APCby Schneider Electric Smart-UPS SC - SC450RMI1U - Uninterruptible Power Supply 450VA (Rackmount 1U, Line Interactive, 4 Outlets IEC-C13, Shutdown Software)

I bought it without doing too much research. It is very well built with a solid durable plastic front face and aluminium frame with steel casing.420VA puts it in as an entry level unit but in reality this is more than enough to provide first class protection and a clean shutdown. I have mine connected to two IPS flatron led monitors and the PC is a custom built I5 overclocked with two HDD 1TB drives, 16GB ram, Windows 7 64bit. In testing this UPS was able to run my modern machine for a good 35 minutes idle and Powerchute reported a 25% load.My two bugbears is this UPS is lacking a USB interface and the documentation leaves you in the dark if trying to achieve a minimal installation.Step 1 (lack of USB)My PC is bursting with USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports on the front and rear with no RS323 serial. I didnt want to fit a dedicated internal serial card so to solve this I bought:StarTech 1 Port FTDI USB to Serial RS232 Adapter Cable with COM Retention...Windows 7 auto detected the new port no problem and it seems its important to buy a quality adapter that is using the FTDI chipset.Step 2 SoftwareBy trial and error the only software necessary to install is "PowerChute Business Edition AGENT" which detected the unit no problem. You then simply visit [...] in a web browser to view usage reports and make any configuration changes. I discovered the APC network server and other packages on the CD are not necessary. I also discovered this APC Smart-UPS SC will not work with PowerChute PE (Personal Edition) as PE only supports APC units that have direct USB. I've also tried [...] but gave up trying to configure the package. PowerChute Business Edition Agent just works straight out the box with minimal system resources.

This is the fourth or fifth APC UPS I have bought over the years. An excellent piece of kit. Does its job totally unobtrusively.Only present shortcoming is that earlier purchases included end-of-life recycling -- not now -- now recycling is in the hands of the purchaser

Installed some weeks after purchasing, the back plane has 4 outputs, 2 won't accept anything..? unsure why, another when you pull it out, the whole back plane including the plastic comes with the lead. If you plug more than one device in it overloads, very disappointing for the price, I have e-mailed direct but have not heard anything yet reference returning under warrenty. I would NOT recommend purchasing anything from this vendor.

I have three APC UPS systems, so I obviously like them. My oldest must be 10 years old by now, and apart from needing a new internal lead acid battery has been completly trouble free.My object in writing this review is to spare you a possible problem caused by a faulty product description (and that's why it gets three stars).These UPS systems have, as output, 230V 50Hz outputs - that's fairly evident, otherwise you could not run your equipment off them. What you need to know is that some of them produce an output which is a stepped approximation to sine wave. Others, those in the Smart range (with perhaps this exeception), produce a pure sine wave output.My computer runs fine on the stepped output, and my phone system runs fine on the stepped output. However, I have a heating system controller that really objects to it. It is for this system that I ordered the Smart UPS. The Product Description on the Amazon page says "With pure sine-wave output ensuring compatibility with all connected devices ...", but if you look up this model on APC's website, you will see that it is stepped. Unfortunately, I went with the original descrition and have had to return it (with Amazon, as usual, being very good on this score).If you do need pure sine wave output (as I do), then go for this one instead: APC Smart 750VA LCD 230V; 750 VA; 500 W; 160 - 280 V; 220/230/240; 230 V; 6 x IEC 320 C13 (SMT750I). It has some nice additional features, and my heating controller runs with it, no problems.

All good and it does what it says on the tin. Note it's quite shallow so would fit in a comms cabinet.

Good item,easy connect.

My old UPS died and the APC Smart UPS has turned out to be a worthy replacement. Highly competitive price from Amazon.

OK product.