The Corner Penthouse

I use three Battery Backup UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) units in my house for all of my electronics, such as my computer and accessories, and my two televisions and related components. For many years, I had three CyberPower EC850LCD units, but after owning six of them (three and then three replacements), and having them all fail, I felt that it was time to buy from a different manufacturer. The most recent CyberPower EC850LCD units I owned cost me $80 each from Newegg.com back in 2020, and I wanted to find similarly-shaped, similarly-powered 12-outlet units that were in the same price range. After browsing Newegg's Battery Backup (UPS) section, it seemed like three of Tripp Lite's INTERNET750U units, priced at $130 each, would be ideal replacements. Read on to find out why my purchase was anything but ideal...

I should have sensed that this would be a problematic purchase when Newegg would not allow me to buy three INTERNET750U units. On December 19, 2025, after putting three in my cart, I was shown a message informing me that I was only allowed to buy two units. Why was there an arbitrary quantity limit? I don't know. It's not like I wanted to buy 20 of them. Interestingly, today, January 20, 2026, There is no problem having three units "Shipped & Sold by Newegg" in my cart. I guess it was a timed quantity limit. Anyway, what I had to do on December 19th was order two units from Newegg, and one unit from third-party seller "Tech Galaxy" through Newegg. Both companies sent out the packages via UPS, but Tech Galaxy's package arrived in a few days, while Newegg's arrived a week later.


Before I continue, I should point out that the CyberPower EC850LCD units, which are the ONLY battery backup/UPS units I have ever owned previously, have a FLAT RIGHT-ANGLE PLUG. This is a VITALLY IMPORTANT feature because the house I live in, and the arrangement of the furniture and electronics therein, presents a situation where the old outdated fat plug that sticks straight out would cause conflicts. As I was looking at UPS units on the Newegg site, I was studying the photos to see what type of plug each unit had. None of the photos for the Tripp Lite INTERNET750U showed the plug, and the specs only stated that it had a NEMA 5-15P plug.


In fact, Eaton (owners of the Tripp Lite brand) flat out DECEIVE buyers in regards to the plug. Even if I had purchased an INTERNET750U unit at retail, I would not have known what type of plug it had because IT IS PURPOSELY NOT SHOWN ON THE RETAIL BOX! It actually says, in small print, "Plug not shown".


Since the CyberPower units had the modern flat plug, I assumed that all manufacturers made their UPS units with modern flat plugs. I was utterly SHOCKED when I opened up the three INTERNET750U units and saw that they had the old outdated fat plug that sticks straight out!


At this point, I was left with a dilemma. Since the CyberPower units were faulty, I did not want to continue using them (I recycled them right away), but I knew that the fat plugs on the INTERNET750U units would cause a major problem in one outlet (see photo above), a major inconvenience in the second outlet, and a minor inconvenience in the third outlet. It took me a few months to save up the $430 needed to buy the three Tripp Lite units, and I couldn't afford to buy any others with better plugs, so I had to figure out a way to make the INTERNET750U units work for me.

My first thought was to buy three 1-foot (or shorter) heavy duty appliance extension cords with flat plugs to put between the UPS units and the wall outlets. I did some checking online, and there were varying opinions on various message boards about whether doing such a thing would be advisable. Most said that as long as the extension cord was short and heavy-gauge (12 or 14 AWG), it should be fine, but was still not recommended. That's because it could void the warranty, reduce protection, and create a fire hazard by potentially overheating or causing voltage drops.

I did not want to chance any of those catastrophic problems, so I e-mailed Newegg for help. Since they don't advertise e-mail support on their site, and the info@newegg.com and wecare@newegg.com addresses both bounced back, I sent a message on December 31, 2025 to the only working e-mail addresses I could find: public_relations@newegg.com and logistics@newegg.com. From January 2nd to January 14th, 2026, various employees from Newegg and Eaton were added to a very lengthy e-mail chain. The laundry list of contacts that were a part of this chain are listed below.

NEWEGG
• Claudia Nochez Jovel (claudia.l.nochezjovel@newegg.com) (Sr. Merchandising Manager)
• Anabel A. Pimienta (anabel.a.pimienta@newegg.com)
• Marcelino.M.Martinez (marcelino.m.martinez@neweggbusiness.com)
• Fabian Alston (fabian.a.alston@neweggbusiness.com)
• Customer Help Desk (customerhelpdesk@service.newegg.com)
• Newegg Help Desk (uscshelpdesk@newegg.com)
• NewEgg Business Sales (sales@neweggbusiness.com)

EATON
• Xavier Olivares (xavierolivares@eaton.com) (Senior E-Commerce Business Analyst, Distributed Infrastructure Sales)
• Emanuel Gomez (emanuelagomezmartinez@eaton.com) (Customer Service Representative, Critical Power and Digital Infrastructure Division)
• Eaton DIT Tech Support (dittechsupport@eaton.com)
• CPDI NA Tripp Lite RMA (trippliterma@eaton.com)

As will be learned by reading all of the e-mail screenshots below from several e-mail threads (all can be enlarged to be readable), I made it quite clear to everyone - several times - that because I already recycled the faulty CyberPower units, the only way to solve my problem would be for Newegg or Eaton to send me a flat plug replacement unit(s) FIRST, and then after plugging in all of my electronics into it, can I then send back the INTERNET750U unit(s). I can't send the INTERNET750U units back first because I would have nothing to plug my electronics into for WEEKS!

