Chiriquí Chatter

I recently received an email for some advice about getting support for a problem with an iMac. This was a relatively new iMac and it had gone on the funk. The individual lives in Chiriquí and was wanting help in David.

I advised them to talk to Arte Graficos and see who serviced their equipment. I know they only use Macs since that is where I went to have my cards designed. The other places I said were worth asking were Micro Technology, Pars Computer and Electronica Nacional. The first two have reasonable work bench areas, but as far as I know only work on PCs. Electronica Nacional has a good bench for most other electronic equipment, and I don’t know if they can diagnose problems in PCs or not.

Now back to the real topic for this post. After I talked to the person that had the problem, I learned that the iMac was left on all the time, since the sales person had said it wasn’t important to turn off. The salesman said iMacs go to sleep if not used and it wasn’t necessary to turn it off. It was on a surge suppressor and not a UPS.

Those instructions are fair for the US, but today it is really bad advice any where in the world.

Any good PC will go into sleep mode and consume less electricity. iMac is not unique in that area. My Linux PC does the same thing.

Remember that all surge suppressors are not equal. If you use a surge suppressor, it needs to be a good one. Many of the cheap ones sold in Panama are close to worthless. I personally think that a surge suppressor is not the way to go. I think you need to buy a good UPS (Un-interruptible Power Supply). It should have voltage regulation as well as battery backup.

In Panama, most of the electronic device problems come from severe changes in voltage and not from a complete outage. Putting a $100 UPS in front of a $1,500 computer makes sense. I have two PCs (One Linux and a dual boot Windows/Linux) and an Apple Mini Mac running. I have each on their own UPS.

I have all TVs on a high grade surge suppressor. If you care about your electrical equipment in Panama, don’t think it is OK just to plug it into the wall.

While I like the looks of the all-in-one PCs (such as the iMac and Dell), I personally would never buy one. It is like putting all your eggs in one basket. I can run all of my Linux and Mac PCs using a single keyboard and Monitor via my IOGEAR KVM. If my monitor goes out, I have a backup. If the PC dies, I don’t lose the monitor as well.

I am definitely a component type person and I put all components behind a secure electrical interface.

In the US, I left my PC on all the time. In Panama, I turn it off if I am not going to be using it for several hours. By the way, I am very happy with the FORZA 1000 UPS that I bought at Pars Computer.

If you are reading this in Panama and you are not using a UPS, stop reading and go buy a good one.

Tags: Technology