic ones. These things practically last forever and are trivial to repair by roadside technicians if something does ever go wrong.
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^THIS

My first requirement when I replaced the locally made one back in 2006 was software that allowed me to turn off the alarm which would disturb me a lot at night. The option was to disconnect it which was not an ideal solution.

Having software felt like magic to control it.
lockhrt999 said:
My APC is cooking batteries in 2 years. It likes to keep them warm and some bright 5th grade german engineer thought it was a good idea to mount batteries sideways. The acid comes out and evaporates due to heat.
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The original battery lasted five years at least. However, the replacements seem to die around the two-year mark. To me, that is a sign of poor quality batteries being used.
 
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blr_p said:
The original battery lasted five years at least. However, the replacements seem to die around the two-year mark. To me, that is a sign of poor quality batteries being used.
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No. It's poor engineering choice on APC's side to make a UPS without vents. Dust being dust, still gets inside and makes cooling even harder. Quality of the battery is secondary. It would last longer in generic ups.

Dust or no dust, it's still a bad idea to mount batteries on their sides. Is there any other appliance that has mounted its acid containing battery on the side? Why don't vehicles have their batteries on their sides. Seems like a cool idea.

My APC is a culmination of all retard engineering choices one could make. The list is long.
 
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rsaeon said:
To be fair, the reason for this is because of companies like these entering the market:



and then stripping away standard established features, offering consumers models that barely amounted to a battery and a transformer in a plastic box — thereby making APC appear as an expensive, elitist option.

APC then had to drop features to compete in the same price point and that's where we are now, everyone rushed to the bottom so now everyone is equally mediocre.

But it wasn't always like this. My first UPS in the late 90s was a budget APC one that had a serial port and could do safe shutdowns on my Windows 98 SE computer. APC still has models that offer this functionality now with USB and it is those models that I personally consider as the actual APC product. Everything below/cheaper is basically a pretty housing for the same barebones functionality as those brands above.
Click to expand...
Old apc era (12-15yrs) was actually good. But thereon its just a crap and headache!
rsaeon said:
Basically when you're shopping for a UPS and it doesn't come with software, then it's not an UPS, it's a battery and a transformer in a plastic box. So look for models above the basic ones. These things practically last forever and are trivial to repair by roadside technicians if something does ever go wrong.
Click to expand...

My apc 1500s relay went kaput and nor apc had any part nor the 3 repair shops. So ultimately I dumped it into scrap!
Apc was offering me Rs 100 in exchange of a new ups this is how they insult their customers. Scrap vendor gave me 350 bucks! Standards of scrap vendors are higher than apc then.
Batteries I sold off to a know garage for 1.3k as they were just 6 months old with warranty etc.

Thereon, no ups for my rig and happy to be that way.

And now UPS costs have also skyrocketed so no point investing in it for me at least. In next house renovation, will get an inverter and just get a very basic ups as then wont be requiring any bells whistles thing.
 
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