How do you tell what UPS to buy?

How do you know what the lowest battery backup that you can use is? I just want it to keep the system on long enough to work for maybe 5 minutes max and shut it down without the power cutting out abruptly.

 

Chapter and verse on UPS in this thread.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=127761&highlight=lightning

 

I just took a look at the thread linked to above and it's full of great info. But just a rough number is about 500VA with 300w minimum for a PC, 17" CRT, printer/scanner, and maybe a couple of small items like a lamp or speakers or cable modem. Those numbers I gave you are probably the lowest acceptable and you should go higher if at all possible. You should get a minimum of 15 minutes (using the numbers above). The nice thing is, is that most (if not all) UPS units come with $25,000+ warranties. Meaning they'll replace any/all equipment that was damaged when the power failed if it was plugged into the UPS up to $25,000. But ONLY if you mail in the registration card!!!!

hd2k

PS- I had a UPS (425VA 230w) with 2 PC's and two 17" CRT's plugged into it. The power went out for about 30 seconds and when it did, everything shut off and the UPS was fried and never worked again. I checked the manual and learned that it was for one PC and one CRT (15" or 17") ONLY plus 2-3 small items. I overworked it and it died.....