CONCLUSION

   The Smart-UPS SMT1500IC may not be the best UPS out in the market today but it's certainly the best in my charts to date, certainly when it comes to battery life. As a matter of fact, i had to redo my tests many times over because i thought something was wrong in order to be getting the results i did. Still nothing was wrong in the end, the SMT1500IC might be an 1500VA/1000W UPS like many others but thanks to its RBC7 battery pack it offers 2-3 times more runtime than even the best models in my charts. In terms of noise levels, the 80mm exhaust fan of the SMT1500IC may not be the least noisy one but it mostly starts spinning once the power shuts off so that shouldn't be an issue. Yes, sometimes (especially when the battery is charging) it may start spinning but that's for a very limited amount of time (enough however for me to not recommend this UPS for use in a bedroom). Aside all my tests in the almost 1 full month I’ve been using the SMT1500IC it has performed better than expected really. The number of available settings in both the PowerChute Business Edition software and the LCD screen simplify things even for people without much knowledge of UPS systems whereas the ability to access them remotely is certain to come in handy to some people (as is the electricity bill feature). Still, I have to admit that at one point all the devices connected to it shut down for no apparent reason (without me ever setting anything like that in the PowerChute Business Edition software). This could be an isolated issue but if it ever happens again, I will be sure to contact APC and update this review with their answer and the reason (update: This happened again and seems to be due to fluctuations from my PSU. So far it's been resolved by setting power quality sensitivity to reduced instead of normal).

   The Smart-UPS line by APC is amongst their top-end non-rackmount ones and so it goes without saying that it doesn’t come cheap. To be more specific the SMT1500IC model I reviewed today retails for no less than 699Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) so even though priced well for what it offers (especially when compared to other UPS models) it’s far from what most people would call affordable, especially for home use (unfortunately at this time i was only able to find the non-smartconnect SMT1500I version in the USA). Still for people who have really expensive PCs at home and of course for office use (generally for expensive equipment) the APC Smart-UPS SMT1500IC is an excellent choice not only because of its massive battery life but also its impressive range of features and protections and for that it clearly deserves the Platinum Award.

PROS

- Impressive Battery Life
- 8 IEC Plugs (All Battery Powered)
- 1500VA/1000W
- LCD Display with Adjustable Menus
- PowerChute Business Edition (Local/Remote Access)
- List of Features
- Ethernet, Serial & USB Connectivity
- 10 Available Models
- 3 Year Limited Warranty (2 For Battery)

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- USA Availability