PC Quest''s Annual UPS Shootout

It''s summer again. And the only difference in power

conditioning needs this year promises you is that you did not get to wait till summer to

need power conditioning. In Delhi and elsewhere, power was so erratic during last winter,

that even serious home users began UPS-shopping earlier in the year.

For our 1996 UPS Shootout, we looked at the exciting world

of low-cost, sub-compact UPSs, priced from Rs 12,000 to Rs 5,000, or lower. We tried to

understand what the home and SOHO user would put their UPSs through, and came up with a

series of rigorous test and other parameters for the review.

UPS systems were asked for, checked for conformance,

integrity and signs of “souping up”. The UPS batteries were fully charged

overnight, and a series of electrical tests began at the very well-equipped Instrument

Design Development Centre’s (IDDC) lab at IIT Delhi.

Finally, we spent weeks checking the results, analyzing

them for the end-user, and following up on apparent discrepancies.

Here are the results, in the most comprehensive UPS reviews

ever in India. And the most exciting, because many of these products you can afford to buy

for your home or small office–right now.

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