| Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD 1500VA 900W LCD Rackmount UPS |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Power | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Saturday, 14 July 2007 | |
Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD UPSSince it is easier for most people to purchase a battery backup solution than it is to learn the good habit of frequently saving your work, it makes perfect sense to pair a computer system to a decent UPS. In fact, one day it may make as much sense to pair these two items together as much as it does to have a keyboard and mouse. But what exactly determines how a battery backup qualifies as a "decent" uninterruptible power source? Nothing is worse than losing power while working on the computer. Even if you are playing a video game, it still warrants the cursing that follows after a total power loss kills your playtime. You don't have to be a business person or computer enthusiast to reap the benefits of working though a power out. 
Tripp Lite markets the SMART1500LCD as the rack-ready battery backup solution from their SmartPro Digital UPS line of products. They claim that this 1500VA 900W line-interactive UPS for personal computers, workstations, home entertainment systems and media centers will offer enough protection to corrects brownouts as low as 75V and overvoltages to 147V back to 120V nominal levels. Overall it seems very promising, but Benchmark Reviews will have to test their marketing mettle before we buy into it.
About Tripp Lite (Trippe Manufacturing Company)In 1922, Graham Trippe, a Chicago-area inventor, obtained a patent for a new precision-focused automobile headlight. This unique design won the gold medal at both the 1928 and 1929 Paris Exposition of Innovation. The Trippe "Speed Light" soon became a successful automotive accessory, improving visibility on everything from fine touring cars to U.S. Army tanks during World War II.
As sealed-beam headlights became standard equipment on post-war vehicles, Trippe Manufacturing Company expanded into the production of rotating warning lights. These were sold to many different businesses as well as the police, fire and ambulance markets. To this day, Tri-Lite, the sister company of Tripp Lite, continues to manufacture industrial and specialty lighting products for shipment around the world. Addressing a newfound need for on-board AC power in ambulances and recreational vehicles, Tripp Lite developed a line of DC-to-AC inverters in the early 1960s. Over the next 20 years, Tripp Lite grew to become the best known manufacturer of portable inverters in the world-providing portable power for everything from RVs to alternative energy applications. By 1980, the advent of the personal computer had created a need for battery backup AC power to prevent data loss or hardware damage to computers and other sensitive microprocessor-controlled devices. By integrating their proven inverter technology with a battery charger and transfer switch, Tripp Lite became the first company to manufacture a UPS system specifically designed for desktop PCs. Coupled with the introduction of the Isobar Premium Surge Suppressor in 1982, Tripp Lite was uniquely positioned to supply the burgeoning computer market with high quality power protection equipment. As the personal computer became an increasingly important business tool, power protection from Tripp Lite became recognized as an essential add-on to computer installations. 16 million Isobars and more than 4 million UPS systems later, Tripp Lite remains the leading manufacturer of power protection supplies, including UPS systems, surge suppressors, notebook accessories, line conditioners, cabling and connectivity products and network management accessories. In 1999, Tripp Lite became the exclusive licensee for IBM-brand UPS systems. Tripp Lite quality products provide increased reliability and protection to PC workstations, network file servers, telephone systems, point-of-sale terminals, audio/video systems and laboratory equipment. Tripp Lite recently received ISO 9001 certification for the highest standard of design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and service excellence. Eighty-five years after it began, the Tripp Lite marketing effort now spans the globe with shipments to more than eighty different countries worldwide. Tripp Lite UPS FeaturesTripp Lite's SMART1500LCD Line-Interactive Digital UPS System offers voltage regulation, surge suppression and long-lasting battery support for personal computers, network workstations, home entertainment systems and media centers. Internal UPS circuits support entry-level PCs or individual VCR/DVR components during power failures. Prevents data loss, viewing interruptions, lost recordings and loss of component programming. 
Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) circuits regulate brownouts and overvoltages from 75V to 147V back to usable levels without using battery power. Offers complete power protection with support for upright tower, flat shelfmount or 2U rackmount installation in an attractive all-black cabinet design. Includes 8 battery-supported outlets. Built-in USB and DB9 serial port enables optional unattended system shutdown without data loss in case of extended power failure; cabling included. PowerAlert software available via free download from www.tripplite.com. HID-compliant USB interface enables integration with built-in power management and auto shutdown features of Windows and Mac OS X. Built-in single-line RJ-45 jacks offer protection for equipment with single-line tel/DSL or network Ethernet connection. Built-in audible alarm and large LCD front panel voltage display indicates line power status, battery power status, battery low/replace status and voltage boost operation.
PACKAGE INCLUDES SMART1500LCD SpecificationsThe Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD offers 1500VA/900W power-handling capacity, which is plenty enough to support entry-level PCs, home entertainment systems, network workstations and audio/video components. Tripp Lite's SMART1500LCD 1500VA 900W LCD UPS Offers 3.5 minutes battery runtime with a full load of 1500VA/900W and 13 minutes with a half load of 750VA/450W. 2-year warranty; $250,000 connected equipment insurance (USA & Canada only).
SYSTEM OVERVIEW
OUTPUT
INPUT
BATTERY
VOLTAGE REGULATION
LEDS ALARMS & SWITCHES
The LCD Display indicates a variety of UPS operational conditions. All descriptions apply when the UPS is plugged into an AC
SURGE / NOISE SUPPRESSION
PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
COMMUNICATIONS
LINE / BATTERY TRANSFER
CERTIFICATIONS
WARRANTY
SPECIAL FEATURES The policy of Tripp Lite is one of continuous improvement. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Therefore, your product may vary slightly from what is currently listed. UPS Testing
The purpose of a battery backup unit is to provide power to equipment when the A/C power has failed. Simple enough, which means that it isn't very difficult to test an uninterruptible power source. What separates the good from the bad is how long they can survive after a power failure, and what they can offer in addition to a battery backup solution. For this review, I compared the Tripp Lite 1500VA 900W SMART1500LCD UPS to several other battery backup systems. CyberPower's CP1350AVRLCD 810W and CP1350AVRLCD 900W joined the Powercom Black Knight Pro BNT-1500AP and it's related cousin the Ultra ULT33045 900W. Battery Backup Devices
The Powercom Black Knight Pro BNT-1500AP is a 1500VA UPS offering 900 Watts and is available at many of the more popular online stores. I used the BNT-1500AP in nearly all of my server installations, because it offers plenty of wattage at a very reasonable cost. Unfortunately Powercom doesn't offer a convenient LCD diagnostic display on the BNT-1500AP like CyberPower does on their CP1350AVRLCD and CP1500AVRLCD, nor do they offer an equipment guarantee like all of the other system include. Feature amenities aside, all of the systems tested in this article are very comparable UPS battery backup systems, which offer similar wattage at a similar price. For each test, the computer was booted into DOS, and MemTest 86+ was run for the duration which consumed 180W. The on-battery lifetime was recorded from the moment the UPS system began on-battery power, to the moment the devices fully depleted the battery and system shut off. For comparison, the computer and LCD display combined consumed 170W at the Windows XP login screen, and 178W during web browsing. Ironically, power draw was slightly higher when the system entered into the BIOS setup screen, which measured 186W. Benchmark Reviews utilized the following test system hardware for the computer and display: Test Equipment
Each UPS would be drained completely during the on-battery lifetime test, and then recharged for a full 24-hour period before retesting. Each test was repeated three times, and the results were averaged (although the results were practically identical each time). For the battery backup unit testing, each UPS was pulled out of the box and charged for more than 24 hours with the power turned off. I then connected the computer and display (listed below) into the UPS. The computer was started and the main power cord was immediately disconnected from the UPS to begin on-battery power. I felt pretty sure that the Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD would perform just as well as the equally rated Powercom Black Knight Pro BNT-1500AP the nearly identical Ultra ULT33045, but the end results were a real surprise. Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD ResultsCyberPower CP1350AVRLCD 1350VA 810W UPS: 25 Minutes of on-battery life operation for PC and display. Averaging 180Kw drain, the CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD offered nearly a half-hour of on-battery life. While not nearly the lifetime the retail box boasts, it was clearly the little UPS that could. Powercom Black Knight Pro BNT-1500AP 1500VA 900W UPS: 22 Minutes of on-battery life operation for PC and display. With less overhead (no LCD), and more volt-amps and wattage, the Powercom UPS couldn't push past the less powerful CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD. Similar battery configurations, somewhat comparative power output, and yet the lifetime proves the numbers wrong. Tripp Lite 1500VA SMART1500LCD UPS: 22 Minutes of on-battery life operation for PC and display. The single-reading LCD display may create a very minor amount of overhead, but despite higher volt-amps and wattage the Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD UPS matched the Powercom BNT-1500AP, but could not outperform the less powerful CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD. What I really liked about these results was that Tripp Lites own test result chart matched our results exactly, which means that they are being very honest and not attempting to give the consumer a marketing spin on their products performance. Ultra ULT33045 1500VA 900W Digital Display UPS: 12 Minutes of on-battery life operation for PC and display. That's not a typo. The Ultra ULT33045 really did not perform well, and we suspect this unit to be defective. Fortunately for us (and Ultra), this unit was covered under warranty. The replacement unit is inbound, and the new results will be posted as soon as the testing is complete. CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD 1500VA 900W LCD UPS: 30 Minutes of on-battery life operation for PC and display. CyberPower's CP1500AVRLCD provided a half-hour of on-battery life while giving more technical information and power signal data than all of the other manufacturers. While the lifetime on the retail box suggests a much longer runtime, CyberPower has an easy lead over the competition. Conclusion: SMART1500LCDWhen all things are equal, all that matters is run time. However, in the case of the Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD 1500VA 900W LCD UPS all things are not equal. None of the other units tested are designed for use in a rack system, and none can be mounted either vertically or horizontally and have an adjustable LCD display in the correct position. So has Benchmark Reviews compared apples to oranges? No, not at all. When the power goes out, it doesn't matter what the system looks like. All that matters is run time, and 1500VA is still 900W no matter how you package it. The Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD is presently available at NewEgg.com for $212.99, which is a very reasonable price for a rack-mountable 1500VA UPS battery backup solution. However, the on-battery life results proved once again that CyberPower's CP1350AVRLCD and CP1500AVRLCD offer far more value for non-rack environments, especially since they cost considerably less at $159.99 and $179.99 respectively. Even though they cost less, they still manage to offer almost twice the connected equipment guarantee and a third year of product warranty. Tripp Lite ships the SMART1500LCD in a double-wall white cardboard box with blue lettering and no graphics. The packaging material was more than enough to keep this product safe from the abuses of standard ground-service shipment. The packaging is meant for shipping and receiving docks for corporate firms, and not the retail shelf space others would fight for. The presentation was appropriate, but even corporate buyers like a little something to make them feel confident about their purchase. The "tower" design and black appearance of the CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD is probably the most appealing on the UPS market. CyberPower has tried other colors such as white and charcoal, but the black tower design fits best. While the plastic encased battery construction is more than rugged enough for indoor use, I am not so certain how long the LCD display would survive under a desk where people are prone to kicking or driving a chair into it. The results speak for themselves. The Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD offers on-battery run time comparable to the Powercom BNT-1500AP, but it pales in comparison to the lower rated CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD and far beneath the equally rated CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD. Unless you really need the ability to rack mount the unit, the SMART1500LCD just isn't a great solution. Even for rack mount units, I suspect the competition still offers a better run time. While the application may be viable for rack mount server environments where the climate is cool and controlled, Benchmark Reviews does not recommend the Tripp Lite SMART1500LCD 1500VA 900W LCD UPS for personal computer and home theater equipment use. Even without connected equipment, our test unit gave off a faint melting plastic smell every time it was left turned on for more than a few hours, which didn't make me feel very good about connecting my equipment to it. There are better battery backup alternatives elsewhere which offer much more and cost far less. Pros:
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