[Love Calm Quiet]

This would be a huge change for me, and makes me nervous since I'm used to being completely mobile, working in several different locations, etc. But I need to get beyond my PowerBook's screen real estate and HD/PPC limitations.
But now I work almost entirely from home, and think I could be comfortable doing my *work* computing stuck in the study (with a 27" iMac).
I'm *nearly* sold on going that way, but now I'm remembering the other issue that laptops have enabled me to forget for 15 years: 115v power stability. I'm out in county with so-so power outages and a lot of voltage fluctuations. With an Apple laptop and great voltage control in their power adapters - who cared?

With an iMac, how much will I need to explore surge protection + UPS?
  1) I don't work much with open files (just html/php/txt files, FTPing via Dreamweaver / Cyberdog). What's my hard disk's vulnerability to file corruption during power outage?
  2) Is the voltage regulation (short of dropping to zero) on an iMac as good as via the adapters for a MB Pro?
  3) Any thoughts on *your* solution for power-protection in a Third-World-America rural setting?

[rjenkinson]

Have you considered a MacBook with an external display? That way you'd get mobility as well as more screen real estate. If there were a power failure, the most you'd lose would be the image on your external screen.

[msuper69]

Just get a UPS. Problem solved.

[imitchellg5]

1) Prety much no chance. Apple's done really well engineering fail-safes into OS X. The Snow Leopard installer even has protection against power outages during the installation process.

2) I couldn't give you a firm answer, but probably. My iMac G5's been zapped before in electrical storms, and it's doing well.

3) Either a UPS, or a great surge protector with a protection plan on it. I have a Monster surge protector with either $20k or $50k of protection for whatever is hooked up to it (as long as you remember to fill out the card that comes with it )

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet 

1) I don't work much with open files (just html/php/txt files, FTPing via Dreamweaver / Cyberdog). What's my hard disk's vulnerability to file corruption during power outage?

The filesystem is journaled, which puts you one step above "usually screwed."

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet 

2) Is the voltage regulation (short of dropping to zero) on an iMac as good as via the adapters for a MB Pro?

They support the same voltage (100-240V) and frequency (50-60Hz) input range.

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet 

With an iMac, how much will I need to explore surge protection + UPS?
3) Any thoughts on *your* solution for power-protection in a Third-World-America rural setting?

There are two things to consider when selecting a UPS: power capacity and runtime.

The 27" idles at about 200W (~350VA) and maxes out at 365W (~600VA), so you're looking for ~750VA to get decent efficiency out of the UPS (runtime at half load is 3-4x runtime at full load with consumer grade UPS units) and cover your peak load. What peripherals do you have? Obviously you won't be printing during a power outage (leave that on a non-battery backed socket), but you may want to run a cable modem and external hard drive or something. Figure 30% is a good rule of thumb, so we're looking for ~1000VA.

Most of the runtime considerations depend on the nature of your power issues and your desired abilities. Is it cutting out for 5 minutes or brownouts for 5 hours? Do you want to ride it out and keep working or just have time to gracefully shut down? All the runtimes below assume 300W consumption.

APC Back-UPS 1300 LCD (BR1300LCD, $185 delivered) gives you 20-25 minutes of runtime. Enough to finish up what you're doing, save, and shutdown or ride out a 5 minute drop. Connects via USB so you can have your computer automatically shutdown a few minutes before it dies if you're away. This is pretty much the best you can do with the consumer grade units.

APC SmartUPS 750* XL (SUA750XL, $395 delivered) will get you about 45-55 minutes of runtime. This is the network/professional/data center (I really need a better term for this) lineup which means better control of output waveform, better noise filtering, higher surge rating, and most importantly supports external battery expansion. Add one XL Battery Pack (SUA24XLBP, $305 delivered) to extend the runtime by 2 hours 40 minutes for a total of 3.5 hours. You can daisy chain another XL Battery Pack for 6 hours of runtime. If you want to go beyond that, it's more economical to buy the XL Ultra Battery Pack (UXBP24, $750 delivered), which is 4 of the XL Battery Packs in one unit. Runtime with the SUA750XL and a UXBP24 is 12 hours, and you can daisy chain up to 4 of UXBP24 for a runtime of 47 hours.

* Yes, this is less than the 1000VA guideline I came up with above. With the better batteries in the SmartUPS units, you don't take the penalty for running close to maximum power capacity. If you have more stuff you want to plug in you can get the SmartUPS 1000 XL for about $100 more, which gives you another ~150W of capacity (but will, of course, impact runtime).

