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Best viewed with IE 4.0 or later, 1024 X 768.
Installation As mentioned before, the UPS can be hard to move because of its small size and heavy weight. However, it fits nicely under most any desk, and doesn't take up a lot of space. However, because the outlets are on the "back", it can be hard to plug in devices once you've put the UPS into place. (I call it the "back" because you'll most likely want the "front" panel with the LEDs and power button facing towards you.) This problem is aggravated by the fact that some AC adapters can be troublesome to plug in and may make plugging in other devices even more problematic. I would have liked the outlets to be on the top or to have been more accessible, though this probably wasn't possible with the design of the UPS. Belkin recommends that you charge the battery for six hours prior to initial use of the UPS, but this isn't necessary as the UPS will make sure its battery is charged whenever it is connected to the utility power. Lastly, connecting the UPS to your computer for communication purposes isn't required, but it allows this UPS to be used with the Bulldog Plus Shutdown software, adding many more features. With the included USB or Serial cables you can connect it to either interface; I chose the USB interface simply because it's easier to plug in. Once attached, your PnP OS should detect the new device and install the default drivers for it.
Once that's done, you'll notice some new tabs/options in the "Power Options" section of the Control Panel. You can now set power-off timers for when the computer is on battery power, low/critical battery alarms/actions and you can also view the battery status of the UPS. Through these options in Windows, you are provided the basic features of the UPS. However, the Bulldog Plus Shutdown software provides much more. Once installed, you can open the Bulldog Plus Monitor to view much more information and configure more options. On the main page, the battery and loading level, two of the most important stats are displayed, along with the UPS model/specification information and two dials/gauges that can be set to monitor one of seven pieces of information. Additionally, you can have a separate window display up to 12 gauges, but since there's only 7 this limit doesn't really matter; I assume the capability was provided because some other UPSs from Belkin may output 12 different data values.
The Bulldog software offers almost too many features - though some the sections merely re-display information in a different format. For example, the "Diagram" page simply shows input/output voltages and frequencies, battery levels and so-forth but in a picturesque way. Additionally, the Bulldog software logs all values periodically, and these values can be graphed in the history section. Two values can be graphed at a time, and both the horizontal and vertical scales can be set to different ranges. The graphs are mostly useful for statistics junkies, as you can monitor the input frequency and voltage of your utility power over a period of say, several weeks. Or, you could monitor how the UPS load changed with the addition of another device running off the UPS.
But the real configuration is done under the "Action" section. Here, you can define and configure different actions to be carried out by the software when different events occur. For example, when the power fails you can not only tell the software to shutdown your computer after a certain duration of time, but you can also set it to run a certain program/command, make a certain log file entry, or even e-mail a list of recipients (You'll need to specify a SMTP server). Additionally, you can have a certain *.wav file played as an alarm, if your speakers still have power, of course. Additionally, the UPS itself will emit an audible alarm when it is running on battery power, but this can be disabled through the use of the Bulldog software. However, when the battery runs low, I don't believe the audible alarm can be disabled. The one feature I would like to see included would be the ability to send updates to a syslog server. This would be ideal, IMO, in a networked environment.
However, Belkin somewhat overcomes this shortfall by including a web-based interface that can be run from the Bulldog software. Here, you can view the status of the UPS and make basic changes through the password-protected interface. Additionally, if you want to run more than one computer off of this UPS, the Bulldog software can accommodate this as well through the use of Master/Slave modes. The computer that is directly connected to the UPS and which can make changes to its configuration, is labeled the Master. For all other computers, you can specify the IP address of the Master computer in the Bulldog software, and the software will then receive UPS status updates from the Master computer. While Slave computer can't make configuration changes, they can be set to perform actions when certain events happen, just as the Master computer can. In this way, you could have a non-essential workstation be shutdown before the server is in case of a power outage. Additionally, if the Master computer is connected to the USB port of the UPS, a Slave computer can also be connected to the Serial port of the UPS. This "Serial Slave" functions just like a Networked Slave. Overall, there were many, many options and configurations available from the Bulldog Plus Shutdown software. I can readily recommend that you do use it should you get a Belkin UPS. It is both easy and robust, and allows you to get the most out of the UPS. Testing Testing was done using the basic "Simulated Power Outage" test, which was accomplished by yanking the power cord from the UPS out of the wall receptacle while the attached computer and monitor were running. I then recorded the battery levels using the Bulldog Plus Shutdown software. Here is what I had plugged into the UPS during testing:
The first thing I noticed was a change in the systray icon to indicate that the UPS was now on battery power. A wave file was played of a feminine British-sounding voice telling me that "Power failed... the UPS is now operating on battery power." Additionally, the UPS itself starting emitting its audible beep every few seconds, and the Orange/Yellow LED started flashing slowly. The beep wasn't fire alarm-loud, but it's more than noticeable nonetheless. To turn off the UPS's alarm, you can either press the On/Off/Test button for less than 2 seconds, or use the Bulldog software. As mentioned before, this will not deactivate an overload alarm or low battery alarm, though I don't know why you'd want to ignore such an alarm anyway! But, there was some quirkiness with the reporting of battery levels. Almost immediately after the loss of power, the battery level dropped from 100% to 54%! This was definitely *not* expected, and it made me think that this UPS wouldn't last very long. However, it remained at 54% for over 6 mins, so I do not believe the initially reported value was correct. After this duration, the battery level began to fall in a more predictable manner. By 12 minutes' time, the battery level was still at 37%, and after 15 mins, it had dropped to 29%. After 21:32, the UPS started to warn of a low battery by emitting a rapid alarm, and the Bulldog software shutdown my computer. In addition to properly shutting down the OS, an open Word document and *.txt file in notepad were *saved* before being closed - the software didn't just ALT-F4 them! The UPS was kept running for a short period of time after the computer was shutoff - this is to provide a buffer of time for the OS and computer to properly shutdown, and sometimes Windows can take a while to shutdown. This duration of "buffer time" can again be set within the Bulldog software, but I found that 120secs or 2 mins is about right. Conclusion I found the 800VA Universal UPS from Belkin to be more than an acceptable product. Although it looks rather plain and ordinary, the feature set offered by the accompanying Bulldog Plus Shutdown software make this more than just a battery-backup device. Not only will it offer ample time should there be a power outage, but this UPS will also deal with other sorts of power problems such as brownouts or overvoltages. The included software works with a wide range of operating systems, including non-MS platforms, and the UPS can communicate over both USB and serial interfaces. By supporting so many different combinations, this UPS is truly "Universal", as its name states. The included guide, while small, clearly explained how to setup the UPS and its software, and how not to overload the UPS. The inclusion of both serial, USB and phone cables saves you the headache of having to provide your own, proving Belkin was trying to provide more than just a product but also customer care. The problems were few and minor; Firstly, not all AC adapters will fit without at least partially blocking one adjacent outlet, but this can be said of almost any powerbar/UPS. Secondly, the Bulldog software or perhaps the UPS itself, reports a huge drop in the battery level right after a power outage, dropping almost halfway from 100% to 54% in my tests - while this may not be correct (as indicated from my results), it has seriously disheartening and psychologically bad effect on the user. Pros
Cons
Lastly, I want to thank Belkin for providing this UPS for review. This review would not have been possibly without their help; Thanks! << Introduction and Specifications | Back to VH Front Page>>
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