APC Back UPS ES8 Power Saving Outlet 700VA

This is the first ever UPS I have purchased or used. After reading all the reviews (which I do religiously), this appeared to be perfect for the system I have.
After recent power cuts, various spikes & periods of "on-&-off's", it was time to 'bite the bullet' & get something to protect my very expensive system (instead of the standard power surge sockets I already had). My system is a self-built, AMD 6-core system & cost me more money than I would be willing to pay for again. Together with my 20" Panasonic T.V / Monitor, 1TB external drive & Logitech Air Mouse - all worthy of full protection.
For such a heavy package, it was delivered within 4 days - very good considering I got FREE Super Saver delivery (Yet another great service by Amazon).
The connection took about 2 hours, but this is only because I was wary about the connection of the battery, which, as it turned out, was very simple. I also had to untangle all the cables at the back of my desk, label all the plugs so I knew which was to be plugged into either the UPS or Power-surge sockets. I specifically took time to read all the instructions, options & features of this exceptional UPS.
The Set Up:
The battery cover just slides off, tilt the unit until the battery starts to slide out, connect the short cable to the battery terminal (there are a few small sparks, but nothing too scary), & slide the battery cover plate back on - easy!
Decide which peripherals you need to be powered during a cut (PC, Monitor, Router, etc.) & which ones you just need surge protection from (printer, speakers, phone, etc.). Then plug the relevant plugs into the sockets. Because these are UK sockets, there's no need to mess around with 'kettle plug' type leads to connect to peripherals, just plug in & go.
There's also Ethernet sockets for your router protection, + another one for the data cable (Ethernet one end & USB the other), this gives instant access to the current state of the battery, via the supplied software.
The Software:
PowerChute Personal Edition is supplied & versions for Vista, 2000/XP, 98/Me & Mac are on the same disk. This is simple to install & has many options, including: how long you want your system to run on batteries before sleep/hibernation, which alarms you want it to use when there's a power outage, & the current power state of the battery (how long it will run with your current power drain). This isn't 'all singing, all dancing' software, but it has enough options to cover most users shut-down preferences.
The Hardware:
As described in the Tech Specs, this unit has 4 UK sockets for UPS with power surge, & another 4 UK sockets for power surge only. Obviously, the less you have plugged into the UPS sockets, the longer the battery will run for. Surge protection sockets for your ADSL router are placed on the opposite end to the power switch. The Power button is self explanitary & the GREEN light shows when there is power & RED light shows when the battery is being charged. Also, when you just want to turn everything off which is plugged in, you can just hit the POWER button & all is shut down (handy too if you have all your TV, PVR, Bluray player, PS3, etc plugged in & you turn them all off at night). The MASTER ENABLE button allows you to power down all other peripherals when the Master socket has been powered down. So, for example, you have your PC tower plugged into the MASTER socket, when this socket has been powered down, the other UPS sockets will do the same. There is a way to set the 'threshold' of this, but I'm still trying various options to get it how I want it. Anyway, the instructions take you through this process.

All-in-all, this is an excellent UPS for home/small office use. Brilliant if you have limited space for a 'tower' style UPS, as it's size is minimal. The UK type sockets are ideal for a 'plug & play' set up, the software is adequate & the features are all very handy. APC has put a lot of thought into this piece of kit, & it isn't surprising that they are the world leaders in UPS.

I have added a few pictures, which may help if you're undecided which UPS to get.

Really, I can't recommend the ES 700 highly enough.

Charged overnight, set up and running in well under half an hour. There is no application shut-down control in PowerChute Personal Edition, but for home / home office use I debate whether that's necessary. The software is simple to use and takes over battery control in Windows 7 without a hitch. So, some detail for those trying to make a decision:

My PC is (whilst sparing you the detail) a fairly top-end, AMD dual processor system with 2 Gb RAM, two optical drives, single hard drive, NVidia PCI Graphics and a number of USB devices connected. Display is a Sony 19" X-Black LCD and I also have an IcyBox NAS drive connected to the UPS. I plan to power the wireless router from it as well but haven't got round to that yet. So, currently it's the three 'essential' components of the system. Brief test this morning by turning off the power on the switched socket that the UPS is connected to showed an estimated battery time of 12 minutes. That may not seem long but it compares well to the Belkin UPS (similar spec) that I've replaced and is plenty of time to ensure that you finish what you're doing, close everything down nicely and power off to save battery life. That's all I want to do in the event of a power cut at home. Interestingly, having had this unit plugged in and running for an hour or so now, and running the test above, I'm at 89% charge with an estimated battery time of 15 minutes, so things look even better...

There is a review here somewhere, moaning about the need to connect the battery before using / charging the UPS. For the life of me I can't understand how it would take two people 20 minutes to do it! It took me less than 5 minutes, more like 2 or 3...but let me give you further instructions:

When you've opened the battery compartment cover and 'fiddled out' the loose battery wire (the one you have to connect), tip the unit up gently on it's end and lean it slightly so that the battery itself begins to slide out. You'll easily be able to grab it at that point, lower the unit down flat on the floor and lift the battery out far enough so that you can connect the battery cable. Lift the unit up on it's end again so that you slide the battery gently back into place without just dropping it in, replace the cover (two simple plastic clips) and that's it - job done. Plug in and charge for 16 hours.

Hope all this helps someone else make a decision.

I have been in the process of buying these UPS outlets to ensure safe shutdown of NAS Duo and PC. These devices will give 7 mins to a high spec PC or 45 minutes to a Netgear NAS duo. More than adequate to allow the command line to shut down the designated device. Please be aware that only one device can autoshutdown per UPS. Buying a UPS is about Risk Management. In view that most of us now keep photographs and other personal data, it is prudent to ensure that this is not lost due to hardrive failure caused by power failure.

Mainstream companies have been doing this for years, so it is good to adopt this methodology for the home especially if like me you leave your NAS duo running 24/7.

In the 13 years of living at my location there have been few power cuts, but recently we have had 3 over 4 hour outages. Got caught by the first but since then have had the peace of mind for the other 2 knowing that my data is protected.

Been so pleased with the purchase I have upgraded to their big brother; Smart-UPS 2200 (Now have High Spec PC with a battery pack of 1 hour :))

This purchased APC now keeps my cordless phone up and running.