Laptop or Desktop computer?

A decent UPS runs about $50 for those who are concerned about power interruption. The life expectancy of a notebook battery is about 2 years, then you will have to pay a lot more $ to replace a discharged battery pack.

 

I bought a laptop off a friend because she was in debt trouble; I just took over the payments. Initially I just wanted one because they are cool, and my last laptop (which still runs) was a Canon Innova book.
Turns out that this thing has saved my bacon many times. In the case, I have regular cat5 and a crossover, all the linux distros I use (plus knoppix) plus some tools. It is so nice to show up at a gig with this; I know that this box is in good working order (and I don't know that about the other computers in the place), so to start troubleshooting the network I can just plug it in and go from there. See who's up, do a packet capture to see whats going by, etc...
Man, windows network are chatty by the way. Those elections are silly.

 

furballi, since it appears as if your post was directed at my laptop comments, I would submit the following...

1. In old homes like mine (with ungrounded AC) a UPS is worthless - whereas my laptop's 'built-in UPS' works flawlessly!

2. Replacing a laptop battery doesn't cost any more than replacing a UPS battery and (on average) the laptop battery will last about as long.

Cheers, pv

 

In older US residences, the white wire is the NEUTRAL wire (wide blade). The whole metallic wall AC support bracket is grounded. Purchase a new $3 wall socket from Home Depot if you want a grounded 3 wire AC plug.

A UPS in the US runs on 60 Hz 120V AC. The only requirement is 120V AC input with at least a 10A circuit. Therefore, the UPS will be 100% functional if there is 120V AC available at the input side. Perhaps you can explain why the UPS is worthless in your home.

Since HP notebooks are very popular in the US, let's take a look at the replacement cost of one battery pack. The average cost is around $80.

http://www.laptopbattery.net/hp/


Cheapest DELL is $89

http://www.laptopbattery.net/dl/

 

Sure I will furballi (and if you have a solution other than rewiring my house, I'm all ears!)... Your assumption about my house wiring is incorrect.

First of all, each of my original AC wall boxes (brackets) are not metalic, they are plastic (bakelite)!
Secondly, about 8 years ago, we had our bathroom and kitchen remodeled and at that time a licensed electrician replaced the old AC wall units in those rooms with modern (metal) 3-wire outlets. A simple AC tester showed that even after that work was perfomed none of those outlets were grounded.

 

You need to read up on the US residential electrical code. I can only go by what's on the code, not what you or the previous owner has done to the home AC wiring!

Newer boxes don't use a full metal housing. That's why there is a 3rd green wire for "earth" ground. Connect this green wire to the green screw on the AC plug.

Licensed electrician DOES NOT GUARANTEE that the work will be done per specs!

Finally, the UPS should work with only the hot and neutral AC wire.

http://www.handymanwire.com/articles/ground1.html

 

furballi~ Thanks for the 'handyman wire' link, but it just confirms that which I've been saying...

...and it doesn't address how to add it with my 2-wire (which is Romex, not BX). ~pv

 

After buy my Laptop, I can't imagine myself without one...

 

Older homes have GROUNDED pathway but they are NOT connected. Spend a little more $ on an electrician and you can fix the problem!

If you only see a black and a white wire without a ground wire, then the electrician is not installing per code.

Back to the UPS. How would the lack of a ground wire prevent the UPS from working? Most home desktops also come with a 3rd ground plug. Explain to me how you could run the PC without a ground wire? Do you understand the purpose of a ground wire?