One of the benefits of having a laptop is that when the power goes out, it simply switches over to battery power and there’s no harm done. But if you happen to experience a California brownout—or even an ill-timed kick to the power cord under your desk—you’ll notice that desktops react somewhat differently.
Even with all of the great autosave technology out there, a power outage can cost you hours upon hours of work. So if you’ve experienced one before or aren’t willing to risk such a loss, consider getting what basically amounts to a backup battery for your desktop, AKA an uninterruptible power supply. Right now, you can get a pretty decent one from Buy.com for $130 that comes with 8 plugs, can handle 1500 volts, and will last up to two hours. If your blackout lasts longer than that, you can at least save your work. Or, if you’re really worried,—say, your desktop doubles as your pacemaker or you live in Baghdad—you could extend the life of your power supply by upgrading to a full car battery with this DIY kit.
