Protecting your equipment is important these days. From small work-from-home setup to creator hubs, it is essential to have the right tools and solutions to protect your equipment from sudden power loss and fluctuating voltage. This is where the Vertiv Liebert itON-SOHO comes into play. I have been using this in the studio for 2 weeks now and I would like to share my thoughts on it.
Vertiv Liebert itON-SOHO Specifications
- Capacity: 1000VA/600W
- Input: Voltage Range (162-290VAC, Single Phase), Frequency Range (50Hz/60Hz automatic identification)
- Output: Voltage Tolerance Battery Mode (Simulated sine wave at nominal voltage ±10%), Frequency Range Battery Mode (50Hz/60Hz automatic identification), Transfer Time (Typical 2–6 ms, 10ms max)
- Battery: 12V/9AH × 1
- Typical recharge time: 6-8 hours recover to 90% capacity (About 1A charging current at Normal Mode)
- Configuration: Battery (1×2.7kg, 9Ah), Sockets (6* universal), USB Charge (0)
- Indicators: AC Mode: Solid green led lighting; Battery Mode: Solid yellow led flash; Fault Solid: Red led lighting
- Protection: Discharge, Overload and overcharge protection
- Alarm: 1.) Battery Mode: Sounding every 10 seconds; 2.) Low battery: Sounding every 1 second; 3.) Overload: Sounding every 0.5 second; 4.) Fault: Continuously sounding
- Operating temperature: 0 ~ 40°C
- Dimension D × W × H (mm): 87 × 346 × 208
- Gross weight (kg): 6.6kg
- Net weight (kg): 6.0kg
Unboxing and Build
Upon unboxing the Liebert SOHO 1000, you’ll only see the following items – the UPS, warranty/manual and the power cable. Contents are pretty straightforward as I expected because there isn’t any reason for them include accessories in the box. The sockets are universal so you don’t have buy anything to make it compatible with it unless you live in the UK.
As for the unit, the Liebert SOHO 1000 looks like your typical UPS. You get 6 sockets on the main panel and 3 LED lights on the front. Each light corresponds to a particular enabled mode: (1) fault: red light; (2) battery mode: yellow light and (3) AC mode: green light.
Despite its hefty size, I am not a big fan of its build. The quality of the plastic they used is not the best, but surely does the job in keep the UPS enclosed. While there aren’t any moving parts – except for the power button, there are areas in the device that are open and may be prone to be exposed to dust and dirt. While I do understand this design decision, I highly recommend that the UPS to be wall-mounted and keep the room regularly cleaned to avoid exhaust-blockage due to dirt. This, however, is a minor concern as what is important is how the device can protect your equipment from surges, power blips and shutdown.
Pay for Performance
For a UPS that is designed for SOHO (small office and home office), the Vertiv Liebert itON-SOHO 1000VA does a very good job of giving an impressive layer of protection for your devices. In my case, this is the main UPS I’m using to protect the following:
- A Desktop PC that consumes an average of 400W
- 1 monitor
- 1 PLDT Fibr Router
- 1 TUF Gaming Wifi6 Router
- TP Link Mesh router
When choosing the right UPS, the rule of thumb is to compute for your wattage total load, and determine if the UPS’ VA (voltage-amps) rating is compatible with it. In the case of Liebert itON-SOHO, it has 1000VA, so the quickest way is to multiply it to .6 in order to know how much watt load it can handle. At 50% load, the PSA 1000-SOHO should give you about 4 minutes of uptime; so it might be safe to say that 90% to 100% load will give you about 1 to 2 minutes of uptime.
The desktop alone is already a power-hog so I have to be able to manage the power needed for all the connected equipment to run for a period of time. Assuming that the 100% connected equipment consumes about 500W, the UPS should be able to keep everything running for a little over than 2 minutes. While this may not be enough to finish specific tasks, the intention is to give users the right amount of time to save their work and shut down the computer to avoid risking power-sensitive parts like hard drives and motherboards. I risked turning off our studio circuit breaker and I was able to turn shut down my computer.
Apart from paying for performance, you also basically paying for protection. Liebert itON-SOHO 1000VA also features built-in Boost and Buck AVR, which basically protects your equipment by correcting high and low voltage without degrading the battery of the UPS. This will essentially prolong the efficiency of the UPS, thereby saving you from replacing the battery or your UPS quite often.
The amount of time that you can use to save your work and protect your equipment is definitely a lifesaver. You can just imagine the expense you will have to shoulder if you do not have a reliable UPS.
Price and Availability
The Vertiv Liebert itON-SOHO 1000VA is now available for PhP4,099, which is technically a little over than cheaper brands. However, as protection and reliability are the main offerings of Vertiv, you do not want to compromise it when buying something more affordable. Not that I am saying that anything cheaper is a bad purchase, but you have to be more meticulous when choosing the right UPS for you.
You may buy one via Digi-Serv Solutions’ Lazada page.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
