Geek Squad 1285VA UPS

[gman]

Anyone here have this or know anything about them?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7383985&type=product&id=1122654249041

 

[jpmkm]

I didn't even know they had geek squad branded equipment. Anyway, that UPS looks like a joke. I would stay far away from anything with "Geek Squad" printed on it. It looks like they have a comparable APC model. Not only is APC one of the best UPS brands, their model is actually cheaper than the geek squad model. Basically, if it is a toss-up between geek squad and anything else, go with anything else.

 

[VulturEMaN]

If I remember correctly, the Geek Squad ones are rebranded from a diff., legit company. They're alright, but won't operate anywhere near 1285VA....try something closer to 1000VA.

APC is a decent brand also (the original power brand in this catagory). However, I have gone through 2 APC branded UPSs (a 350VA for my old Dell and a 750VA for the home theatre).

After using them at about 40% load for 2 years, they both lost their effectiveness. Huge decrease.

I then shopped around at best buy and other places, and a guy at a tech store told me to check out the OPTI-UPS ones on newegg. Now I didn't know that newegg sold them, so I ran home and checked out all the stats. OPTI-UPS is an incredible brand (I have a 1000VA and a 375VA one). The monitoring software that comes with them is incredible. It allows for anything and everything to be edited and monitored. Want to restart your computer from thousands of miles away, then run a performance test on the UPS? Go right ahead.

Question: Do you honestly need this much VA?

If you do, than get this 1400VA one from OPTI-UPS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842107114

If you don't, then either get their 750VA or their 1000VA:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842107114

Just for reference, I have a 680W PSU with 2 6600GTs in SLI, 2 SATA hdds in RAID, 3 cd/dvd drives, and close to 11 fans in my case. And the UPS handles it at 27% idle, and 31% at load.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[gman]

Yea, thought the readout was pretty cool, but wasn't sure about the other parts.

 

[VulturEMaN]

I was just readin a few of the reviews of the 1000VA one, and there was a guy on there that had a 1500VA APC sine wave UPS, and he said that this OPTI-UPS kept a more stable output of volts. That's amazing, since a 1500VA sine wave model is close to 400$...

 

[TechLarry]

I couldn't own anything Geek Squad just because of how ugly it is.

And frankly, for a store-brand, their stuff is expensive!

-Larry

 

[TechLarry]

Ya had me going until I saw they were _serial_ connection. Damn... SERIAL IS DEAD people!

I have about 6 APC's around the house, including 3 backUPS Pro 1100's. The good part - They have been running strong for at least 4 years.

The bad part - replacement batteries cost more than the UPS itself. Tell me that ain't planned

-Larry

If I remember correctly, the Geek Squad ones are rebranded from a diff., legit company. They're alright, but won't operate anywhere near 1285VA....try something closer to 1000VA.

APC is a decent brand also (the original power brand in this catagory). However, I have gone through 2 APC branded UPSs (a 350VA for my old Dell and a 750VA for the home theatre).

After using them at about 40% load for 2 years, they both lost their effectiveness. Huge decrease.

I then shopped around at best buy and other places, and a guy at a tech store told me to check out the OPTI-UPS ones on newegg. Now I didn't know that newegg sold them, so I ran home and checked out all the stats. OPTI-UPS is an incredible brand (I have a 1000VA and a 375VA one). The monitoring software that comes with them is incredible. It allows for anything and everything to be edited and monitored. Want to restart your computer from thousands of miles away, then run a performance test on the UPS? Go right ahead.

Question: Do you honestly need this much VA?

If you do, than get this 1400VA one from OPTI-UPS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842107114

If you don't, then either get their 750VA or their 1000VA:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842107114

Just for reference, I have a 680W PSU with 2 6600GTs in SLI, 2 SATA hdds in RAID, 3 cd/dvd drives, and close to 11 fans in my case. And the UPS handles it at 27% idle, and 31% at load.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[AreEss]

Ah, UPSes, one of my realms.

This 'Geek Squad' unit?
I hope you have good homeowner's insurance if you buy it. Seriously. This thing is a fire hazard. It's a cheap Chinese knockoff of a Tripp-Lite SMART1000LCD. 1285VA? Not a chance in hell.

Look at the weight. 9.8lbs. You can't put 1285VA into 9.8lbs at that price. Period. Compare to the Tripp-Lite SMART1000LCD it tries to emulate; those are 14.6lbs for 1000VA.

As far as the rest go; I only buy Tripp-Lite and Liebert, period. Those are the only UPSes I have bought for the past decade. Everyone else has been absolutely nothing but trouble and failures.
Do yourself a favor and grab a Liebert off eBay. Doesn't matter what model, really. You can get batteries for them nearly anywhere, at reasonable prices. And Lieberts last forever. (No. I don't recommend used Tripp-Lites. The batteries will end up costing you more than buying a new unit.)

 

[seniorpaul]

The UPS itself may not be very good, but [sarcasm] at least you could have the Geek Squad come to your home and, for what i'm sure would be a VERY fair price, set everything up for you. [/sarcasm]

 

[gman]

Well, I went with APC again. Got a BK900 @ BB. I think that's suficent for now.

 

[morpheus6d9]

dont get it

 

[AthlonXP]

as a Best Buy employee and a GeekSquad double Agent i will tell you they are a bunch of POS's, I usually have stuck with APC and Cyberpower as my UPS choices. It looks sweet and all, but after playing with one I think its a total pile of crap.