You would think with this many people on the case, someone would have been willing to help me out, even if it meant making an exception to "company policy" in order to help a long-time customer (going back, at least, to 2019). Unfortunately, as will be shown by the e-mails, everyone at Newegg and Eaton strung me along for TWO WEEKS with no workable resolution to the matter in the end.







On January 5th, I was able to determine that the Tripp Lite ECO750UPSTAA or OMNISMART750MX units are the flat-plug equivalents (specification-wise) to the INTERNET750U. The OMNISMART750MX unit looks exactly like the INTERNET750U. Price-wise, Newegg is selling the ECO750UPSTAA for $155, while the OMNISMART750MX (for some fucking reason) is being sold by Newegg for a whopping $500! I have no idea why the specs, for the most part, match with the INTERNET750U, but these units are $25 and several hundred dollars more.

Anyway, it cost me over $400 to buy the three INTERNET750U units. I can't afford to spend $75 more than I already did for a unit with a better plug because both Newegg and Eaton hid the fact that the INTERNET750U has a fat plug! This VITALLY IMPORTANT piece of information is NEVER disclosed to the customer before purchase, be it on Eaton's site, Newegg's site, or even the product's retail box.













On January 12th, the folks at Newegg created two returns, with pre-paid UPS labels, for both of my December 19th orders so that I could return all three INTERNET750U units; two to Newegg and the other to Tech Galaxy. (I don't think there is a need to screenshot the return e-mails.) They set up the returns so that I would get a refund to my original payment method after they receive the units back. Unfortunately, this doesn't help me at all! As common sense would dictate, and as I pointed out to them many times, I can NOT leave a computer, monitor, router, modem, landline telephone, scanner, printer, two TVs, two cable boxes, two discs players, and other electronics unplugged for DAYS, much less WEEKS. I need equivalent flat-plug replacements first, and I don't need to have my money refunded. This isn't about the money; it's about getting units (of the same or better specifications) with modern flat plugs.







It should come as no surprise that NONE of the people in the e-mail chain had the courtesy to reply to my final e-mail.

Since it looks like I'm stuck with these crappy fat plug Tripp Lite INTERNET750U units. I'm trying to make the best of the bad situation. For the "major problem" outlet, there was nothing I could do other than guide the wire to the left, so as to keep it out of the way of the bottom dresser drawer, and tape it against the wall to keep it to the left. When I need to fully open the partially blocked drawer, I'll just have to pull out the UPS plug, and then plug it back in when I'm done. Hopefully that won't cause any damage to the unit.


That unit has my bedroom entertainment center electronics plugged into it: Television, cable box, 4K player, Roku, video game systems, and so on.


For the "major inconvenience" outlet, I had to plug the unit into the top socket because otherwise I would not be able to plug in my Duracell battery charger into the other outlet (even with the three socket tap in the top). I've curved the wire to the left (where the computer is) and have it taped against the wall in an effort to make it as flat and out of the way as possible.


The unit itself sits on a shelf on my desk, where it has my computer and all related electronics plugged into it.


For the "minor inconvenience" outlet in my living room, it's hidden behind a dresser. The dresser is moved back as far as it can go, but due to the plug jutting straight out, it isn't as far back as it used to be with the flat-plug CyberPower unit. As such, the dresser is now a few inches forward from the wall than it was, which reduces the space to walk between the front corner of the dresser and an adjacent dresser.


The unit sits on the top back of the dresser, and has a television, cable box, Roku, video game systems, and so on plugged into it.


Well, that's what I went through for the past three weeks. I'm stuck with these crappy fat plug Tripp Lite INTERNET750U units. Even if I returned the three units for a full refund, as Newegg wants me to do, I can not afford to spend $75 more (over $500) on three ECO750UPSTAA units. I had to save up my money just to afford the INTERNET750U units which, I should point out, cost $50 more EACH than the CyberPower units they replaced ($130 for the Tripp Lite vs $80 for the CyberPower - and times that by three).

It's a shame that Eaton, and by extension Newegg, chose to deceive buyers by not disclosing the type of plug their units have. It's also a shame that Eaton is still producing UPS units with those outdated fat plugs. Why are they stuck in the past when better-designed technology exists?!?

