Now that winter is over with our next season is what I like to call Storm Season.  This is the time of year when we get some violent storms.  Although we get some bad storms during winter I’m talking about storms that produce lightning and power outages or power surges.

During this time of year it’s most important to protect your computer with a good surge protector.  Most power bars will have some kind of surge protection but they’re not enough to protect your computer.  The kind of surge protector you should have should be rated for a minimum of 2600 Joules.  Keep in mind the higher the Joules the better the protection.  A good surge protector will cost approximately $40.00 on up.  Think of it this way:  you just spent close to $1000 on your new computer system, why not spend the extra money and get a good surge protector?

The other type of protection you could get is called a UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply or commonly known as Battery Backup.  These units will give you anywhere from 3 minutes to 65 minutes of battery backup to properly shut your system down.  If you live in an area where you get brown outs (where the power drops but doesn’t go out) then the battery backup system can help to regulate the power, so it doesn’t affect your computer.

What size of UPS do you need?  That depends on your system and how many watts your system is using.  The average computer system could get away with a 550va UPS which would give you about 4 minutes to shut your system down properly.  I would recommend that you get a 650va or higher UPS as that would give you better protection and a longer run time.

So if you take my advice and purchase a good surge protector or UPS and the next storm hits then you should have peace of mind knowing that your investment in your computer should be protected.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me at Scott’s Computer Emporium 519-802-2721 or email me at scott@computeremporium.ca