Best Buy Ratings and Reviews

Best Buy Ratings and Reviews

Customer Reviews for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

This product is no longer available. Continue shopping at Best Buy.

APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

Model: APC J25B
SKU: 2984066
UPC: 731304277415
This back-up system features 6 battery-powered outlets to eliminate interruptions when the power goes out, so your DVR recordings, stored games, computer files and more aren't lost. Surge protection guards against power spikes.
Average Customer Rating:
4.333 out of 5
4.3
 out of 
5
(6 Reviews) 6
Open Ratings Snapshot
Rating Snapshot 6 reviews
5 stars
4
4 stars
1
3 stars
0
2 stars
1
1 star
0
83% of customers would recommend this product to a friend 
(
5 out of 6
)
Customer Reviews for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System
Review 1 for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

Excellent for it's purpose

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: ThomasH
from Wasilla, AK
on 01/14/2012
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Features
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Reliability
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Protection
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: Design (size/shape), capacity, silence button
What's not so great: pricey compared to alternatives
Got this on sale just before Christmas. It's designed to blend in with the entertainment center, unlike most UPS designs. Easy to set up, and 1500va is enough for a good selection of stuff. (I have a 50" plasma, BD-changer, DVD-R/VCR, receiver and satellite DVR on it, which draws just over 500w when in use.) This will run my 500w load for ~15 minutes, or (when it's all on standby and the DVR is recording) it will run over 2 hours.
Tested the battery this week - power outage for an hour overnight. It never blinked, and (a HUGE bonus) it can have that annoying beeping turned off. (Yes, I know the power is out, but it's 12:30am and I want to go back to sleep!) Most cheaper UPS's (and some expensive ones) don't allow that - look for a 'silence' button when shopping!
Mine is the J25; the J35 adds some power regulation, filtering, etc. If your area has very dirty power that would be useful, but I love mine. I own multiple UPS's, almost all APC, from BACK-UPS 500s to Smart-UPS 1500 and 2200, and this compares quite favorably to more expensive models.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+1point
1out of 1found this review helpful.
Review 2 for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

UPS

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: ggschaefer
on 01/11/2012
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Features
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Reliability
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Protection
5.0 out of 5
5.0
This is being used as a UPS and is an excellent choice.
I would recommend this to a friend!
-1point
0out of 1found this review helpful.
Review 3 for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

So far so fine

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: hhh222
from Atlanta Ga
on 12/02/2011
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Features
4.0 out of 5
4.0
What's great about it: Great sale price, it does the job and runs quiet.
What's not so great: APC's confusion on warranty.
At the sale price I got this at it's a 5 star rating and I have confirmed replacement batteries will be available in January of 2012.
This unit has been dead quiet so far and is a welcome addition to my HT.
BTW....I''m too cheap to have paid full price and did get it surprisingly cheap.
One curiosity....the manual says the warranty is 3 years but the guy I spoke with on the phone at APC said 2 years sooooo, just remember the warranty is 3 years if you have to use it and call in. The battery is also covered in the warranty.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+3points
3out of 3found this review helpful.
Review 4 for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

Lacking in features, but does the job

Customer Rating
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Posted by: Syndil
from Jeffersonville, IN
on 12/01/2011
Value for Price
3.0 out of 5
3.0
Features
2.0 out of 5
2.0
Reliability
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Protection
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Video Review:
(click to see the video)
User submitted video
What's great about it: A lot of battery power for the money, if you find it on sale.
What's not so great: Lacking in features, especially at full price.
I bought this for my computer, as it's a beast of machine that requires a large battery backup such as this. Easier to fit the horizontal layout of this Home Theater battery backup into my desk rather than the traditional tower shaped ones. Works great for that purpose. Even has a USB port on it for connecting to my PC. Windows 7 detected the presence of the UPS without the need for any additional drivers.
For home theater purposes, I would say this unit lacks one important feature, which is the presence of a 12V trigger input. But if you don't use triggers, then not a big deal. The more expensive J35B handles triggering via monitoring one of its outlets for an increase in power usage, which may work just as well, but no excuse for not having a 12V trigger input IMO.
Also the battery cartridge in the J-type units is really just two batteries joined together via a jumper plate. It's much cheaper to buy the batteries separately and reuse the plate that you already have than it is to buy a new cartridge entirely. Search YouTube for "APC RBC Cartridge #32" and you will get an idea of how to do this. This video shows a different jumper plate, but the process is basically the same.
I got this unit on sale but would not recommend it at full price. For less money you could get an APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 UPS with the same battery power and more features, such as AVR and automatic power down of idle equipment. Really what you are paying for with the J-type series is the pretty horizontal enclosure for use in your Home Theater. But as a UPS, it's about as basic as they come. Thus the 4-star rating.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+1point
3out of 5found this review helpful.
Review 5 for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

no replacement batteries

Customer Rating
2.0 out of 5
2.0
Posted by: checkmark
from houston
on 11/27/2011
What's great about it: great sale price for features
What's not so great: no replacement batteries
APC website says they have no replacement batteries for this unit. Will you have to throw this away in 2 years?
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
-15points
6out of 27found this review helpful.
Review 6 for APC J Type 1500 VA Battery Back-Up System

I like this product; # of battery bckup plugs exc!

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: ScorpFaerie
from Port Neches, TX
on 11/17/2011
Value for Price
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Features
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Reliability
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Protection
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: The number of battery backup plugs
What's not so great: Can't find any
Great APC prodcut for the money; very happy customer.
I would recommend this to a friend!
-26points
2out of 30found this review helpful.