My home and home office contain many sensitive electronic devices. We have several personal computers, a PC server, NAS drives, routers, switches, printers, cordless phones, security system, etc. All of these things (and more) plug into the AC mains and are therefore vulnerable to voltage sags or spikes and the occasional power outage. When a person invests a lot of money in electronic hardware, it only makes sense to do everything you can to protect it. That is why I always discourage people from plugging these sensitive devices directly into the wall. I currently have a total of 10 UPS systems and two line conditioners in my home, which protect my most valuable computer, security and A/V equipment.
Over the years the cost of power conditioners and Uninterrupted Power Supplies has dropped drastically, and yet the overall reliability and performance of these have improved a great deal. A typical UPS used to be thought of as a simple battery backup device. But today the majority of UPS systems also help to condition the power, to a degree, using technologies such as AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation). There are several different types of UPS systems available, offering a wide range of output capacities and power conditioning capabilities. Of course the price goes up as your need of greater output and more sensitive voltage protection increases. But for some devices you can get by with a modest UPS system, to simply provide a moderate amount of power protection and battery backup time. This “modest” category is where the CyberPower CP850AVRLCD UPS fits in.
Model numbers of these UPS systems can be a little confusing, as many people think that the model reflects the output level of the device in watts. The model number of most UPS systems actually reflects the volt-amp rating, whereas the continuous watt load the unit can handle is usually a fraction of that VA rating, in terms of AC output. Calculating the exact watt output the UPS can sustain, strictly based on the VA rating, can be a little tricky since the AC load is not usually in precise phase. However, if you look up the specs of a given UPS system, the manufacturer usually indicates the maximum watts that the device is meant to sustain. In the case of the CyberPower CP850AVRLCD, the VA rating is 850 but the watt output rating is 510. That is a 60% difference between the VA and Watt rating.
This CyberPower UPS provides Automatic Voltage Regulation, shown by the letters “AVR” in the model number. This means that the UPS is capable of decreasing (Buck) or increasing (Boost) output voltage, slightly, in order to “clean” the power it is passing through to your electronic equipment. This is, or course, while the UPS is receiving AC power through your mains. If the voltage exceeds the minimum or maximum voltage tolerance, the system will automatically switch over to battery power, in order to protect your electronic equipment. The included PowerPanel Personal Edition software allows you a modest adjustment to these minimum and maximum voltage tolerance levels. The software also clearly displays the current status of the UPS, including voltage supplied, voltage condition, remaining battery capacity, battery status, remaining battery runtime and the current battery backed up load on the system. PowerPanel Personal Edition allows you to adjust the amount of time that your computer will remain running on battery power before shutting down. Of course you can choose to set the UPS to allow your computer to run as long as possible, but the UPS will still shut down your computer when it is down to only 5 minutes of remaining time. Therefore you will need to consider how much of a load your current equipment will put on the UPS, as too much load could cause the UPS to shutdown your computer almost immediately after an AC power failure. There is also a configuration screen for alert sounds, which allows you to enable or disable the beeping sounds this UPS would normally make during power events. There is not much more you can do with this software, which really limits its overall usefulness.
Some of the most important technical specifications of this device are as follows:
* UPS Topology: Line-Interactive
* Voltage Input: 90Vac – 140Vac
* Plug Style: Right Angle
* Cord Length: 6 feet
* Output: 850VA / 510 Watts
* AVR: Yes
* On Battery Voltage: 120Vac +/- 5%
* On Battery Frequency: 60Hz
* On Battery Waveform: Simulated Sine Wave
* Battery & Surge Outlets: 5
* Surge-Only Outlets: 4
* Overload Protection: Internal Circuitry Limiting/Circuit Breaker
* Transfers Time: 4ms
* Runtime at Half Load: 7 min
* Runtime at Full Load: 1 min
* Battery Type: Sealed Lead Acid – 12V/8.5Ah
* Typical Recharge Time: 8 Hours
* Surge Suppression: 1,080 Joules
* Phone/Ethernet RJ11/RJ45: 1-In, 1-Out (combo plug)
* Coax Protection (RG6): 1-In, 1-Out
* Computer Interface: USB x1 – Serial x1
* Dimensions (in): 10 1/4″ x 4 3/8″ x 8 7/8″
* Weight: 16 lbs.
