It’s big and red, and without it your PC could be dead
Salicru, as was news to me also, is a Spanish business that’s been around since 1965 making systems to maintain electrical supply. It makes a wide range of DC converters, voltage stabilisers and Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS). The scope of its products is quite amazing, in fact, because at one end it's got the SPS Home range – that starts with a 600VA capacity – and at the other end the SLC Adapt, with the potential for a whopping 900000VA.
It's SPS One series is at the more modest end of that scale; available in 500, 700, 900, 1100, 1500 and 2000VA power ratings. It features USB connection to the PC, and protection for not only the PC but also telephone or internet cabling. Unpacking it, the 700VA review model is a heavy old lump weighing in at 4.25kg – though compared with its 2000VA bigger brother at 11.5KG it’s a lightweight.
Salicru, for whatever reason, decided to make the One from a rather distinctive red plastic, that brought back some distant childhood memory of a London bus toy. In terms of features, simplicity is the watchword here. On the front is three LEDs to signal the status and a push on/off button. On the back are three power points for connecting protected equipment: two that are UK three-pin plugs, and another that’s on the Kettle lead (IEC) variety. That’s enough to hang a PC, monitor and another peripheral onto the UPS but, with just 700VA on tap, that’s probably enough.
To charge the unit takes at least four hours, though it can provide some degree of protection during this time, even if it wouldn’t last as long if the power dropped while it was recharging. In a simple test I plugged a PC using the Z97 chipset and G3258 Processor in and ran it on Windows 10 preview before pulling the plug. The software, which I’ll get to in a moment, shut the PC down after about 30 minutes, though I hadn’t got the monitor attached to the UPS. That gives you a reasonable window to shut down a PC in a controlled manner if a power cut occurs, but not any great capacity to do much more than that.
The application Salicru uses is called Viewpower; though it’s not in the box, and you’re forced to go hunting for it on the Internet. It's a feature-rich tool, though, and even works to manage multiple PCs and their respective UPS across a network.As a web-based application using Adobe Flash, it isn't ideal, though. For a start, it won't work in browsers that refuse to use that plugin.
From a price perspective, Salircu have pitched this around a fiver less than a comparable APC Backup-UPS, though I found cheaper options – from Cyberpower, among others. While this unit currently comes with free delivery from Ebuyer, I do wonder if someone buying a UPS might want something of higher quality construction, even if those aspects are skin deep. Mark Pickavance
Features
• Line-interactive technology
• Microprocessor control guaranteeing high reliability
• AVR Boost&Buck permanent stabilisation
• USB interface for all models as standard
• Downloadable monitoring software for Windows, Linux, Unix and Mac
• Protection for data line / telephone / Internet
• A single on/off switch for easier and more convenient use
• Protection from overloads, short circuits and transients
• Smart battery charger to shorten average recharging times
• Battery recharging with equipment turned off
• Battery-powered cold-start function
• Automatic restart when input voltage restored
• SLC Greenergy solution