 

[gman]

as a Best Buy employee and a GeekSquad double Agent i will tell you they are a bunch of POS's, I usually have stuck with APC and Cyberpower as my UPS choices. It looks sweet and all, but after playing with one I think its a total pile of crap.

Thanks man. Yea, I didn't get it, got the APC BX900 even though APC has nothing on their site about, which is strange. I chatted with some dude in India, I guess, and he said because it was retail for BB it's not on the APC site. That's kinda weird isn't it?

 

[VulturEMaN]

Ya had me going until I saw they were _serial_ connection. Damn... SERIAL IS DEAD people!

-Larry

And that's why God created serial to usb convertors

 

[tdg]

Ya had me going until I saw they were _serial_ connection. Damn... SERIAL IS DEAD people!

I have about 6 APC's around the house, including 3 backUPS Pro 1100's. The good part - They have been running strong for at least 4 years.

The bad part - replacement batteries cost more than the UPS itself. Tell me that ain't planned

-Larry

Serial is far from "dead", and I have 4 APC Smart-UPS 1400 VA units, replacement battery packs are $47 for each unit, for a UPS that was originally well over $500 and is one of the most reliable you could ask for thats a pretty cheap battery pack considering they'll last for 4+ years.

 

[Ockie]

And that's why God created serial to usb convertors

Instead of toying with adapters you can just get the right thing...

 

[VulturEMaN]

Instead of toying with adapters you can just get the right thing...

The majority of UPSs (that's right....more than 50%) still use serial.

I used to have a USB convertor, but then I realized how useless it was when I had a serial pci bracket for my mobo.

stop badmouthing serial...it's the same gd thing as USB and PS/2 for goodness sakes!

 

[gman]

Frikin update. I took back the BX900 and got the BX1200. Jeez it was only 30 more bucks so I figured why not. The only pain was BB doesn't carry the 1200 though it's on the frigin website. SO, I went to CC where they have it and they also had the BX1000 for $99 which is pretty good, but I wanted the fan on the back of the unit. The first CC I went to the boxes were beat to hell. No go. Second one the box was opened. No go. The 3rd CC I went to finally had one that looked decent, though the box was a bit mushed, I do realize they're quite heavy. So, I'll be protected from just about anything, except fire I guess, God forbid.

 

[MixManSC]

If you are looking for replacement UPS batteries find a local commercial lighting products dealer. They generally stock them or can gen them for dirt cheap. I just replaced the batteries in an APC SU1400 (2 batteries) for a total of $45 - not too bad to make your UPS last a long time again in my opinion. Buying batteries on eBay or the interent also works for a decent price but the shipping usually makes it too much.

 

[josanai]

Geek Squad stuff has to be the worst ripoff (well maybe not, but almost ). I can't believe people would actually buy it, but they do. It makes me sick thinking of people paying as much as they do for Geek Squad shit.

 

[unhappy_mage]

Do yourself a favor and grab a Liebert off eBay. Doesn't matter what model, really. You can get batteries for them nearly anywhere, at reasonable prices. And Lieberts last forever. (No. I don't recommend used Tripp-Lites. The batteries will end up costing you more than buying a new unit.)

It's really worth $1800 for 3kva? That's sixty cents per kVA, and for that price I can get two of these - 5kva APC units. Even if they're worse in terms of quality or something, three times the capacity from a decent company for the same price is pretty tempting.

 

[jpmkm]

It's really worth $1800 for 3kva? That's sixty cents per kVA, and for that price I can get two of these - 5kva APC units. Even if they're worse in terms of quality or something, three times the capacity from a decent company for the same price is pretty tempting.

The price differential probably comes mainly from the fact that that liebert is an online UPS whereas the APC unit is a standard line interactive UPS. Plus, it's a liebert. If you need an online UPS then the extra money will probably be worth it. Personally, I would never give up my online UPS(though I also didn't pay anywhere near $1800 for it). But for most home situations, an online UPS probably isn't a necessity. Also, the liebert is a 120VAC unit, whereas the APC is a 208VAC unit. Not sure if that necessarily adds a significant amount to the price differential or not, though.

 

[VulturEMaN]

What the heck?!?! Why are you guys looking at UPSs that are 1800$?!?!

Try an OPTI-UPS, and I swear you'll never go back to APC....APCs are junk....I can't stand them...2 busted in 2 years....

 

[Vertigo Acid]

APC is a decent brand also (the original power brand in this catagory). However, I have gone through 2 APC branded UPSs (a 350VA for my old Dell and a 750VA for the home theatre).

After using them at about 40% load for 2 years, they both lost their effectiveness. Huge decrease.

They're called replacement batteries......

 

[islands7]

It takes about 3 years to create a need for replacement batteries, so this was my task this week, as the Geek UPS1285va finally went out after only a few minutes during a power outage this month. It takes 2x12-9F2 which you can retail for $38 + free installation (first time in is not as obvious as its brother the 875va or the older TrippLites. Budget Batteries on line might be cheaper, if shipping is free ....

Since I read some disparaging opinons below from those not experienced, I must comment on my long association.
1. I agree with naysayers who rightly judge Best Buy brands like INSIGNIA, as they are akin to Pandora's Box, always causing new troubles.
2. However the exception to this rule are the gloriously dependable Geek UPSs like the 1285 + 875, always defending, my professional equipment from small town outages, storms and "fix things manana" attitudes.
3. These Geek units have bells & whistles like I've never had since the 1990's, e.g. time left on battery to continue backups, voltage, watts, etc. etc.
4. I will always be looking for similar future purchases, as it seems these Geeks are no longer offered.

 

[Joe S]

Damn. Bumping a thread over 5 years old...nice.