Help a girl out! I need deals & advice on UPS / Battery backup units.

[therenee]

Hello, I need help finding some deals on Uninterruptible Power Supplies. And maybe some advice on which kinds to get. I need one for my PC setup, and one for our home theater equipment.
I know the watts used by each of my components in the home theater setup, and they add up to around 280W. Do I go for a UPS with around 300W capacity, or is there a reason why I should get something higher? Also, I've read that Automated Voltage Regulation is a good thing to have - is that for real or is it just a line?

As for my PC, I'm not sure what size I need. I know my PSU is around 400W, but I don't think that matches 1:1 for what I need in a UPS. I have some pretty average components - 2 SATA HDs, a couple DVD drives, two case fans, a AMD Athlon 64 3200+ CPU...nothin' fancy. I've read that PCs need anywhere from 50 - 250W, but I'm not sure that the writers of those facts were reliable. :confused:

Anyway, I would really appreciate any information you guys can throw my way. I'm a little lost in all this, and I know slickdealers are quite knowledgeable!

[c0re]

Most good ups'es have built in software that will shutdown the system in case of a power failure. You can set the software to shut down 1-2 minutes once the unit goes to battery power.

For a typical pc or home theater setup, 390watts or more is preferred, the idea is once you lost power, you are able to save any open documents and shut down the pc right away. If you want more time to shut down, look for a higher end ups.

Automated Voltage Regulation is good is you live in area where there are constant brownouts or the electric in your house is unstable.AVR keeps equipment working through low voltage (brownout) and high voltage conditions indefinitely, without draining battery power.

More basic UPS systems expose connected systems to brownouts and over-voltages unless they discharge their battery, basically AVR will help the battery last longer in the end, so it's good thing to have. Read all about it here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply)

As far as which to get, been using Cyberpower for years, no issues at all. APC and Belkin are also good, avoid Tripp-Lite Opti-Ups, poor track record.

Good model: Cyberpower CP685AVR UPS - 685VA/390W AVR 8-Outlet RJ11/RJ45 Compact Design EMI/RFI USB (http://www.amazon.com/Cyberpower-CP685AVR-UPS-8-Outlet-Compact/dp/B00095W91O/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248403508&sr=1-8) - 3-6 minutes shutdown time.

Better model: CyberPower Intelligent LCD Series GreenPower UPS CP1000AVRLCD 1000VA 600 Watt 5 x 5-15R Battery/Surge Protected 4 x 5-15R Surge Protected Outlets UPS - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102082) - 10-20 minutes shutdown time.

Excellent model: CyberPower Intelligent LCD Series GreenPower UPS CP1500AVRLCD 1500VA 900W 8 Outlets UPS - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102048) - - 20-40 minutes shutdown time.

[therenee]

Thank you! Funny thing, those are the three models I've been kind of looking at, so now I feel a lot better!