I'm partial to APC because I'm familiar with their lineup. There are other brands worth considering (TrippLite or GE), but they're about the same price. Don't buy the $50 "1500VA" special from Walmart.

[tooki]

I recommend getting the UPS. Even if you aren't working on documents, it's bad for a computer to go down hard -- you run the risk of disk, file, or OS corruption.

Mduell's recommendations are excellent. Go with the more expensive model if the power you do get is "dirty" with frequent brownouts and whatnot.

[ghporter]

UPS, all the way. My '07 Aluminum iMac is on a 500VA UPS and I've never had a glitch, though when all the lights go out, I usually shut down, so that's enough capacity for me. And I'll also vote for a good brand (APC or Tripplite) with enough capacity, so you'll be sure to get clean, well conditioned power.

[chinajon]

Thanks mduell
I was just browsing the post and your answer is very helpful.
I am in China and am on my 2nd UPS.
I will know wha tot look for next time. I may have just been lucky with the one I have, but it won't shut the mac down if the pwer goes off.

Anyway, Thnks
J

[Veltliner]

APC surge protector costs about $85 at Amazon.

Saved me just recently when there was a 2 second power-out. It has an app, called power chute, that will close down all apps and shut down your computer safely in case of a longer power-outage.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Veltliner 

APC surge protector costs about $85 at Amazon.

Saved me just recently when there was a 2 second power-out. It has an app, called power chute, that will close down all apps and shut down your computer safely in case of a longer power-outage.

Are you sure it was a surge protector? A surge protector isn't going to ride out even a 2 second outage and $85 buys a 750VA UPS with a small battery.

[Love Calm Quiet]

Interesting about "Power Chute".
Does that app have an OS X version? [at Amazon the APC units are marked with 'Windows' icon - which presumably refers to the app.]

FWIW: I also find attractive the feature that detects "sleep mode" on part of the computer and shuts off power to peripherals accordingly. That really seem to work?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet 

Interesting about "Power Chute".
Does that app have an OS X version? [at Amazon the APC units are marked with 'Windows' icon - which presumably refers to the app.]

PowerChute for OS X was deprecated several years ago when Apple added UPS support to Energy Saver.

[Love Calm Quiet]

That's an awesome feature, mduell !
Until my 27" arrives, I'm still on Tiger, so... one more benefit to getting system/hardware up to date.

[mduell]

You've already got it. UPS support was added circa Jaguar or Panther (you can see the pinstripes in that screenshot); the last release of PowerChute was between the releases of Jaguar and Panther.

[freudling]

Interesting post. I too work all over, but more and more in one location. However, I just don't want to give up portability. Right now I have a Mini, a 15" MBP and an Air. The Mini runs the server. I am thinking of combining the Mini and the 15" into one, since I just take my Air when I am mobile now, and leave the 15" at home. I might sell the Mini and the 15", and get the 17" to run from home/server. Then I would have the Air and the 17": one for the road and the other a desktop replacement. I could get a monitor if I really crave something larger than the 17", but I will likely try this combo without any extra monitors.

Talk about desktops dying... I guess I am just a consumer statistic who sees more value in laptops than ever. It's all about saving space and portability. The new iMacs are great, no doubt, but since I don't need the fastest hardware, I can stick with MBPs. No huge "beast" sitting on the desk. Just a compact unit that is easy to move and travel with when I have to, and it doesn't take up too much space. The Air as the complement.

I see people from time-to-time leaving the Apple Store when I visit it carrying these huge 27" iMacs out the door and sort of snicker. I just can't leave the laptop ecosystem for that. And the 17" with its 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 512 MB dedicated Radeon makes it plenty powerful. I just wonder if we will see quad cores in it next year...

[ghporter]

Unfortunately the OS X support for APC UPSs does not include configuring some of the units' options. You can't silence the unit's alarm with Energy Saver preferences. Like you couldn't tell by the lights going out that there was a power failure. Can't do that with the Energy Saver prefs pane, though I think everything else Power Chute does is handled by the pane. Yes, this is an issue for me.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by mduell 

Are you sure it was a surge protector? A surge protector isn't going to ride out even a 2 second outage and $85 buys a 750VA UPS with a small battery.

My mistake. It's a back-up UPS with battery, and it has dropped in price since I bought it (to 56$, can you believe that?).

Amazon.com: APC Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 550VA 120V: Electronics

I'm actually not sure if it provides any safety against power surges...

Here are the technical details, copied from Amazon's page.

