Review

APC Back-UPS Pro 1000VA Review

APC Back UPS 1000 (BR1000G-IN) from APC is the best UPS in it's class available in India that I had the pleasure of reviewing.

Attractive, full black color neat look with a LCD display on the front which displays input voltage, output watts being consumed, percentage of watts consumed, minutes remaining with current battery backup and current watts and energy conservation features make the BR1000G-IN the must to have UPS choice for every PC user.

If you're looking for the best UPS for your high-end PCs under 600Watts consumption BR1000G is the best. But if you are having ultra high end PC with higher power consumption I would recommend BR1500G with 865Watts of output capacity for you.

Features

Now let's have a look on what features does APC Back-UPS Pro 1000VA BR1000G-IN have for us.

  • LCD graphics display - Text and mimic diagrams that display modes of operation, system parameters and alarms.
  • Battery replacement without tools - Enables fast battery replacement, lowering Mean Time to Repair (MTTR).
  • Easy recovery from overloads - Resettable circuit breaker, no need to replace a fuse.
  • Boost and Trim Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) - Eliminates voltage fluctuations as a source of AV signal degradation and component power-supply stress.
  • Green mode - Operating mode that bypasses unused electrical components in good power conditions to achieve very high operating efficiency without sacrificing any protection.
  • Efficiency - 80% on Full Load and 84% on Half Load achieved by using Line Interactive Topology.
  • Adjustable voltage sensitivity - Provides the ability to adapt the UPS for optimal performance in specific power environments or generator applications.
  • Adjustable voltage-transfer points - Maximizes useful battery life by widening the input voltage window or tightening the output voltage regulation.
  • Disconnected battery notification - Warns when a battery is not available to provide backup power.
  • Turn ON /OFF Audible alarms - Alarm providing notification of changing utility power and UPS power conditions, can easily be tuned on or off according to your mood.
  • Automatic self-test - Periodic battery self-test ensures early detection of a battery that needs to be replaced.
  • Battery-protected and surge-only outlets - Reserves power capacity and run time for connected equipment that require UPS battery back-up while providing surge only protection for less critical equipment.
  • Cold-start capable - Provides temporary battery power when the utility power is out.
  • Dataline surge protection - Provides protection of connected equipment from power surges on the data lines.
  • Hot-swappable batteries - Ensures clean, uninterrupted power to protected equipment while batteries are being replaced.
  • USB connectivity - Provides management of the UPS via a USB port for Windows only. Software shows real-time current power consumption, estimated battery backup time, automatic PC shutdown and many more.
  • Customizable voltage sensitivity - Toggle between pre-determined voltage-transfer points depending on your power quality (high, medium or low sensitivity), maximizing useful battery life and protecting sensitive electronics.
  • Safety-agency approved - Ensures the product has been tested and approved to work safely with the connected service provider equipment and within the specified environment.

Showcase

Packaging was real good, as you can see my parcel have goon through a real abuse from courier guys, but the hardware inside was in absolute perfect condition.

Box is having some good pictures of the actual product with clear and detailed description of features and labeled backside pin layout for easy installation without even reading through whole User manual.

Package containing UPS unit, User's Manual, Safety Information guide, Product registration form with business reply mailer, Warranty document, PowerChute software disk, USB data link cable, a RJ-11 telephone cable and Quality Assurance test result slip showing different test passed by this particular UPS with exact serial no. Showing that each and every unit has to pass through many quality tests before it is qualified for sales.

Have not seen this type of quality assurance being given by any other UPS manufacturer in India. +1 for APC.

Product looks good and sleek. Having three rubber carbon contact buttons on top, same type and feel buttons as you find on your TV remote control. Unit is having large air vents on top, on both side and on back, for active cooling. Having an internal fan which is noisy during charging and discharging. Rest of the time unit is relatively silent than other UPSs.

Connectivity

  • 4 battery backup output power ports, out of which one port is master port to which main CPU is connected. By changing some settings and when CPU is switched off or in sleep mode, this port can turn power off to all other ports.
  • 2 surge only ports for your printers and other peripherals.
  • External Battery pack connector. You cannot connect any external battery to it, but only the backup battery unit that APC provides for this model, which will increase the backup time from 50 minutes to approx. 2 hours.
  • USB port to connect UPS to the computer via a USB cable provide with the unit.
  • Data Surge protection ports.

Power ON

Now Power on the UPS. Top buttons are white backlight buttons, left one is alarm sound on/off button, middle one is power button and the right side one is menu button. Front LCD turns on showing Ac input voltage, plug-in symbol, alarm sound-on icon.

Pressing alarm button cycles alarm icon between sound-on and mute symbol accordingly changing the alarm profile.

Pressing Menu button again and again cycles LCD display information showing output ac voltage reading, percentage of watts consumed, minutes remaining with current battery backup, current watts and many more (see user manual for Function Button Quick- Reference). Beside voltage and current reading LCD also displays warning icons and error codes which user can refer to the manual for details and better troubleshooting.

