When comparing APC BGE70 vs APC BX850M, the Slant community recommends APC BX850M for most people. In the question“What are the best UPS (uninterruptible power supply) units under or around $100?” APC BX850M is ranked 2nd while APC BGE70 is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose APC BX850M is:
It can be plugged to a computer via USB and, this way, controlled or configured via the operating system. Users can do operations like schedule an automatic shutdown.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Extremely long battery life
This UPS will supply power for a 75W system for approximately 22 minutes, during an electrical outage. In the common use scenario where this unit is used to provide backup power to a standard20W network router, it can power it for as much as 90 minutes.
Pro Light and compact design makes it easy to place neat networking equipment
This UPS is quite small both in terms of size and weight, making it easy to place near your networking equipment. It also has side wall mounts that can be handy, since most networking equipment tend to be mounted on walls.
Pro Decent surge protection
With a surge energy rating of 120 Joules, it adequately protects networking equipment during a short power surge. This unit is not designed to be exposed to continuous and frequent brownouts and voltage spikes, but will be fine with the occasional voltage spikes/brownouts.
Pro Can be controlled via a computer
It can be plugged to a computer via USB and, this way, controlled or configured via the operating system. Users can do operations like schedule an automatic shutdown.
Pro Easy to monitor
The BX850M has an LCD display for quick stat monitoring. It gives out info such as current voltage, battery time remaining or load.
Pro Batteries are easy to replace
If there's ever a need to replace this unit's battery, a replacement battery is quite easy to find online. As for the replacement operation itself, it's very simple and requires virtually no technical knowledge: you just need to remove the battery cover, take out the battery, unplug the connectors, and then the opposite steps in reverse order for the new battery.
Pro Good for domestic or small office workstations
This unit's 510 W power and surge protection up to 1103 J make it a good option for protecting most home electronic equipment and even some office-level devices, if they are not too demanding.
Cons
Con Insufficient power for uses other than protecting network equipment
This UPS is rated at 75W, which is enough for networking equipment, but insufficient for even a basic desktop computer. The APC BGE70 will easily supply plenty of power to a Wi-Fi router and still have room for a 24-port gigabit switch or any other low-power networking equipment, but not more than that.
Con No network line protection
Even though the BGE70 is designed for network equipment, it lacks network line protection capabilities. As voltage surges can occur on either power or network lines, you need to use a separate UPS with network line protection if you want to ensure total surge protection.
Con Not all outlets have power backup
Despite having a total of 8 outlets, all with surge protection, only 4 of them have power backup.