Last week I ordered an APC 750VA UPS for my main system. As I’ve noted before, the power can be flaky around here at times, and it’s also prime season for thunderstorms. As it was on sale at the time for $80 CAD with free shipping, I thought it was a pretty good investment for a backup power supply. I placed the order late Tuesday morning, and to my surprise, it came, via airmail just past noon the next day! Mind you, it was only shipped from a Dell warehouse in BC, but still – airmail for a free shipping option was quite unexpected.

The UPS is working fine, but it is one heavy mutha. It provide four outlets for battery backup, and four additional that only have surge protection. Additionally, it features surge protection for your cable (coaxial) line as well as for a phone line (DSL) or CAT-5 network cable. (The jack is RJ-45, I believe, so you can plug both network and phone lines into it for protection) These features make it well-suited for protecting your
computer or even an HTPC as part of your A/V system. The UPS can connect to your computer via USB so that you can monitor its status, such as battery level, etc. The included software can allow your computer to automatically save open documents and shutdown when the power goes out, if you’re not present.

All necessary cables were included (phone line, coaxial cable and the cable to connect to your computer’s USB port); the only thing I didn’t like about this UPS was the non-standard USB cable used to interface with your computer. One end has the standard Type A connector, but the end that connects to the UPS looks like a modified RJ-45 jack. One wonders why APC would opt for this instead of a standard Type A or Type B connector. Instead, a non-standard cable makes replacement harder if one loses it.

Dell Canada experiences?

Another thing I was surprised to learn was that Dell doesn’t have the best reputation in terms of customer satisfaction. Mind you, they are a big store and get a lot of customers, but some other big stores like NewEgg have stellar reputations.

My only experience has been with Dell Canada, so perhaps reviews of just their service should be considered. Things are a bit better, but you do find the occasional negative review. My experience here (free overnight shipping, though that was not guaranteed) and my recent purchase of their 2407WFP flat panel were both positive, as was my purchase of a Dell laptop almost four years ago.

What has been your experience with Dell.ca?