Technical Details

* Power Protection Type: UPS Battery Backup
* Input Voltage: 120V
* Frequency: 60 Hz
* Input Connection Type: NEMA 5-15P
* Cord Length: 6 ft.
* Watts: 330 Watt
* Voltage: 120V
* Volt Amps: 550 VA
* Output Frequency Regulation: 60 Hz
* Output Voltage Wave Form: Stepped approximation to a sinewave
* Full Load Run Time: 3.3 minutes
* Half Load Run Time: 13.5 minutes
* Battery Recharge Rate: 24 Hours
* Type: Maintenance-free sealed Lead-Acid battery with suspended electrolyte : leakproof
* Surge Energy Capacity: 365 Joules

Does surge energy capacity mean the power surge it can neutralize, or is it the energy stored in the battery pack?

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by mduell 

PowerChute for OS X was deprecated several years ago when Apple added UPS support to Energy Saver.

Power Chute was loaded automatically onto my iMac, and it's still on the menu bar.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Unfortunately the OS X support for APC UPSs does not include configuring some of the units' options. You can't silence the unit's alarm with Energy Saver preferences. Like you couldn't tell by the lights going out that there was a power failure. Can't do that with the Energy Saver prefs pane, though I think everything else Power Chute does is handled by the pane. Yes, this is an issue for me.

So it's still functional, isn't it? At least that's the idea I'm getting.

When I had this short power failure, it immediately sent the screen to sleep (but not the computer).

[Love Calm Quiet]

Originally Posted by freudling 

I see people from time-to-time leaving the Apple Store when I visit it carrying these huge 27" iMacs out the door and sort of snicker. I just can't leave the laptop ecosystem for that. And the 17" with its 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 512 MB dedicated Radeon makes it plenty powerful. I just wonder if we will see quad cores in it next year...

I'm right with you (after 15 years of Mac laptops). And if my PowerBook G4 had completely died I'd have to start with replacing that.

...and if the 27" iMac's display (27") were an available stand-alone to hook to my PB, it'd be tempting. But having the extra horsepower (and 7200 rpm 1TB disk) for my 12 hours/day design work is making this a cinch for now. Next I'll be saving for a MBAir for travel (and waiting till the price/performance ratio to hit a sweet spot).

[Love Calm Quiet]

Originally Posted by mduell 

You've already got it. UPS support was added circa Jaguar or Panther (you can see the pinstripes in that screenshot); the last release of PowerChute was between the releases of Jaguar and Panther.

Strangely, I'm not seeing that screen shot any more as I look at this thread. But from what I recall, the "UPS" tab was between the "Sleep" and "Options" tab.

I see no tab between Sleep/Options in my 10.4.11 Energy Saver Pref panel. [on a PowerBook: that shouldn't affect it, should it?]

[Love Calm Quiet]

Originally Posted by Veltliner 

My mistake. It's a back-up UPS with battery, and it has dropped in price since I bought it (to 56$, can you believe that?).

Amazon.com: APC Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 550VA 120V: Electronics

I'm actually not sure if it provides any safety against power surges...
...
Does surge energy capacity mean the power surge it can neutralize, or is it the energy stored in the battery pack?

Note: that unit only covers "330 watts"; the new 27" iMacs can draw up to 365 watts. ...and then there's the need for any peripherals you want also to cover with the UPS/surge protection. Perhaps before you were looking at what is now $83 at Amz:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...l/-/B000Z80ICM ["450 watts"]

To offer more overhead (for wattage expansion / time covered) I might want to look at the 1300VA (780watts) unit suggested by
mduell ($140 + s/h at Amz vs $185 delivered as cited by mduell, below):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...l/-/B000XFXEDW

Surge energy in joules is your surge protection. [ Though who knows what's really going to be magnitude of a surge (esp. with my rural supply). ]

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Veltliner 

So it's still functional, isn't it? At least that's the idea I'm getting.

When I had this short power failure, it immediately sent the screen to sleep (but not the computer).

Oh yes, very functional. But if something interrupts the power, your UPS will sound an extremely audible alarm. Which my dog finds extremely painful, thus my personal issue with the unit.

I'd like to see the Energy Saver prefs pane actually give the user all the optional configurations, not just the ones it does.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Veltliner 

My mistake. It's a back-up UPS with battery, and it has dropped in price since I bought it (to 56$, can you believe that?).

Amazon.com: APC Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 550VA 120V: Electronics

I'm actually not sure if it provides any safety against power surges...

