Belkin F6C1500TWRK 1500VA Battery Backup UPS

Product Summary & Final Conclusions:

The biggest flaw of the Belkin F6C1500-TW-RK is hands down the battery monitoring, which is a pretty big issue as that controls how long the devices will stay running on battery power. As soon as line power is lost and the batteries kick in, the charge level initially drops dramatically before tapering off to a more consistent level. Unfortunately from a few online reviews I read, this is a common occurrence and has to be a design issue. When power is restored the charge level jumps way up too. Realistically there is no knowing exactly how much battery power you have until the system decides to cut itself off. My APC Smart-UPS on the other hand provides a very linear and consistent battery level reading, I can rely on its figures for how much runtime I have left and what the charge level is actually at.

I also do not care for the box stating the "Up to 120 min Backup Time" as I feel that is a little misleading to the average consumer. Belkin really should have put chart or something that states typical runtimes for various generic PC configurations since that is obviously what this product is geared towards.

The Bulldog Plus software is a little rough around the edges, but it gets the job done and is easy to use. The basic interface provides the necessary information, and buttons along the toolbar give quick access to history logs and graphs. It's nice too that Belkin made the software support a variety of platforms.

I also like how this UPS is fanless (and thus completely silent). My APC Smart-UPS has a fan which can kick in under high load conditions or when running on battery power.

Finally, with the connected equipment warranty and data recovery warranty, at least I have some piece of mind should the device fail horribly that Belkin will pay to replace / repair my hardware.

I bought this UPS at the local Fry's Electronics for $50 USD after mail-in rebate, a steal for any sized UPS. The usual store prices are about $120-$150, and Belkin lists the price at $199.99 on their website. Would I pay $200 for this UPS? Not a chance... Would I pay $99 for this UPS? Even that price is kind of iffy... In all likelihood I'll probably stick with APC in my future purchases, until they do me wrong or someone else makes a better product.