Converting Watts To Amps And Vice Versa

[Sylvia Else]

On 30/12/2010 9:22 PM, Tom wrote:

On 29/12/2010 11:41 PM, Noodnik wrote:

I don't know what your (or anyone elses) environment is like, but isn't a
UPS a bit like bottled water in many cases, ie. the normal reticulated
utility is good enough in practice? Sure, for a business full of critical
servers it's a nobrainer, but in a home environment, what's the impact of
the occasional power brownout?

Me and most of the other people I know have run many computers and
related
devices for many years directly on the raw mains, and never had a
significant problem.

I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b (power went
off/power glitch during BIOS upgrade)

That rather suggests that people are doing unnecessary BIOS upgrades.

Sylvia.

 

[Mr.T]

"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote in message
news:8o38b8Fj0lU1@mid.individual.net...

I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b (power went
off/power glitch during BIOS upgrade)

That rather suggests that people are doing unnecessary BIOS upgrades.

And you think *all* BIOS upgrades are unnecessary?
Shame there is often a good reason for the manufacturer to waste money
writing the new firmware!
Or perhaps you think that the necessary upgrades can never fail?
Or maybe it's just YOU who has never needed one.

MrT.

 

[Sylvia Else]

On 31/12/2010 12:53 PM, Mr.T wrote:

"Sylvia Else"<sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote in message
news:8o38b8Fj0lU1@mid.individual.net...
I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b (power went
off/power glitch during BIOS upgrade)

That rather suggests that people are doing unnecessary BIOS upgrades.

And you think *all* BIOS upgrades are unnecessary?

Did I say that?

Shame there is often a good reason for the manufacturer to waste money
writing the new firmware!

Manufacturers also advise that one should not upgrade the BIOS unless
one is experiencing an issue that the upgrade is intended to address.

Or perhaps you think that the necessary upgrades can never fail?
Or maybe it's just YOU who has never needed one.

Undoubtedly some upgrades are needed, and occasionally they will fail.

But for the situation Tom described to arise, there would have to be a
lot of upgrades going on. I would be surprised if they're all necessary.
If they're not *all* necessary, then my suggestion that people are doing
unnecessary BIOS upgrades is supported.

Sylvia.

 

[keithr]

On 30/12/2010 9:22 PM, Tom wrote:

On 29/12/2010 11:41 PM, Noodnik wrote:

I don't know what your (or anyone elses) environment is like, but isn't a
UPS a bit like bottled water in many cases, ie. the normal reticulated
utility is good enough in practice? Sure, for a business full of critical
servers it's a nobrainer, but in a home environment, what's the impact of
the occasional power brownout?

Me and most of the other people I know have run many computers and
related
devices for many years directly on the raw mains, and never had a
significant problem.

I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b (power went
off/power glitch during BIOS upgrade) and stuffed Windows (power went
off/power glitch during updates or new driver install). By default
Windows reboots on blue screen so second scenario usually produces
endless loop of booting up, blue screen (not long enough to read),
reboot, blue screen... thanks Microsoft!

Had exactly that when my wife forgot to power her machine off prior to a
scheduled power outage. The blue screen flashed up for less than a
second, I ended up photographing it to see whet the problem was.

The problem was a corrupted registry file, but M$ make you jump through
hoops to recover when it could be quite simply automated if Windows
detected the situation.

Mind you, that is only the second such problem that I've seen ever. The
other was a DOS machine that lost power halfway through updating the
FAT. That was an interesting problem to fix, but the store manager (it
ran all his cash registers) was so happy to get his data back, that he
gave me a nice bottle of single malt scotch.

 

[Mr.T]

"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote in message
news:8o4rmdFp6mU1@mid.individual.net...

I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b (power went
off/power glitch during BIOS upgrade)

That rather suggests that people are doing unnecessary BIOS upgrades.

And you think *all* BIOS upgrades are unnecessary?

Did I say that?

Did you read the rest of the options that *must* lead from your assertion?

Shame there is often a good reason for the manufacturer to waste money
writing the new firmware!

Manufacturers also advise that one should not upgrade the BIOS unless
one is experiencing an issue that the upgrade is intended to address.

Exactly, SOME people DO have problems the upgrade is designed to address,
therefore DO need to upgrade!

Or perhaps you think that the necessary upgrades can never fail?
Or maybe it's just YOU who has never needed one.

Undoubtedly some upgrades are needed, and occasionally they will fail.

So WHY again does one failing "suggest that people are doing unnecessary
BIOS upgrades"?