[UPDATE - 1/29/2026]
Since I got nowhere after two weeks, I decided to give it one last shot by going to the highest person at Newegg: CEO Anthony Chow. I figured out that his e-mail address is probably anthony.chow@newegg.com, and since a message to that address did not bounce back with an error message, I'm sure that it's correct. I can't say that with 100% certainly because I never received a reply from Mr. Chow to the message I sent on January 20th.

I sent the message again on January 23rd, only this time I added everyone from the original e-mail chain (listed elsewhere in this article) as a CC. While I still didn't hear back from Mr. Chow, I did receive a reply from Anabel A. Pimienta. A screenshot of the full message is below, but the short version is that they would refund my entire purchase of the three Tripp Lite INTERNET750U units so that I could use the money to buy the more expensive flat-plug Tripp Lite ECO750UPSTAA units.


Less than 10 minutes later, it was followed by an e-mail informing me that the return shipping label that was created on January 12th had been voided.


Late in the evening on January 23rd, I received two e-mails informing me of the refunds for the two orders.



Cut to January 27th, when the money for both refunds was back in my bank, making it possible for me to order the more expensive flat-plug Tripp Lite ECO750UPSTAA units. I did not want to spend $155 on it, since the INTERNET750U cost $130, and I only paid $80 (each) for the original CyberPower units that the Tripp Lite units were replacing, I decided to use Newegg's "Make An Offer" feature. I never used it before, but I needed to get the ECO750UPSTAA closer in price to the INTERNET750U.

In order to use the "Make An Offer" feature, I had to give them a debit/credit card, which I didn't really want to do. I keep my card locked at all times to prevent theft (as I have been a victim of before), but I really needed for that price to be closer to $130 than $155, so I gave them the card info and submitted a $130 offer for two units. It was instantly denied.

It's also important to note in the screenshot below (taken on January 29th) of the Offers page on the Newegg site that it states that I have been "a Newegg customer for 18 years". My order history on the site only goes back to 2019, but I was positive that I've been shopping on the site for much longer than that. Now I have proof that I was right :-)


After the original $130 offer was instantly denied, I submitted a $140 offer. The site noted that I would hear back in two business days. I was hoping that it wouldn't take that long, but it did. As noted in the website screenshot above, and in the e-mail screenshot below, even the website strung me along by making me wait two days just to have my offer be DENIED!


After the first $130 offer was instantly rejected, the site made a $148.83 counteroffer. As that was only a mere $7 off the price, I ignored it at first. After my second $140 offer was rejected, I was going to accept the counteroffer, but as can be seen in the website screenshot (above the previous e-mail screenshot), it was no longer available on the 29th. At this point, I did not want to waste more time submitting another offer and waiting for it to be rejected, so I conceded to the original price, though now it was down to $151.99 (a $3 savings). That's still $20 more than the INTERNET750U and nearly DOUBLE the cost of the original CyberPower units.

All of this trouble because Eaton, parent company of Tripp Lite, still manufactures units with the outdated fat plugs, and hides this fact on their website, their retail product packaging, and Newegg's website (which is, undoubtedly, populated with images and data provided by Eaton).

[UPDATE - 1/30/2026]
One Tripp Lite ECO750UPSTAA unit has arrived, and it's going on the most problematic outlet by the dresser. First, let's take a look at the box.


What's interesting is that the specs on the side of the box SHOW AND MENTION the "Power Cord with Right-Angle Plug" (I still don't know why they don't also use the word "flat" to describe it). The plug is not just listed as "J" in the list on the right, but there is a close-up photo of the plug on the left (in the middle) under the photo of the unit. Compare that to the INTERNET750U retail box, which didn't mention the plug type, much less show a photo of it (remember "plug not shown"). This really makes me think that Eaton/Tripp Lite was purposely hiding the fact that the INTERNET750U has one of those outdated and cumbersome fat plugs. Otherwise, why not mention it?


Here's the sexy flat plug. Ooh la la.


Surprisingly, although it's listed as a "right-angle plug", it's actually a left-angle plug. In my case, that's actually better as the unit sits to the left of the outlet, not the right. Here we can see that this plug works SOOOOO much better with this outlet. The set up is nice and tidy, with the plug taped against the wall to keep it out of the way, and the rest of the wire length still factory-bundled and hanging on a screw on the wall. A vast improvement over the INTERNET750U, as seen in a comparable photo earlier in this article.


Just like with the original CyberPower units, the dresser drawer passes cleanly in front of the flat plug. No obstruction at all!


The ECO750UPSTAA is noticeably wider than the INTERNET750U and the CyberPower units. Thankfully, it still fits within the space behind the entertainment center. I put tape over the unused outlets to keep dust out of them.


Well, I am now very happy that the most major of the issues with the INTERNET750U units is finally taken care of. I'm not very happy that the ECO750UPSTAA costs $25 more than the INTERNET750U, which means spending $75 more in total; and way more than the original three CyberPower units cost. I just hope that these Tripp Lite units last WAY longer than the CyberPower units, making the extra cost worth it.