On Fri, Jan 02, 2009 at 06:55:00PM -0500, Robert L Cochran wrote:
That is what I want to see -- far lighter weight batteries ... >
... Lithium polymers would be great for this sort of application. They
should be linux-friendly, ...
First, appliances should be OS-independent; they should talk a "common
language", that doesn't care if it's on Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.
Secondly--as you'll continue to see me state in this post--the problem
is that everyone wants "cheapest possible". That means they go for
things like lead acid--cheap, mature--and LCD on any drivers or
associated software.
As a result of the various posts in this thread, ...
<<snip>>
Essentially, batteries are batteries. The vendors aren't going to go to
the immediate cost of custom "smart" batteris and support costs of a
specialized battery.
This still does not really meet my criterium of being very quick to
replace and instantly usable.
To meet that criterion, you essentially need to find a local battery
supplier who has either original vendor replacement batteries, or
acceptable aftermarket units designed for your UPS. Given the economy
and the decline of bricks'n'sticks stores, good luck.
I wish there were a way to independently, accurately and easily test the
UPS itself ...
...
Having the ability to test the units, regardless of devices connected to
the UPS, is critical.
Again--the end users are demanding cheap. They get cheap.
The APC units are still way too heavy and bulky. They are poorly
designed, being little more than batteries stuffed into a box that are
connected to circuit boards and 120v outlets.
Cheap. See above.
The most depressing part of all of this is that companies producing
professional-quality units aren't rewarded, so they either die or turn
out low-end junk...as we're seeing.
