"David A. Sinck" wrote:
> 
> I was out shopping for a UPS for my new box (finally!) and did some
> quick comparisons that I thought I'd share with yall just to be nice.
> This isn't an exhaustive list of UPSes avail, just the operative ones
> in my decision making process.  :-)
> 
> Costco: 725 VA/ 450 watts  3 battery outlets/3 surge only $169
>         500 VA/ 280 w 3/3 $69
> 
> CompUSA: 900 VA/500w 3/3 $149
> 
> Bestbuy: oops, didn't write it down since it was worse off than
> CompUSA.  :-)
> 
> So given that I wanted a bit of oomph, I bought the device from
> CompUSA (please, no beatings).  It's got a serial port and comes
> *with* the appropriate cable.

what's wrong with CompUSA.  I haven't used them myself, but 'm curious
about the comment.

> So, I was as happy as a clam: a UPS with cool features ("Hey, Idiot,
> too much load" and the standard 'wiring fault', 'battery on', "I'm
> going to beep more than a mis-paste in vi", etc).

ROFL...  I like the vi joke... never thought about it before...

> Then I saw the bundled software:
> 
>                                  APC
> 
> Yes, that's right, APC, the makers of finer name brand devices that
> are Linux compatible and have drivers for same.
> 
> Now, I haven't checked the viability of signals and such (the battery
> is on it's initial charge cycle) but it *seems* promising.  YPMV.
> (power)

so you bought an APC?

> That made it officially cooler than the $6 10/100 NIC card from
> BestBuy.

Oh my...  are they cheaper by the dozen?