# In there a UPS the size to a Tivo with plugs in the back



## tallbob (Jun 6, 2006)

Hi, 

I have a simple setup, a box that my TV sits on and in it a DVD and a TiVo S2DT. I'd like to add a UPS to this, but what I'd really like is a UPS that is about size and shape of a TiVo with all the plugs in the back so I could just add it to the stack. 

The APC UPS models I've looked at all are all bricks with the plugs in the top. That would be ugly in or beside my TV box. 

So, any pointer to a UPS that is designed to blend into a pile of AV boxes would be greatly appreciated. 

Bob 

P.S. I love my new S2DT


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## Aquatic (Nov 26, 2002)

tallbob said:


> <snip>
> 
> So, any pointer to a UPS that is designed to blend into a pile of AV boxes would be greatly appreciated.


Hmm.. you might look at the "rack mountable" styles, and then remove the rails. typically they are more $$$ though as the smaller ones start around the 1500KVa mark. 2200 is a more common one. I've dealt with www.refurbups.com and they have a nice selection, not limited to APC, and might have something for your rack... perhaps something like: Black Rack Mount UPS

Worth a shot I guess


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## skweaz (Feb 19, 2004)

I just picked up a Tripp-Lite unit at Costco for $100. I think this is it (I can't remember the exact model number): http://tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=3071
You can also get it from Frontgate.com (currently on clearance): http://www.frontgate.com/jump.jsp?sort=-1&itemID=2605&itemType=PRODUCT&AS=1&keyword=battery

All the plugs are in the back and the LCD on the front can be rotated.


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## WO312 (Jan 24, 2003)

skweaz said:


> I just picked up a Tripp-Lite unit at Costco for $100. I think this is it (I can't remember the exact model number): http://tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=3071
> You can also get it from Frontgate.com (currently on clearance): http://www.frontgate.com/jump.jsp?sort=-1&itemID=2605&itemType=PRODUCT&AS=1&keyword=battery
> 
> All the plugs are in the back and the LCD on the front can be rotated.


I just bought the same thing. But it is not the SmartPro, it is the ONMI1000LCD. The Tripplite website shows the OMNI900LCD.

I really like it.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

I have an APC model RS1000. It can be laid horizontal, although I've never tired it. It is 14 1/2" tall (wide). A Tivo is 15".










http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1000


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## ChuckyBox (Oct 3, 2005)

Belkin makes a nice looking unit that can be had for about $150 if you look around.


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

Frankly, I've gto a number of thiese bad boys:

http://www.buy.com/prod/Belkin_1500...ise_UPS_F6C1500_TW_RK/q/loc/101/10391960.html

They are 1500VA, and provide low voltage and high voltage protection. They are normally about $250-$300 in the stores, and can be gotten afor about $125.00.

I've got one on the Tivo, and one on the DVR cable box.

They look decent, but not as good as the PureAV units, which are only 1200VA.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

You can get the same one Gerhard posted above for $95 by adding it to your cart on Belkin.com....

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=186802

and then entering the coupon code 12345

Dan


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Gerhard said:


> I've got one on the Tivo, and one on the DVR cable box.


Am I reading that right? You have one just for the Tivo and another just for the DVR cable box?

I am using my APC RS1000 for Tivo, TV, Stereo, plus misc others things and it seems to be able to handle the load. (Never timed how just long it will stay up though with everything on.)

Speaking of which, the power must have been off here an hour ago while I was at lunch. My computer restarted and some of the touch lamps in the house came on. Seems my little APC 350 on the PC maybe too small. Guess I need to time it and see what it is capable of. 

The RS1000 on the Tivo stayed up the entire time cause my recording in progress wasn't split. (Nothing else was powered on though.)

Off to finally install that APC PowerChute software so I know what the heck is going on while I'm away... 

Edit: I had the computer plugged into the surge-only outlet on the 350.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> You can get the same one Gerhard posted above for $95 by adding it to your cart on Belkin.com....
> 
> http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=186802
> 
> ...


 :up:


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## bsnelson (Oct 30, 1999)

Dan203 said:


> You can get the same one Gerhard posted above for $95 by adding it to your cart on Belkin.com....


Actually, the one Gerhard posted is a 1500VA, but the one you linked to is a 1000VA. The buy.com link shows a final price of $139.99 (free shipping) and the 1000VA through Belkin shows a total of $124.xx (incl. sales tax and shipping); for $15 more, I'll definitely take the bigger unit.

