Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/07/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Portables have what is essentially a built in UPS. The AC voltage input is rectified, made into DC, and charges a battery. The Battery runs the computer. What you can not protect against is voltage spikes. ( Motors running nearby, AC kicking in, Lightning, etc.). No, those cheap thing you get at the computer store do not help after they get zapped once.... and even before the first zapping, they are pretty useless. Second.... your AC input is not your only problem.... do you run a network card? hook up to the phone line or cable modem to get your Internet stuff done? These other inputs are also subject to voltage spikes. The radiation issues are real, but unlikely failure modes. Your house is a bigger source of problems...... Scary? Welcome to the world of high tech used at the consumer level. If your HDD goes bad, it can be recovered, pretty likely. However, paying for the recovery of your data may shake your wallet from its foundation. It is expensive. A backup is a cheaper solution..... Frank Filippone red735i@earthlink.net