Inside look

Internal battery pack. Easy tool less removal and battery replacement. This unit is having two 9Ah/12v batteries connected in series for total on 24 volts.

Heavy duty connector and battery temperature sensor.

Master UPS output is having separate line which is monitored for load to control other output ports.

External battery pack connector and Data Surge protection pcb having MOV array.

Main inverter transformer. Older APS 1000VA UPS used to have a big chunk of Iron in form of Class –A Step-up transformer. Heavy and about 60-70% efficient. But this version is having a substantial high-frequency Class -B transformer(430-0156 R02 CL-B) increasing efficiency upto 84% and help in reducing overall weight of UPS , result in sleek design also help in reducing thermal footprint too.

All aluminum plate heatsinks are having different Power MOSFETs, transistors and regulation ICs.

Even main circuit need some power for themselves, and unit gets its power from a TOP234Y highly integrated fly-back switching power supply, rated for up to 45 W output on 85-265 VAC line input, which is more than enough to charge the UPS batteries and run all other electrons inside the unit.

Surge protection section with VHF Capacitors (remove noise inference), Metal Oxide Varistors(absorb Surge) and Large Heavy-duty Ferrite Toroidal Inductors( provide increased noise filtering and lowers let-through voltage).

Technical Details

Model

  • Brand : APC
  • Model : BR1000G-IN

Output

  • Output Power Capacity : 600 Watts / 1000 VA
  • Nominal Output Voltage : 230V
  • Efficiency at Full Load : 80.0%
  • Output Frequency (sync to mains) : 50/60 Hz +/- 3 Hz user adjustable +/- 0.1
  • Waveform Type : Stepped approximation to a sinewave
  • Efficiency at Half Load : 84%
  • Bypass : Built-in Bypass

Input

  • Nominal Input Voltage : 230V
  • Input Frequency : 50/60 Hz +/- 3 Hz (auto sensing)
  • Input Connections : 3-pin 6A
  • Cord Length : 1.52 meters
  • Input voltage range for main operations : 150 - 280V

Batteries & Runtime

  • Battery Type Maintenance-free sealed Lead-Acid battery with suspended electrolyte : leakproof
  • Typical recharge time 7.40 hour(s)

Communications & Management

  • Interface Port(s) : USB
  • Control panel : Multi-function LCD status and control console
  • Audible Alarm : Alarm when on battery : distinctive low battery alarm : overload continuous tone alarm

Surge Protection and Filtering

  • Surge energy rating : 680 Joules
  • Data Line Protection : Analog phone line for phone/fax/modem/DSL (RJ-11 connector),Network line - 10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)

Environmental

  • Operating Environment : 0 - 40 °C
  • Operating Relative Humidity : 0 - 95%
  • Operating Elevation : 0-3000 meters
  • Storage Temperature : -15 - 45 °C
  • Storage Relative Humidity : 0 - 95%
  • Storage Elevation : 0-15000 meters
  • Audible noise at 1 meter from surface of unit : 45.00 dBA

Physical

  • Maximum Height : 301.00 mm
  • Maximum Width : 114.00 mm
  • Maximum Depth : 382.00 mm
  • Weight 11.35 KG
  • Color Black

Runtime Graph

Runtime Chart

Pros

  • Slim design is an attractive alternative to standard box-shaped back ups
  • GreenPower UPS significantly reduces energy requirements compared to devices without this feature
  • LCD Display with real-time readings
  • External battery pack connector option to increase UPS Backup time.
  • Software with auto shutdown feature.
  • Alarm sound can be turns off
  • Weighs in at a bit over 11 Kg – less than most 1000VA UPS devices
  • 2 Years warranty

Cons

  • Not 100% silent. Fan produces a lot of noise during charging and discharging.
  • Difficult to configure Master Output Port with auto shutdown with zero load. Even after shutdown CPU draws some power for standby voltage.
  • Power switch is located quite deep and it's difficult pressing it specially when turning off the unit.

With my test system (i7-3770K at stock, Sabertooth board, 2x4GB Corsair value RAM, 240GB Corsair GS SSD, 1 TB and 2TB WD Green HDD, Asus HD7750, Asus Xonar DX sound card ) at ideal and according to the LCD front panel on the UPS, I'm at 16% load and can expect approximately 40 minutes of runtime. Pretty impressive, with a 600W maximum capacity the APC Back-UPS Pro 1000VA BR1000G-IN is an excellent choice for performance systems at a very good price.

APC Back-UPS Pro 1000VA is very simply the best UPS device I've ever tested. I have no reservations whatsoever about recommending it to anyone looking for a UPS for a performance computer system.

APC Back-UPS Pro 1000VA BR1000G-IN is an excellent choice for PC systems and worthy of our PC TeK REVIEWS Choice Award.

Manufacturers Info

Site link

Support and Service

Comments