Still, I'm having pre-buyers-remorse, so I'll hold out on a purchase for now. 

Brad


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

You're right, the 1500va one is $119 after coupon...

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=186894

which works out to about the same after shipping. 

Dan


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

greg_burns said:


> Am I reading that right? You have one just for the Tivo and another just for the DVR cable box?
> 
> I am using my APC RS1000 for Tivo, TV, Stereo, plus misc others things and it seems to be able to handle the load. (Never timed how just long it will stay up though with everything on.)
> 
> ...


I've got:

4 of the Belkin 1500VA models
2 SmartUPS APC 1250VA models
1 1450VA APC Backups Unit
1 700VA APC Unit
2 500VA APC Units
1 750VA APC Unit

These cover eveything from the house alarm, my FIOS connection, the various Tivo units, and the stereo equiment.

I find that if I don't use a decent 1500VA unit on the tivo, then the unit only runs the Tivo for about 1 hour.

Since the power rarely goes out for only 1 hour, I've dedicated it them to each unit I want to keep running.

I'm even considering a natural gas backup unit to power the Tivos, the refigerator, and the HVAC... -grin-

Overkill, sure, but why not?

PS ...and I own a REALLY good battery tester....


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I've thought about doing a whole house natural gas backup. However I have a customer who installs them and he said that they take a minute to fire up so you still need UPSs for things that you don't want to go off at all.

Dan


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

bsnelson said:


> Actually, the one Gerhard posted is a 1500VA, but the one you linked to is a 1000VA. The buy.com link shows a final price of $139.99 (free shipping) and the 1000VA through Belkin shows a total of $124.xx (incl. sales tax and shipping); for $15 more, I'll definitely take the bigger unit.
> 
> Still, I'm having pre-buyers-remorse, so I'll hold out on a purchase for now.
> 
> Brad


Oh yeah, the Belkin 1000VA unit is the same physical SIZE as the 1500VA unit... and they can stand veritcally or lay down horizontally.

In addition, they also come with a serial port, a network port, and a USB port so that they can be monitored by a computer... As such, using SNMP, you can tell exactly what's going on with the power, or perfrom battery tests, etc...


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## Bai Shen (Dec 17, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> I've thought about doing a whole house natural gas backup. However I have a customer who installs them and he said that they take a minute to fire up so you still need UPSs for things that you don't want to go off at all.
> 
> Dan


How does that work? Is it basically a generator that runs off NG?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Bai Shen said:


> How does that work? Is it basically a generator that runs off NG?


Yeah basically. It also detects when your power goes out and automatically kicks on.

Dan


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## Bai Shen (Dec 17, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> Yeah basically. It also detects when your power goes out and automatically kicks on.
> 
> Dan


Interesting. How much was it gonna run you?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The generators themselves start at around $1500, plus installation costs. The smaller units can handle only a few circuits. They connect through an automatic transfer switch that switches selected circuits from your breaker box.


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## Bai Shen (Dec 17, 2004)

stevel said:


> The generators themselves start at around $1500, plus installation costs. The smaller units can handle only a few circuits. They connect through an automatic transfer switch that switches selected circuits from your breaker box.


So more expensive than an equiv gas gen, huh? I think it'll be a while 'fore I get one.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

If you mean one of those portable jobbers, yes. But they will run continuously (at least as long as you have natural gas or propane fed to them), are more powerful and tend to be quieter. They also start automatically and shut off when the power comes back on.

The portables are fine for emergencies if you don't lose power often.


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## bud8man (Feb 13, 2004)

sounds like you are prepared for the avian flu pandemic


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## Gerhard (Sep 29, 2002)

stevel said:


> If you mean one of those portable jobbers, yes. But they will run continuously (at least as long as you have natural gas or propane fed to them), are more powerful and tend to be quieter. They also start automatically and shut off when the power comes back on.
> 
> The portables are fine for emergencies if you don't lose power often.


HOnda makes those 2000 watt super quite gas units.... and a larger one as well, that you can literally stand next two and barely hear...

I thought that a permanent one was a better idea, and gaurdian makes a fairly quite NG / LP one for aout $2000.00.

About 7000 watts, enough to run the heater, refridge, and TV.

...and to the other poster: Avian Flu, sure, but more like Katrina. You never know, and $2000.00 to me isn't a really big deal. (I can install it myself.)