* Product Warranty: 3 Years Limited
* Connected Equipment Guarantee: Lifetime
* CEG Amount: $250,000
The majority of my UPS systems are made by APC. However, I wanted to try a CyberPower unit, so I purchased this smallish 510 Watt unit to provide conditioning and battery backup for a DSL modem, an Ethernet Router, a wireless access point, and a 16-port Gigabit switch. The total load of this attached hardware is only about 45 to 50 watts, at full working load. Therefore this UPS should provide battery backup long enough for me to do some moderate Internet browsing from another UPS powered PC or wirelessly from a laptop. Setup of the CyberPower UPS was completely effortless. You don’t even have to hook up cables to the internal battery, which is something that all APC units require. Upon powering up the CyberPower UPS I was greeted with a nice blue LCD display, which can be toggled to show current load level, estimated run time, input voltage, output voltage, output frequency, battery capacity, and the current status of the UPS (normal AC, battery in use, AVR in use, if system overload is detected, if audible sound is enabled or disabled, or if there is a household wire fault). I think this LCD status display is very useful. However, CyberPower has decided that the consumer does not need the LCD to remain lit, for real-time monitoring. Therefore you will find that the LCD will shut itself off after about 20 seconds, unless you push the toggle button, which lights it back up again as you switch between status screens. I find this extremely annoying, as I like to be able to monitor input voltage and current power load by just glancing at the display. All of my APC UPS systems, with LCD displays, allow me to set the backlight to remain lit at all times. I just don’t understand why CyberPower would not provide this ability. I don’t like it when a manufacturer makes a decision for me that I don’t need something, even though I specifically paid for a UPS with an LCD display. Since I paid for it, I want to see it. I don’t want to have to crawl under the desk to push the doggone toggle button, just to activate the backlight so I can see the display. The engineer that designed this shortcoming should be fired!
Overall I am quite pleased with the CyberPower CP850AVRLCD UPS. It offers a reasonable amount of useful features, has plenty of backed-up (5) and surge-only (4) outlets, includes Automatic Voltage Regulation, and has a compact footprint. The battery runtime is rather low, especially when used for a mid-level or high-end PC and monitor. But for my low wattage needs, this UPS should keep my DSL modem, router, wireless access point and Ethernet switch up and running for quite some time. The LCD display shows, under the average 45 watt load I have, it will run for approximately 94 minutes. I almost expect that it will likely last even longer than that. My biggest complaints with this UPS are the weak software that CyberPower provides, as well as the unchangeable sleep mode that the LCD display goes into. CyberPower has really dumbed down this otherwise impressive UPS device. The product itself is a worthy, full-featured UPS system, but CyberPower has restricted user configuration to the point that it just can’t compete with other big players in the market, like APC. For a very basic computer user, this UPS could be a good, low cost solution. But for advanced users, who demand more control of their UPS settings and features, the CyberPower CP850AVRLCD simply falls short. I think the folks at CyberPower should consider updating their PowerPanel Personal Edition software, to allow more control of voltage tolerances, automatic computer shut down, LCD backlight mode (choices for sleep mode and always on), and the ability to setup a computer hibernation rather than simply shutting down the computer. Maybe some of their higher end (more expensive) UPS systems allow for these settings, but I definitely feel that they should consider adding these abilities to models like the CP850AVRLCD as well. I could easily give this UPS 5 stars if the software was more useful and the LCD display were user controllable, but as it stands now I can only give it 4 stars at best. Everything else about this UPS is solid and well designed, so I recommend it for basic computer users that do not require power user features and configurability.
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