A great insurance policy for your Macintosh

Author's Rating:

Pros: USB connectivity, price, form-factor

Cons: Zip, zero, none.

Author's Review
I have a PB500CLR by APC and connect it to my iMac DV. I've found it to be absolutely terrific. In fact, it has exceeded my expectations. Here are a few of the features that the PB500 has that I was looking for in a UPS:

> Software interactivity with my computer: Yes
> USB connectivity: Yes
> Auto Save (word processing applications): Yes
> Auto Restart after power is restored: Yes
> Great design: Yes

The Test Drive:
I tried a couple backup power units prior to buying the PB500CLR, all of which basically s****d. The Blackout Buster was the worst of the bunch. It's transfer rate (the speed at which the unit sends power to the computer during an outage) was/is not fast enough for my iMac DV. This rendered the unit useless. Of course, it had to be returned. Although the BP500CLR is about three times the price of the Blackout Buster, it proved itself to be worth every penny right from the start.

The unit itself is cased in clear--make that translucent--plastic. Also interesting is APC's choice to include a power cord nearly identical to the one Apple ships with their recent products. Nice detail. Its overall size is smaller than I imagined, or about 10" x 8" x 5", allowing the PB500CLR to fit nicely anywhere under a desk, etc.

The top portion is angled back, the front being higher than the rear. This allows the cords to drape back neatly. (I use the supplied pieces of Velcro strap to keep the cords together.) The USB and phone jacks are positioned on the rear vertical surface. Also at the rear of the unit is a reset button, and although we've had plenty of outages I've never had to use it. The USB cord connects right next to the phone jack. Likely this is more than you care to know, but LEDs that monitor Online, Overload, and On/Off status are on the front of the unit. Also included is a LED that tells the user that the internal battery needs to be replaced: these are available for about $40 (or one third the original cost) from APC directly.

The BP500CLR offers four outlets with battery backup and three without. All provide surge protection. As with most backup units, it offers surge protection for one telephone line as well. It also features audible alarms that the user can turn on or off. I noted that the USB software included usurps the usefulness of the audible alarms if you happen to be working on your computer when the power cuts out. A small window pops up on the screen and warns of several different "errors" including the warning that the USB connectivity is no longer present so autosave and auto shutdown will not happen. This seems obvious, but if somehow the USB cable is accidentally disconnected, at least your computer knows enough to let you know. Handy feature.

The unit comes with USB interactivity, via a cable connecting computer with the unit, which is the main reason for my choosing the BP500CLR. USB interactivity allows the unit to truly communicate with your Mac. You'll see what I mean by "truly communicate" below. For what it's worth, and as far as I know, the PB500CLR the first and only unit to offer so much interactivity between itself and the Macintosh it's connected to.

The APC Shutdown Manager Control Panel software monitors the status of the charge level continually. The level of remaining charge is diagramed from left to right and reads from 100% down to 0% charge remaining. Again, this might seem like a trivial feature, but like everyone, I've found myself sitting in front of my computer working on something important when the power cuts out. The battery level gauge lets me know exactly how much time I have left to complete my thoughts of the moment, rather than abruptly ending my work session.

The Shutdown Manager Control Panel also provides auto quit and auto shutdown for compatible applications that are running when the power cuts out. I don't know the entire list of compatible apps, but I work with MS Office and all three apps (Excel, Word, Powerpoint) are indeed compatible. For a complete list, check with www.apc.com. Of course, this feature works as its name implies: when the power is cut and the unit reaches a particular point of its remaining charge, the Shutdown Manager Control Panel software will save and then quit all (compatible) apps that happen to be running. This is of critical importance if the user is away from the computer at the time of a power failure.

The Shutdown Manager Control Panel will also restart your computer. Nice! After a total power outage and after the battery has run down completely, when power is returned the BP500CLR will power up your computer. If you happen to use your computer in an "always on" environment, think web server or voicemail system, this is a critical feature. Of course, if you have application aliases in your Startup Folder within your System Folder, those apps will open at startup. Again, if the user happens to be away from the computer, this feature is priceless.

As for it's real world performance when running on the internal battery, I read that the BP500CLR would provide about 5-10 minutes of power during an outage, but my experience has been far better. I tested it out when I first connected my iMac DV and got about 20-25 minutes of power.

I've owned mine for about six months and have zero complaints to report. Try buy.com combined with a buy.com coupon, available at www.dealmac.com, for the best price.