Will a UPS solve my problem?

[iCeQubeTomato]

I live in Malaysia where power can be dirty and inconsistent which I understand it can affect my laptop's performance. To make it worse my room only has one power point which I have no choice but to share it with my speakers, monitor, usb hub and a hdd docking station. I'm thinking of buying an UPS or ACR would be able to solve this problem? I'm not sure about the ACR but with the UPS afaik it's charged from the power point and then it ll be able to provide more consistent power output rather than straight off the wall?

 

[FALC0N]

I don't know if it will solve it, but it should help.

 

[avarice]

I would opt for a Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). It should provide you more consistency for your power consumption as it should condition the power and avoid spikes and dips. If you are running a number of devices off of it - you may want to ensure you have a sufficiently large UPS.

Just so you know - it will not affect your laptop performance outside of making it consistent.

 

[nigelivey]

UPS's should not be confused with voltage regulators or power conditioners, the UPS is essentially just a battery and most only supply regulated current whilst running items from the battery, you would need a monster UPS to power all your gear for longer than a few minutes.

 

[Solandri]

A UPS won't help much with a laptop. It already has a battery, and the AC adapter already filters out voltage spikes. A surge suppressor can help clean up the power to protect the AC adapter from spikes if you're worried about that frying your laptop. It'll be as good as/better than a UPS for a laptop.

The other components you list all sound like they use DC power. If they use AC adapters, then the UPS won't really help them any more than a surge suppressor would (other than providing power during a power outage).

If they use a power supply or raw AC (pretty much anything with a motor), then a UPS could actually damage them if it doesn't provide a sufficiently sinusoidal output.

 

[jsmithepa]

Won't help with performance, and then, a laptop already has a UPS BUILT IN, it has a battery right?

But sure, it will help the overall situation. Go4rit. Battery needs replacing 2-4 years, so don't think it's a once-off expense.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yes, a UPS can help your situation especially if you experience power outages from time to time.

There are 3 types of UPS devices; online, line-interactive and standby. UPS devices are not my expertise so off the top of my head I do not know the difference between line-interactive and standby UPS; both do not activate until the UPS detects there is a loss of power. These are the least expensive types of UPS.

The online UPS is the most expensive version and it is the one you want to buy. Basically the battery charges from the A/C outlet, then sends power to whatever is connected to the online UPS. As mention above by jsmithepa, the battery will need to be replaced every 2 - 4 years because the battery is always active.

While an online UPS is not exactly like a line conditioner which is generally used to convert "dirty" power from the A/C outlet to "clean" power for whatever electronic device is connected to it. However, for all intents and purposes it basically will act like one.

During power outages, the UPS will act as an external power supply, thus allowing you to continue using your laptop for a longer period of time compared to simply relying on the laptop's battery.


Since surge protectors are generally not expensive you should connect the surge protector to the A/C outlet, then connect the UPS to the surge protector, and finally connect the laptop to the UPS.

 

[FALC0N]

UPS is also very good at delivering packages.