Is there something like a portable UPS for laptops?

I'm planning to buy a new laptop and I'd like to know if there is a (reliable) portable UPS to protect it from lightenings and bad electrical tension. I use a Trust UPS for my desktop because I like their lifetime warranty on connected devices, but they don't make it something small for notebooks. Do other manufacters make something like that?

I know there are filtered sockets, but they don't look as safe as an UPS.

 

Sure they do but im not so sure they have the same amount of protection circuitry as there larger counterparts. Also how small you talking??

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups/pc-battery-backup/se450g

https://www.amazon.ca/APC-Canada-BE...6178724&sr=1-5&keywords=apc+back-ups+es+350va

Seems the cyber power one has better reviews from what I read

In all honesty since this is a laptop your talking about and has a battery you might be better served with a smallish high quality power filter/surge protector.

 

The ideal would be something you can easily carry around with the laptop.

The problem with "high quality power filter/surge protector" and finding one of such "high quality" meaning by that something that can really let me use my laptop during bad weather without getting a heart attack. It's really shameful that manufacters don't put built-in protections, especially on expensive desktops, but that's a talk for another time.

Do you know something to protect our hardware "reliable"? What would you suggest?

 

ha-ha I would recommend unplugging during a thunderstorm regardless and running on battery regardless of the surge protector/UPS. I'm very picky about my electronics maybe borderline OCD but I unplug them ALL when away for extended periods and during storms even though they have surge protectors. Anyhow back to your question...I work in the oil field and the shacks run on large diesel generators that always spike voltage, go down, throw breakers all the time and the surge protecters chosen on these well sites are small TRIPLITE IBAR4 that are hooked up to all the Electronic Drilling Recorder computers and have yet to seen one die in these extreme conditions. I have even stolen one or two to use at home( shhh ). That being said IMO though nothing is going to have the same surge protection and over/under voltage protection as a full sized UPS. The ones I used at work are large Eaton power supplies and even regulate voltage within a few volts of 120v.

 

I'll definitely look into those surge protectors

 

Yup. Get a surge protector that has line conditioning. You don't need a "UPS," because you don't need uninterruptable power. What you're asking for is surge protection (against lightning), and line conditioning (for clean power input).

Something like this would work well ( Amazon.com link)

 

What will you look into? What most ignore when making recommendations.

An adjacent protector must either 'block' or 'absorb' a surge. How do 2 cm protector parts in a Tripplite 'block' what three miles of sky cannot? It doesn't. It need not. Many *know* it is good because hearsay said so. That (and not effective protection) promote sales.

How does its thousand joules 'absorb' a surge that is hundreds of thousands of joules? It need not. Advertising without spec numbers *proves* it is 100% protection - subjectively. Subjective claims (ie no numbers) is how junk science gets promoted.

Where are any spec numbers for that Furman? None provided because it does not claim to do what it was recommended to do. Best is to ignore subjective claims - made without spec numbers.

For over 100 years, facilities that cannot have damage have always properly earthed a 'whole house' solution. If hundreds of thousands of joules are not inside hunting for earth ground via appliances, then everything inside is protected. Protection was always about connecting hundred of thousand of joules to what harmlessly absorbs them - single point earth ground. Why did others not discuss this?

Best protection is already installed on TV cable. A hardwire makes a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to earth. That is best protection.

Telephone cannot connect directly to earth. So your telco earths (for free) a whole house protector. That protector is only doing what the above hardwire does better. Connects a surge harmlessly to earth.

AC electric has no effective protection unless you earth it. That one properly earthed 'whole house' protector is essential to even protect near zero joules in a Tripplite.

Did others forget to discuss these numbers? Yes. Most will only recite what they were told to believe - by advertising, hearsay, or speculation.

Protection is always about earthing a potentially destructive transient BEFORE it enters a building. That is how it was done even over 100 years ago. Well proven solutions come from other companies known for integrity including Intermatic, Square D, Ditek, Siemens, Polyphaser (an industry benchmark), Syscom, Leviton, ABB, Delta, Erico, General Electric, and Cutler-Hammer (Eaton).

This superior solution costs about $! per protected appliance. How much is that obscenely profitable Tripplite - with near zero joules?

Lightning is typically 20,000 amps. So a minimal 'whole house' protector is 50,000 amps. Another specification number to 'look into'. And that others (manipulated by advertising) never learn and cannot provide.

Protection means one can always say where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. Then best protection (far superior to what Tripplite claims to provide), that is already inside every laptop, is not overwhelmed. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. Those are provided by other companies known for integrity. Those protectors have a dedicated wire that connect low impedance (ie less than 10 feet) to earth.

 

APC makes some nice portable surge protectors. Throw it in your laptop bag and take it with you when you travel.

http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/produ...otector-with-phone-line-protection-120V/P-P1T

 

Most who recommend protectors have no idea what is does. And cannot be bothered. First indication of a bogus recommendation is no numbers. Not even one reason was provided to recommend that protector.

