APC Back UPS XS1500VA Battery Backup :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Another "overload" malfunction

2008-03-09
Same exact experience as Ruppman and 71 Torino - shows "overload" with only 1/5 capacity being used. Will not reset, battery replacement will not help, unit is a costly paperweight. Warranty probably expired (two years old). I could have made a much better purchase for $300.00... Not recommended. (also manuf in Bangladore)

Correction: My unit is the RS1500, not the XS1500. That said, units are essentially the same. (differences clearly explained in the RS1500 comments)

The real workhorse! Inservice non stop from 2002 and still alive!

2008-01-29
Since 2002 and still alive! The battery is still alive, not so much as it was years before (of cause) but still give some respectable 30 min with all the stuff connected.
I am starting looking for a new APC unit but I'm very impressed with APC quality and durability.

Great Product, Neg Posters should have read manual

2007-02-17
We have several of these APC UPSs at work. They all have worked wonderfully. We did however had a small problem with one of them on a Pentium D with dual monitors. The fix, quoted in this post was quite simple and easy to follow. Since at least two other posters for this product have given unwarranted poor ratings I felt compelled to post it here.

"I discovered the problem, which may be affecting other folk. This sort of UPS has "AVR" - automatic Voltage Regulation - when the wall voltage drops, the UPS boosts it. When the wall volts drops too far, the UPS starts using battery power in an attempt to keep its output voltage at 120V. One time, when restarting, I had the Kill-A-Watt meter measuring the Mac Pro's current - it hit 5 Amps and the UPS went onto battery, and then moments later into overload, and then shut down. Re-reading the UPS instructions, it appears that these machines can be set to respond to very minor wall voltage variations, average voltage variations, or only crass, major variations. There's a simple way of setting this (read the instructions for full info - available on the APC website). Mine was set to respond to the tiniest of wall-voltage variations - and that meant it saw the small voltage drop caused by the inrush current to the Mac Pro, went onto battery power, and commited elegant suicide.
Resetting it to allow crass, major variations has completely cured the problem. I may yet set it to respond to "average" variations."

Excellent UPS

2007-02-09
I've been using several of these for years with my electronic equipment , from an SVS subwoofer, a Denon receiver, to a 1080P DLp set. I have all my electronic components attached to one of these. They have worked flawlessly. I also like that you can set it so the alarm doesn't come on when there is an outage. So you don't have to constantly hear the incessant beeping. Just use the Powerchute software to set it up and disable the alarm. And if you add the external APC battery pack(APC BR24BP) that Amazon sells you can get many more hours of ruuntime during an outage depending on the load.

After 3+ years Still Kicking

2007-01-02
I've had the APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA and the 2nd battery pack since the December 22, 2003 6.5 Earthquake in CA knocked out power. No problems what so ever since. Recently bought a DVR and going to buy a second one of these prolly to protect it.

APC overload

2006-09-06
Ensure your office and computer gear a healthy diet of stable current, even amidst power interruptions up to 110 minutes in duration, with the AMERICAN POWER CONVERSION ( APC ) Back-UPS XS 1500 Battery Backup Unit. Free protection trial offers $150,000 Equipment Protection Policy and Data Recovery Warranty Two Year Product Warranty

Good staff

2006-03-17
I have loaded 5 computers plus modem, switch, router and monitors. And it works great.

NOT RECOMENDED!!

2005-10-02
I purchased this unit last April 2005. After 2 months it quit working and the overload light came on. I unplugged my computer and monitor, (only things plugged into it), and it still wouldn't work and light said "overloaded". I called APC and had to send it back for $25.00 shipping. Their policy is to send a "refurbished" unit. Took a month to get. Second unit did the same thing. Sent back again, received another in about a month. Now this one just went out also. Same problem and booklet says it is an internal error, when it does this. Not a "fault" in my wiring or "reverse polarity, or anything else on my part. My last unit a "Contaxt" lasted over 8 years. Basically in my humble opinion, this a piece of junk. As is their return policy, where you pay the shipping and only receive a refurbished unit. States so in their "warranty". Of course you can't read it till you get it home or to the office. Not very reputable. Used to be a good company with good products. Not any longer!

Great back-up unit with informative software

2005-03-28
Our power frequently goes out so a UPS is a must, but worse than the blackouts are the flickering of power on and off. I've lost two expensive items (Roland MC505 and a 120GB external Hard Drive) simply due to the power fluctuating rapidly for several seconds causing the UPS to 'give up' and switch off.

I had a Belkin UPS connected to my main PC but it clearly wasn't up to the job despite it being more than rated for the PC's consumption. Sometimes it would cover the outage, others it would simply power down. I needed a good replacement and so opted for the APC Back-UPS XS 1500.

Firstly, we have yet to lose power since its installation so I can't really know for sure if the unit will perform when needed, but I'm happy to comment on the unit and software. Now this is a BIG unit, slightly smaller than a PC case and half the width. I'd say it weighs somewhere in the region of 25-30lbs so should be placed on a sturdy desk or the floor. It stands upright, although can be laid flat, and looks well made and solid. On the back are the usual separate surge protected and powered surge protected outlets, but this unit has the most number of battery powered outlets (6) I've seen on a consumer model.

Set up was easy and connecting the battery for the first time a breeze. Software installed without a hitch and is extremely comprehenive - something that gives me great confidence in the unit is being able to see recent activity - dealing with brownouts or completely taking over from outages are logged as well as a realtime estimate of how long the unit would cover you for the outage, based on your current load. Also shown is the power consumption allowing you to make an informed decision as to how many more peripherals you can hook up before you overload the unit. Alarms can be toggled through the software and tailored to your specific situation. Currently I have a powerful Alienware PC, external HD, 21" monitor and some sundry peripherals connected to the unit and yet I'm only using about 33% of the allowable capacity - nice to know should I intend adding more hard drives etc.

All in all, I've bought several APC UPS products and I feel this is one of the best they've produced - it's going to do the job very well and recommend the unit to those needing a little more power than normal.

works well on 2 pc's

2004-05-30
Works well with my set up. 1pc is a dual xeon p4 with 6 hd drives and 2 burners, dual 17in lcd's. other pc is a 3.2p4 with a radeon 9800 pro and a fast lcd. i also have my cable modem and router hooked up to it. power kept flickering on and off and my other ups couldn't handle 2 pc's. this one can easily handle it and you can add a battery for longer outages but i kept getting tired of a flicker causing my pc's to reset.
I dont even bother with the software so i cant rate that but it works great for my needs. so it can drive 2 pcs 3 lcds 1 router and 1 cable modem for over 4 minutes which is enough for most quick outages. it also protects against overvoltages which is nice. if my power went out for longer times i would get the extra battery but i live in seattle and the power rarely goes out for even a full minute.

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