UPS choice for Tivo OTA and entourage???

A couple of pointers from someone who has long used UPS's on all of his electronic equipment (I currently have six in use):

1) APC and CyberPower are two trusted brands. I personally prefer CyberPower for value, functionality and reliability.

2) One factor to bear in mind (as with printers) is the cost of replacement batteries, which can easily exceed the purchase price of the UPS over its lifetime. If the UPS requires OEM batteries (or, especially, if there is more than one or if the battery is not replaceable), this can represent an exorbitant expense once the original battery gives out (usually in three or four years depending on usage conditions). For this reason, I always do my research to ensure that I can find inexpensive non-OEM replacement batteries (i.e., less than $30 net) for whatever model UPS I purchase.

3) Your TV, like any display (but most especially a plasma), will quickly draw down the power on any UPS you are likely to purchase. Unless you plan to turn the display off within a few minutes of any power outage, it is recommended that you connect it, and any other heavy load, to the surge-only (non-battery backup) outlets on the UPS. They will be protected from power surges but will not operate once the AC power goes out. Your AVR, on the other hand, will typically not draw more than about 40W when in operation and so can stay on battery-backup; that 460W you cite is the maximum draw and does not represent real-world conditions.

4) I recommend you either get two smaller UPS's or one larger-capacity unit with at 10 or 12 outlets (5/6 battery-backup and 5/6 surge-only). One of the larger models you could consider is the CyberPower AVRG900U. It has 12 outlets, supplies 480W of battery power, and has available non-OEM replacement batteries, such as this one (about $25 shipped). There are plenty of other candidates, of course; you just need to do the research.

Good luck!

 

The application of a UPS on a DVR is not necessarily to allow recording to continue but rather to protect the DVR from spikes, voltage drops, and reboots that will drive it crazy and invite premature failure.

Losing a recording is nothing compared to waiting for a replacement DVR to arrive and the cost of replacement if not under warranty.

I've been using UPS units since the 80's and have NEVER experienced a power induced hardware failure.

FWIW I have multiple 1350VA Cyberpower Costco units and one protects a Roamio OTA, Panasonic 54" plasma, 100wpc stereo receiver, 3 watt class A tube amp, Roku, Apple Mini, VCR, and a Panasonic Blue-ray player with no problems whatsoever. During an intermittent power outage I continued to watch an OTA program for 20 minutes then the power came back without a single blip.

Regarding batteries... the Costco 1350VA Cyberpower uses two common 12v 7(or 8 or 9) AH batteries that are readily available on Amazon in the $20 range. They are user replaceable and hot swappable.

 

My measurements were based on a Roamio Pro. The 4-tuner basic or OTA models should draw a bit less.

During the worst of Harvey I unplugged my 1500VA TrippLite as a precaution and it ran 3 Roamios, a 16 port gigabit switch, my antenna preamp, and my Comcast modem/router for about 5 hours without any problems before the power stabilized again and I plugged it back in.

 

I'm using an APC BR1500G tower that i got on sale at Fry's for about $150. The battery lasted about 4 years then i bought an OEM APC battery cartridge online for $60 with free shipping. It has a setting to disable the audible alarm. There is a newer version of this unit now.

 

The one from Amazon is what I use on my main system. I do place tape over the power button since I dislike bright LEDs.

Yes, it's a good value.

 

LightDims are LEDs best friends I swear our house would be glowing into outer space without 'em. And no tape residue to munge up later [no connex, just very satisfied longtime customers]

lightdims.com

 

I have a zero tolerance for LEDs. But tape is not always the answer. On some devices, like my Roamio, a piece of wood painted flat black hides the front. It also blocks IR. For my Roku, a piece of card stock folded and placed in front works (also flat black). Electrical tape is ok for the front of the UPS since it's so high and large. Everything has alternatives.

 

I absolutely love Light Dims. I use them on tons of stuff. Get the "Original" Light Dims which are 50% light blocking (the 100% versions completely block the light just like a piece of black electrical tape does). The pack is sometimes about $3 at Fry's, or you can buy them on Ebay or Amazon or directly from their own website. I use the 50% Light Dims on all sorts of annoyingly bright indicators. If one sticker doesn't dim the light enough, i'll put a 2nd one over the first one that dims the light even more. The pack has several shapes and sizes and they can be cut to fit also.

Check out these links:



LightDims: Dim Led Lights, Halos Around Lights For Light Sensitive Eyes!

LIGHTDIMS.COM TV Ad <--- intenionally corny infomercial

I put Light Dims on various TVs around the house and also use them to dim the overly-bright front display of my cable DVR, on an alarm clock that's too bright, on my PC monitor's light, on the power indicator on my Tivo Premiere, the red laser beam light on my HDMI splitter, and even the super-bright Traction Control indicator on my car's instrument panel. Some of my devices required two or three layers to make a light dark enough. The good thing about these is that they don't leave a sticky black residue like a square of black electrical tape does. They peel off cleanly.

 

A couple, actually, but a few days late.

 

I use LightDims in some places, but on the UPS in my bedroom, I have aluminum foil wrapped all round the display and buttons which seem to want to light up all the time. The foil is absolutely impenetrable by light.

 

I use a black sharpie for light dimming.

 

I would also think that a Sharpie is too permanent.

What i used to do before i discovered Light Dims is just black-out a Post-It Note Sticky with Magic Marker, then cut a square of it in the correct size and place it over the offending LED indicator using needle tweezers for accurate placement. I've also used blacked-out blue Painters Tape instead of a Post-It Note.

 

Yes
Rubbing a tissue moistened with rubbing alcohol on the sharpied light, will remove the sharpie as will oils from the skin, over time.

My office computer no sharpie on upper light.