It claims to absorb 180 joules and never more than 360 joules. Why were specification numbers ignored?

It is called a surge protector. Unfortunately that (and ignoring facts) is why ineffective protectors get recommended.

APC recently admitted some 15 million protectors are so dangerous as to be removed immediately. APC is not in a list of companies known for integrity.

 

When I am travelling I have one of these between the PSU and the AC cord. It's cheap and simple and is designed to die (blocking power to the computer) if something nasty comes down the power line. When it dies the light goes out and it needs replacing (so I usually have a spare but it is several years since one last died).

Remember that there is also the PSU between the AC supply and the computer and switch mode supplies are very tolerant of low quality AC power. I once used one with a generator which was producing nearly 300V (instead of 230V) because the 3 phase loading was unbalanced. In extreme power conditions the PSU is likely to die rather than overload the computer. The risk is having the computer connected to other equipment as well as the AC supply. This other equipment may be either a separate source of spikes or provides grounding which encourages the surge to go through the computer. If your internet comes down an overhead phone line then that can be a more likely source of power surges than the normal AC supply. Using WiFi rather than a network cable prevents the computer having a direct connection to this source but there is the plausible risk of a lightning strike on a phone line getting into the household AC circuit via any equipment connected to the phone line. Hence some of the surge protectors having phone in and out sockers so that the phone line can be protected.

John

 

A surge is electricity. If incoming to a PSU, then simultaneously, that same current is outgoing into a motherboard.

Any recommendation that does not always discuss both an incoming and outgoing path is in violation even of what was taught in primary school science.

Best protection is already inside a PSU. It will routinely convert hundreds joule surges into rock stable, low DC voltages to safely power its semiconductors. How rock stable? Major voltage variations on AC mains (ie any voltage from 85 to 265 volts) does not even cause DC voltages to vary by 0.1 volts.

Long before any recommendation is posted, one must first learn numbers - that must also appear here.

Best protection on a power cord is already inside computers - as demonstrated but again with numbers. That Laptop in line Surge Protector is obviously targeting one market. Naive consumers because they routinely ignore and do not demand spec numbers. It can block what 3 kilometers of sky cannot (obviously bogus). It somehow absorbs a surge that can be hundreds of thousands of joules?. It solves that problem easily. It does not even list joules numbers. Because it is marketed to consumers who all but want to be scammed.

Never ceases to amaze me how many consumers almost beg to be scammed. No numbers is a first indication of junk science.

 

I look upon one of those simple surge protectors as being a fuse: cheap but effective and breaks the electricity supply under overload conditions.

Most of the energy of a lightning strike is like to be dissipated (either by design or through other equipment) by the time it reaches the power sockets unless the strike happens immediately outside (or on) the building containing the computer. In situation even the most expensive protection will struggle to work (most likely there will be burnt out wiring where the insulation couldn't handle the voltage and there is also likely to be a temporary spike in the voltage in the ground wiring). As already suggested, the best protection is disconnection whenever an electrical storm is expected.

John

 

You assumed. You ignoreed numbers and did not learn facts. Some numbers. Fuses take milliseconds or longer to trip. Destructive surges are done in microseconds. Well over 300 consecutive surges could pass through that protector that "breaks the electricity supply" - before that protector even thought about responding.

Second, somehow a millimeter gap or centimeter part will block what three kilometers of sky could not? Another example of how every layman can see through lies that promote 'magic box' protectors.

Third, where is any specification number that defines what that 'magic box' protector does? No numbers is why junk science is alive and well.

Fourth, no protector does protection. Not one. Best protection on TV cable is a hardwire that connects cable low impedance (ie less than 3 meters) to single point earth ground. Best protection has no protector.

Telephone cannot connect direct to earth. So a 'whole house' protector does what that hardwire does better. Make a low impedance (ie less than 3 meter) connection to single point earth ground (all four words have electrical significance).

Protectors did that over 100 years ago. Every effective protector does that today. What does not exist when scams are promoted? Numbers (ie millimeters, centimeters, kiilometers, joules, impedance).

Fifth, disconnecting depends on a least reliable item - a human. Do you never sleep, never leave a house, always know when a stray car will hit a telephone pole and when linemen will make a mistake, and never take a shower? You must for disconnecting to work. Do you also disconnect all clocks, furnace, GFCIs (or RCDs), refrigerator, dishwasher, and central air? If not, the solution is ineffective.

Especially when a best solution costs about $1 per protected appliance - another number.

Sixth, protection from direct lightning strikes is so routine that nobody even knows a surge existed. But again, that means learning concepts originally demonstrated by Franklin over 250 years ago. An effective solution is that well proven, that easily installed, and simply understood.

But that means ignoring enemies of science including advertising, hearsay, sales droids, subjective reasoning, and wild speculation.

Above products were examples of junk science. How many even forgot lessons taught in primary school science?

Protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.

Magic plug-in devices can even make electronics damage easier. Did they forget to mention that in advertising? A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.