Review of 5 Premier Online / Double Conversion UPS in India
By Angsuman Chakraborty, Gaea News NetworkSaturday, October 11, 2008
If you have a computer and unfortunately you live in a power-cut prone area, by now you know this subject is of your utmost interest. And ours were just that. In order to understand the nitty-gritties of an UPS and also to have a comparative picture of all the leading UPS companies in India, we had called them up directly to take a survey. An information is an information only when it comes out of the horse’s mouth. We did that for you and now lets go into the details.
Specification
We were focusing on a 6KVA online UPS with at least one hour battery back-up. We had the following points to consider
- Isolation Transformer (if any and if needed)
- How will the overload be handled (Will it shutdown there only or warn before)
- Warranty of Product & Battery
- Service and AMC (annual maintenance cost)
- Price
- Power factor
- Efficiency
- Customer Service
Comparative Study of the UPS companies
| UPS Companies | Model | Isolation Transformer | Overload Issue | Warranty | Service | Price | Power factor | Efficiency | Linux Compatibility | Customer Service |
| APC | 6 KVA, 1hr backup | Not inbuilt, takes Rs-15000 | Automatic shutdown option is there. It will warn you with loud sound | 2 Years on UPS, 1 yr on Battery (EXIDE preferred) | You can choose for AMC according to the plans | UPS- 58,000+ tax (4%), Battery- 60000+ tax (12.5%) | 0.7 | 98% | Yes | Very prompt, helpful and knowledgeable |
| SU-KAM | 5 KVA, 1hr backup | inbuilt, depends upon model | It will warn you with loud sound, auto shutdown option was not clarified with | 1 Year on UPS, 1 yr on Battery (Su-Kam batteries only) | You can choose for AMC according to the plans | UPS- 45,000+ tax (4%), Battery- (4,500*15)+ tax (12.5%) | 0.8 | 94% | Yes | just satisfactory |
| Numeric | 6 KVA, 1hr backup | Not inbuilt, takes Rs-14000 | It will warn you with loud sound, again auto shutdown option was not clarified with. | 1 Year on UPS, 1 yr on Battery | You can choose for AMC according to the plans | Overall 1,35,000 + tax(4%) | 0.7 | 92% | Yes | prompt, helpful |
| Microtek | 5 KVA, 1hr backup (they had 7.5 too) but we asked for two 3KVA UPS | Not inbuilt, takes Rs-7,500 | It will warn you with loud sound | 1 Years on UPS, 1 yr on Battery | You can choose for AMC (7,500Rs/ yr) | UPS- 19,500+ tax (4%), Battery- (3,800*8)+ tax (12.5%) [for one 3KVA UPS] | 0.7 | 96% | Yes | Not bad, helpful |
| Eaton | 6 KVA online UPS with 1 hr backup | Its not inbuilt and needs to be fitted at the input point.
The technical officer was really knowledgeable in this regard and explained a lot |
It has a auto shutdown option. beeps loud.
for 125% Percentage tolerance - backup =10 mins. for 150% - 1min. |
2 Years on UPS, 1 year on battery | AMC is 10% of the service contract | 1.1-1.2 Lacs inclusive of all taxes | 0.8 | 96% | Yes, they have a unique Load segmentation software too that separates critically loaded machines to idle ones and manages thereby. | Impressive, knowledgeable and by far the best |
Our decision
- APC representatives were knowledgeable during our telephonic conversation.
- We had heard good things about them in the market.
- Our experience with APC customer support has been pleasant as they were prompt in replacing several of our APC UPS within a short time and without questions. In India customer support is what matters most, even more than the quality of the product.
- APC is the most well known UPS brand in USA.
In light of the above we have decided to go with APC UPS though I am having a second thought about Eaton because some very experienced people have recommended Eaton and also the technical officer was very impressive.
Note: The above review is unbiased as all of our reviews. We are not associated in any capacity with any of the above mentioned proiducts.
Tags: APC, APC UPS, Comparisons among UPS, Double Conversion UPS, Maintenance, Microtek, Microtek UPS, Numeric, Numeric UPS, online UPS, Su-Kam, Su-Kam UPS, Things, UPS, UPS Comparison
Sanjeev