Gerhard


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## ChuckyBox (Oct 3, 2005)

stevel said:


> The portables are fine for emergencies if you don't lose power often.


Or if the reason you lose electricity is also likely to cause you to lose your natural gas supply -- like a major earthquake, for instance.


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## m_jonis (Jan 3, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> You're right, the 1500va one is $119 after coupon...
> 
> http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=186894
> 
> ...


Don't forget www.ebates.com or www.fatwallet.com for a possible extra discount.


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## spudnic (Jul 25, 2004)

Speaking as someone who had to ride out Katrina, that NG option looks pretty good.

We couldn't get auto gas for over a week, so all those with the portable generators were either out of luck, or driving a hundred miles and filling up barrels.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

ChuckyBox said:


> Or if the reason you lose electricity is also likely to cause you to lose your natural gas supply -- like a major earthquake, for instance.


I believe that at least some of the NG generators also have the ability to run from a gas grill's propane tank.

Obviously that would be a fairly short run time, but if you had one on hand, you could get some usage from the generator even if a major disaster disrupted the natural gas supply.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Typically a device doesn't support being fueled by both natural gas and LP (propane) - the burner nozzle and perhaps regulator needs to be swapped out to change between these.


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## vman41 (Jun 18, 2002)

Where I work, the architect's office mandated all new buildings have backup generators. They are all opting for natural gas generators since they are easier to maintain and you don't have fuel tanks to deal with. It's commonly believed, however, that the campus gas infrastructure can't sustain more than one of these big puppies running at once.

APC makes 750 VA rack mount UPS that 17 x 26 x 1.75 inches, a bit pricey though.


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## dlmerchant (Feb 15, 2004)

Most (if not all) of the automatic home standby generators will run on either natural gas or propane. So, if your really concerned about a natural disaster, just get a propane tank. I live in Maine, and have an 8KW Automatic generator that runs on Propane. Natural Gas is not an option, as it is not available in my area. Two 100-gallon tanks of Propane will give me enough fuel to run the house on emergency power for 12-14 days. I also have APC UPS Sytems on my 3 TiVo's in the house.


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## Bai Shen (Dec 17, 2004)

stevel said:


> If you mean one of those portable jobbers, yes. But they will run continuously (at least as long as you have natural gas or propane fed to them), are more powerful and tend to be quieter. They also start automatically and shut off when the power comes back on.
> 
> The portables are fine for emergencies if you don't lose power often.


No loss yet.-crosses fingers- I'll have to look into 'em next yr.


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## interestingstuff (Apr 23, 2005)

there's probably a thread about this somewhere.. so maybe someone can point it out.. 

so I think one feature of most UPSes is that they have interfaces that you can hook up to your computer that will tell it when the power is gone and to shutdown automatically.. so is tivo capable of handling this communication, and if so, is it any particular models or brands that might be more suitable? 

and if not, might tivo ever add this functionality? I believe one of my earliest posts to the community was about protecting my tivo through UPS, power line conditioning, surge protecting, etc. . but I never followed up on this particular feature, and it would have definitely come in handy more than once.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

interestingstuff said:


> there's probably a thread about this somewhere.. so maybe someone can point it out..
> 
> so I think one feature of most UPSes is that they have interfaces that you can hook up to your computer that will tell it when the power is gone and to shutdown automatically.. so is tivo capable of handling this communication, and if so, is it any particular models or brands that might be more suitable?
> 
> and if not, might tivo ever add this functionality? I believe one of my earliest posts to the community was about protecting my tivo through UPS, power line conditioning, surge protecting, etc. . but I never followed up on this particular feature, and it would have definitely come in handy more than once.


But you can (supposedly) cut the power to a Tivo at any time w/o ill side effects. Right? 

Or are you suggesting some software that says wait until it finishes the current recording then power it down?

It is not losing power that normally damages the box, but the power fluctuation I believe.


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

If you are looking for a UPS that is similer to form factor of the Tivo, try the APC Powerstack, it's designed to be rack mounted but with out the side mounting hardware, it would work good and if you are a linux guru, it was serial port and you someone might be able to hook it up to smart signel the Tivo to shut down in a orderly manner.....

http://www.fticomputer.com/scripts/details.asp?PRDCODE=PPAP-BPS250&REFID=FR


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The TiVo is not capable of being shut down as a result of a signal from a UPS, but as greg_burns says, a clean removal of power the way a UPS will, and the delay of restoring power until it is stable, will not give a TiVo any problems.


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