> not knowing too much about electricity 800 watts seems like a lot for > our use. > How much juice does a mac mini and external HD pull? > > Well under 800 Watts. Depends on what you are using for a monitor, of course.
Per Apple, Mac Mini (without monitor) uses 85-110 Watts. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3468 External hard drive power consumption can be tricky to measure, because under typical patterns of usage, they tend to spin up and down a lot. But even at peak usage, it should consume under 15 watts http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/-external-hard-drive,2045-16.html Add to that whatever monitor you're using. No LCD monitor of standard size should exceed the 675 Watts you have left, or come close to doing so. The article below may help give you an idea of typical values, or you could purchase an inexpensive device called a Kill-A-Watt to get a more accurate reading. I do have a UPS on my computer and one on our WiFi antenna power. > > testing sounds right, of course, but I wonder what "failure" would > look like? > what are the risks? > Power Spikes: best case scenario, blown fuse or circuit breaker. worst case scenario; smoke, explosion, and damage to your computer. Square Wave instead of sine: best case scenario: no symptoms. It works just fine. Worst case - equipment simply fails to power up, or does so but doesn't function properly. Never seen equipment seriously damaged because it was fed a square wave instead of a sine - it tends to just not work right. -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
