So there's a power outage in your neighborhood or the lights simply flicker for a moment. No big deal, right? Except your computer hardware and files can be at risk if everything suddenly shuts down without properly and intentionally doing so. Find out more about the risks of not having a battery backup.
An uninterrupted power supply (UPS) is a fairly inexpensive safeguard to protect your computer from unexpected power loss. Even if the battery only lasts for a few minutes, it gives you those precious moments to save your work and properly shut down your computer. So what happens if you don't have a UPS and you just let the power company play God with your computer?
Forget for a moment any potential equipment damages and losses. The biggest thing you'd probably be sad/mad to lose is your personal files. Whether they are for work or pleasure, super pertinent or just things you've been hoarding, it hurts to lose something important from your computer.
Also consider what will happen if you're working on a file and hadn't saved your changes in a while (learn CTRL-S and use it frequently) and the power goes out. All that hard work goes out the window, and motivation to retype it all also goes out the window.
Then consider that your operating system might become corrupted. Most of the time your computer will be able to boot back up from an unexpected shutdown, but not allowing it to gracefully close things out raises the potential for error. Important system files can become corrupted, among other not so good for your operating system things.
So spend a few bucks and plug it into a UPS.
MORE ABOUT UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLIES ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• How Do You Hide a UPS Battery in the Office?
• It's Time You Updated These 6 Devices In Your Home Office
• UPS vs. Surge Protector
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I use a laptop with a good battery, so the UPS isn't so necessary for it. But my three external hard drives are very happy that I use it.
If you are using a computer made after 2007 or so (which you almost certainly are), you need to make sure the UPS you buy is compatible with the ultra sensitive "PFC" power supplies that are in most newer computers. Look for UPS units that provide power as a pure sinewave, instead of an approximate or "stepped" wave. Otherwise your equipment may still turn off when the UPS switches to battery backup, defeating the purpose of having a UPS.
We have three UPSs that were rescued from a dumpster... they just needed new batteries, and they're good as new. I love having them, it gives you quite a few minutes to fish your work, save and safely shut down your PC if the power goes out.
I suspect UPSs aren't nearly as important these days, where so many people are using tablets and laptops which have batteries built right in! Though, it can be quite useful to have the router and modem plugged into a UPS.
@TravelingRae
One of the main reasons I switched to a notebook was specifically for backup in case of an outage. I think that's a big advantage of owning a notebook over a desktop that many don't consider. All of my external harddrives were powered too - but I eventually switched to portable bus-powered drives!
UPS' are a great idea, but they are pricey, heavy, the LEDs are bright, and they tend to chirp when the battery gets low.
Our main computer is a desktop attached to a UPS. Also attached is our modem/router so when the power goes out we just shut down the desk top and access the net (for emergency services etc) via laptop/tablet.
The smell of a cooked motherboard after a power surge was enough to pursuade us to go the UPS route.