But for the situation Tom described to arise, there would have to be a
lot of upgrades going on. I would be surprised if they're all necessary.

Just as I would be surprised if a lot weren't.

If they're not *all* necessary, then my suggestion that people are doing
unnecessary BIOS upgrades is supported.

Nope. While it *might* be so, nothing you have said *proves* anything of the
kind. In fact I know more people who have problems with their computers
because they haven't upgraded the BIOS and weren't aware that was the cause
of their problem.
In fact I'd say the majority of computer users wouldn't know what the BIOS
even does, or EVER check for updates. Most people I know have to be told how
to even get into the BIOS configuration screen, and wouldn't dream of
changing the settings, let alone the BIOS itself!!!!!!!!

MrT.

 

[kreed]

On Dec 31, 11:53 am, "Mr.T" <MrT@home> wrote:

"Sylvia Else" <syl...@not.here.invalid> wrote in message

news:8o38b8Fj0lU1@mid.individual.net...

I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b (power went
off/power glitch during BIOS upgrade)

That rather suggests that people are doing unnecessary BIOS upgrades.

And you think *all* BIOS upgrades are unnecessary?
Shame there is often a good reason for the manufacturer to waste money
writing the new firmware!
Or perhaps you think that the necessary upgrades can never fail?
Or maybe it's just YOU who has never needed one.

MrT.

Not taking proper care during BIOS upgrades is the cause here, not the
unnecessary updating of BIOS or "unnecessary" BIOS updates being
released.

Many are for things that might not be relevant to you such as "support
new CPU", but if you update your CPU you will need these, even if you
dont need them now with your existing CPU.


even the cheapest UPS on the market would hold the PC up for long
enough to finish a BIOS update, unless BIOS sizes have bloated out
in recent couple of years and take 10's of minutes to flash.

 

[Tom]

On 31/12/2010 11:58 AM, Sylvia Else wrote:

...
But for the situation Tom described to arise, there would have to be a lot of upgrades going on. I would be surprised if they're all necessary. If they're not *all* necessary, then my suggestion that people are doing unnecessary BIOS upgrades is supported.

I wrote "I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b...", thought it will be clear that they were someone elses computers.

Sylvia.

Tom

 

[Sylvia Else]

On 31/12/2010 4:44 PM, Tom wrote:

On 31/12/2010 11:58 AM, Sylvia Else wrote:

...
But for the situation Tom described to arise, there would have to be a
lot of upgrades going on. I would be surprised if they're all
necessary. If they're not *all* necessary, then my suggestion that
people are doing unnecessary BIOS upgrades is supported.

I wrote "I have fixed quite a few computers with bricked m/b...",
thought it will be clear that they were someone elses computers.

Yes, so I assumed. But it still implies a signifcant rate of BIOS upgrades.

Sylvia.

 

[Rod Outback]

"terryc" <newsninespam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:iffags$l1u$1@news.eternal-september.org...

kreed wrote:
On Dec 28, 6:38 pm, terryc <newsninespam-s...@woa.com.au> wrote:
Dave Henning wrote:

You want to know your total watts

iMac 2.5-1.25 A, 120 W
+120W

LCD Display 1.5 A
_Probably 12V, so +18W, say 20w for ease

Mac Mini 85W
+85W

External Hard Drive .65A 51-80VA
+80W (actually less, but shrug)

Amp 85W
+85W

Lamp 8W, 80 mA
+8W

Say 400w
Is your power requirement.

This would be the minimum you need to buy.

Err, Watts has no time parameter.


You can go higher than this, as this will give you longer running time
if the power fails, even with a smaller load than the rating of the
UPS.

Well, UPS's are really just a device for elegant, but immediate shutdowns,
or if you are really serious, to fill in till the generator kicks in.
However the number of people who take this on board is infinitesimal.

Many of the larger UPS's do line conditioning as part of their work. We
live on the end of a long SWER power line, and we often get the UPS kicking
in with voltages getting too high for a little while. The activity log from
the UPS is an interesting read at times.

Now that I have a laptop as the main PC in the house, I no longer need a UPS
for the role I have used in the past. However, we have found that putting
the WLAN, UHF radio and Cordless phones on the UPS gives us around 30
minutes before the batteries deplete. The monster genset kicks in and takes
up the load in around 7 minutes, so there is a comfortable reserve there.
Often when we have a power outage, there are bushfires around, and we are
co-ordinating our response with neighbours. Having the phones and 2-way
stay on regardless of the power activity has been a godsend.

Hippy new year to one and all..

Cheers,

Rod.