APC Back-UPS Battery Backup & Surge Protector (BE750G)

Just completed installing the APC BE750G. It is easy to set up, especially if you plan the configuration before you start. It has 5 Battery Backup/Surge Protection outlets (including one marked "MASTER" - more later). There are 2 surge protection outlets (not backed up) and 3 additional outlets marked "Controlled by MASTER."The primary purpose of acquiring a battery backup system was to backup our home phone system and internet gateway/home WiFi network so we could use our tablets during a storm or blackout. The MASTER facility was an added feature I did not know about until I opened up the box. The MASTER outlet automatically enables/disables power to the outlets it controls based on when they need/do not need power. I have my PC plugged into the MASTER outlet and my monitor and speakers plugged into 2 of the outlets controlled by the MASTER outlet. When the backup device senses that I've turned on my PC it automatically powers up the monitor and the speakers. When the PC goes into sleep mode, power is dropped to the controlled devices. When the PC is powered off, power is also dropped from the MASTER-controlled outlets. This is a great approach, IMHO, and works perfectly. This can save power costs over the long haul.I have not yet checked out the provided PowerChute software shipped with the backup device. It is designed to allow the PC to safely power down following a power failure. Will update my review when I test it.Only downside (so far) is the nature of the device. I have it on my desk with a tangled mess of power cables running every which way. Looking for a way to neaten that up or cover it.Cautions: Do not buy this UPS system unless you have researched the power needs of devices you want to back up. Each model has a power/time chart in the product description that tells you how long to expect backup power. You cannot backup an appliance (e.g., electric heater, refrigerator) using one of these UPS systems, although I think there is a one-star review with that complaint. The goal is to get your electronics safely through surges and brownouts and provide ample time to shut down your PC without losing data or harming the PC itself. If you need a large scale home UPS backup you will need to invest thousands of dollars in generator and power switching technology.UPDATED 4/14/2014I've now installed the PowerChute software. It makes the UPS much easier to understand and manage. Once the device is USB connected to the PC you can go to the APC website and download/install the software. Steps are included in the APC installation guide shipped with the device. Among many other things, you can use the software to configure and monitor the UPS device. You can disable the alarm completely or during certain hours. You can set an interval shutdown for your PC following a power failure (mine is set to 1 minute). The PowerChute screen displays the estimated battery time (mine displays from 50-60 minutes). It displays a power history including blackouts, low/high voltage conditions and "electrical noise" interference.After the battery charged to 100% I pulled the plug. It worked perfectly. Everything I planned to backup were working fine. That includes my home phone system and internet/wireless router. The UPS automatically issued the shut down commands to my PC and shut it down after about a minute. I plugged the UPS system back in and powered up my PC. Got a message posted to my PC indicating that local AC power was restored and the UPS system was back in charging state. The PowerChute performance log displays the power failure date/time and time on battery.I've seen several complaints about too few UPS backed up outlets on the device. Mine has 5 that are backed up with surge protection and 2 with surge protection only and 3 that are controlled by the MASTER outlet which is one of the 5 UPS outlets.

I got the APC BE750G for a client to be a backup for a Synology DS214+ NAS drive in a location with notoriously problematic power. This is a supported model for Synology devices and that was part of the reason for selecting this model.The other reasons for select this UPS include:1) it has an appropriate capacity for the Synology2) with Amazon Prime free shipping it's a good value3) a long and generally very positive history using APC UPS'sThe device is built like a giant power strip with two lines of plugs: one with battery backup and one with surge protection. This layout works well for this client;s; office.Setup includes pulling out the battery enough to connect a pretty stiff power lead to the positive terminal. This requires some finger strength. Don't be surprised if there is a little spark when the connection is made. This is normal.There are two connections for a device: the power cord (obviously) which should go into the battery backup plug line and a USB cable to share information about battery level and utility power status. The USB cable is how your device knows to shut down before the batteries drain too much.NOTE: I strongly suggest you NEVER plug a laser printer device into this UPS. When they start up their current load is giant as they heat up their drum quickly to get that first page out. The most common UPS failure scenario I have come across is when people have ignored this caution.The Synology has built-in support for the APC UPS. For PC's there is APC PowerChute software included. This is to manage the UPS, control when windows shuts down and (I think this is important) keep a record of utility power quality. This includes voltage, frequency, outages, spikes, low voltage, frequency and outages. A UPS Self-test can be initiated with Powerchute to check battery health.Even without Powerchute, Windows 7 and newer (Maybe Vista too) should also automagically recognize the UPS's USB connection and provide basic control.The battery in this and most UPS devices have a limited lifetime. Usually it's around 3 years or so. APC has a battery replacement/recycle program and seems to charge fair prices and provide environmentally proper recycling of their lead-acid rechargeable batteries. Thinking long term this is an APC plus for me.Because this was just the right device for our NAS Server (or a small PC/monitor) and a good history with APC UPS devices I'm giving the BE750G 5 stars.Hope this helps someone!UPDATE: 12 Oct., 2017:It's been almost 2 years since this unit went into service and it has protected the Synology NAS across many many short outages and signaled a orderly shutdown before battery exhaustion on longer ones. It has worked perfectly in a location with terrible power reliability without any problems at all. This UPS remains a solid and now proven 5 star performer in a difficult power environment.

