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What is the safe way to buy a UPS on e-bay?

Be very, VERY careful and cool about this.

Uninterruptible power supplies is the WRONG area to try to save money at.

MOST OF RETAIL UPSes ARE CRAP.

They are CHEAP, look good, and sound good, and claims are great, but you'll be SWEARING the first time you lose power.

First of all, size.

For a large desktop (a full-blown high-power computer setup with a large tower, large LCD screen, and several connected things like a printer), do not go below 1000VA (1kVA). And that is a LARGE UPS. How long will that last? 5 minutes on a large desktop system. 1 minute if you happing to be playing a game when the power goes out. So that is just barely enough time to save everything and safely shut your computer off.

Secondly, the battery.

This is the MOST IMPORTANT AND MOST EXPENSIVE part of a UPS. A unit without a fresh battery is ALMOST USELESS. A unit with a used 1 year old battery is HALF AS GOOD AS YOU THINK.

So:

1000VA

Guaranteed to work

Return policy

MFG warranty still available

New or refurbished, not used

New or replaced battery

Described as WORKING

Has an LCD screen

Comes with a USB connection and software for your computer to automatically turn the computer off on power loss.

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