* Surge Energy Capacity: 365 Joules

Does surge energy capacity mean the power surge it can neutralize, or is it the energy stored in the battery pack?

Yes, pretty much all consumer UPS, including that one, provide surge protection and that's a surge rating. 365J is not much energy in terms of battery capacity, but that's a lot of power for a fraction of a second surge.

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet 

Strangely, I'm not seeing that screen shot any more as I look at this thread. But from what I recall, the "UPS" tab was between the "Sleep" and "Options" tab.

I see no tab between Sleep/Options in my 10.4.11 Energy Saver Pref panel. [on a PowerBook: that shouldn't affect it, should it?]

It doesn't appear unless you have a UPS connected.

[freudling]

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet 

I'm right with you (after 15 years of Mac laptops). And if my PowerBook G4 had completely died I'd have to start with replacing that.

...and if the 27" iMac's display (27") were an available stand-alone to hook to my PB, it'd be tempting. But having the extra horsepower (and 7200 rpm 1TB disk) for my 12 hours/day design work is making this a cinch for now. Next I'll be saving for a MBAir for travel (and waiting till the price/performance ratio to hit a sweet spot).

For me I have found the Air to be at the sweet spot. The top end 2.13 with SSD is about $1000 less than the top end first generation Air, and its faster too. I still wish it were cheaper, but I am happy.

[Love Calm Quiet]

Originally Posted by mduell 

It doesn't appear unless you have a UPS connected.

Whoda thunk... an intelligent OS?!?
Guess I've been spending too much time with my Dell POS (though only for compatibility testing - I swear!).

[Love Calm Quiet]

Originally Posted by freudling 

I still wish it were cheaper, but I am happy.

And *I*'ll be happier when it's cheaper still [ or I flusher ].

[Simon]

I'd agree with you two about the MBA if it were just a tad smaller. If Apple could get rid of the bezel around the screen and KB it would be not only lighter, but also significantly smaller than a regular MB.

As it is now, I find the MBA too expensive for getting 'just' a lighter/thinner notebook. However, if it were lighter and smaller in every dimension I'd have no problem paying $2k for it. In fact, hooked up to a large external display and KB/mouse at the desk I think it would be an ideal computer for my kind of use, that is a lot of use on the road and at airports/on planes and along with access to high-end server hardware for heavy-duty number crunching.

[Eug]

The Air is a total ripoff IMO, esp. considering it has the same footprint of the MacBook Pro.

[Simon]

No doubt, the MBA should be smaller than the 13" MBP, not just thinner/lighter.

[freudling]

I disagree with those saying the Air should have a small footprint, like a little Netbook. At least smaller than the MacBook Pro 13". While a tad smaller would be ok with me, I like it the way it is. Why would I say this?

Because the problem I had with the other NetBooks is that they were too small for me to handle, to use. Not near enough palm rest surface area for me to rest my wrists. I think Apple views it this way too. I wouldn't want the Air any other way.

But this is coming from an actual Air user.

[Simon]

Personally, I don't want it 9" netbook small. The MBA isn't a cheap netbook so there's no reason to design it that way. I would always retain the full-size KB and trackpad. However, IMHO the oversize bezel around the screen and KB is wasted space. And I'd more than welcome Apple get rid of it. In fact, that would probably get me to buy a MBA for myself.

[Eug]

Ideal IMO would be an 11.5" widescreen 16:10 1152x720, with full size keyboard.

That equals a screen size of 9.75" wide, or a pixel density of 118 ppi.

[freudling]

For me the Air is ideal. So I guess that's why I bought it, and you guys didn't. Feel free to pick up an 11.5" Acer or something, those are available, and a lot cheaper than the Air.

When you use the Air everyday, like me, the logic of Apple's design choices reveal themselves in many ways. The bezel around the screen is not wasted space. It provides some context and support to a device that is very thin and very light. It's perfect for gripping when opening and closing the lid, for example. The width of the palm rest/keyboard casing is also good, because it allows the user to rest their palms whilst using the device. It also allows for a large trackpad that does not get brushed by your hands like those small little trackpads on Netbooks. I could go on and on.

The Air is not for everyone, that much is clear. But I love it. No, it's not a Netbook, and was never meant to be. It's a laptop just very thin and light. And I don't miss the optical drive, extra USB ports, etc. It's very good at what it does. Eventually I am sure more people will jump on board the Air.

I used to have a 15" MBP and a Mini at home. I dumped the 15" MBP and the Mini, grabbed the Air and a 17" MBP. The 17" is my Mini/desktop replacement. Not looking back.