I have a Vera 3 that I use as a Z-Wave controller. Since I can't use full-power device inclusion, the Vera must actually be in close proximity to the devices being enrolled. While it has a cheesy battery pack that you can attach for this very purpose, it does require that the device reboot twice (once when going on the battery pack, and once when going back onto the AC/DC adapter).Being the impatient sort, and wanting uninterruptible power for the Vera anyway, I figured that the best approach was to get a small UPS. This is the smallest UPS that I could find (that I trusted). I only have the Vera on it. When I need to enroll a device, I just put the Vera and the UPS in a box, and carry it where I need to go. I feed the WAN port on the Vera with a wireless bridge (when I carry it around), and I connect to the Vera via its WiFi to handle the device enrollment. I prefer to use the UI to enroll devices, rather than just use the Z-Wave buttons on the Vera.Even though I'm willing to bet that the device doesn't put out sine wave output, it still seems to work well. The Vera and wireless bridge don't draw that much power, so this UPS could probably run them for an hour, or more.

The unit performs as stated. Nothing fancy about it. As long as it works is all I really care. Delivery was exceptional and very fast for using the free service. Price was great and way lower than other brick and mortar stores, like Staples for example, even when it was on sale.

I have a gaming computer which includes a solid state drive, Nvidia Geforce 780, an Intel® Core i7-4770K and often two external hard drives. I'm no electrician, but a power flicker at the start of this winter made the motherboard bios forget it's configuration or something. That was rather unsettling and I wanted to protect my PC. Even in this major Canadian city, Winter can be devastating to all the power lines we have.I plugged the computer, one of the two monitors, a modem and router, to the backup power plugs. Over the course of this winter my apartment has experienced a few flickers and our region has seen at least two short blackouts. Since I'm on DSL, the modem's connection remains intact and I can continue doing whatever. Backup power generally lasts me about 20 minutes. If I were playing a game such as Minecraft or Battlefield 4, then I would have less than half that time if I continued. I have a habit of never turning off the computer, therefore having the APC save me multiple times this year is an amazing feeling.The APC is quite large so make sure you have room for it. The large heavy duty battery has to be connected before you can start using it. The sticker and instructions scream to be read, so make sure you do so avoid any surprises. There will be a tiny spark the first time you bring the connectors for the battery together, so do handle it carefully. For me, it took some man-handling of the thick wire to get it connected and tucked back into the device. My APC is on the floor and hidden behind a desk. While some reviews on Newegg have reported it making constant sounds, I haven't noticed anything.The device serves as an excellent power bar as well. Regular power bar sockets tend to be crammed together and large transformer plugs may force you to take up the space of 2 or even 3 sockets. The APC has a large surface, so they spaced out a few of the sockets for you to make the best use of them.Even without installing the included software, Windows will recognize that it is on a battery if you simply plug in the APC with the USB. Suddenly the desktop computer is transformed into a laptop! If you install the APC software though, you get a lot more information on the device and options to set. It's kind of neat to see how much power is actually being used while idle or playing a game. During a blackout, if the APC runs out of power, it will put your desktop to sleep so you come back to it later as if nothing has changed (and no progress is lost).Some of my friends have been using an APC product for ~5 years now with the original battery. If you tend to take care of your machine, having this battery backup is a lot cheaper than having bought warranties for each of your PC parts.

Fast delivery, easy to setup, good unit

Amazon delivered the product on time and at a very competitive price. The unit was easy to set up and works like a charm.

This is quite a poor quality product, at least it was for us. It didn't work ideally right out of the box. Soon after it became a paper weight. We discovered it's uselessness at a time when we needed it to work. It's like an oversized surge protector, if it even functioned to that extent. I regret not returning it but was so busy a return would be quite a hassle. Possibly we received a factory dud. But no way to tell. I'd spend my money on a different choice if I could have a do over. If the price is irresistible consider if dealing with a potential return us worth the possible money saved.