Best 6-outlet Surge-Protectors Under $40?

Which can be trusted, and which should I avoid?

I recently bought one of Staples' own brand for 19.99, and it was dead out of the box.

-ChrisCoaster

Reply to
ChrisCoaster
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These low cost surge protectors are not very good. Your best bet is a UPS. This way if there is a power cut, your computer will be protected. You will have a few minutes to save your work and shut down the computer. If there is a strong surge from lightning, there is not very much you will be able to do about it.

According to international standards for Europe, North America, and many other countries, all power supplies must have some type of built in surge protection. They do the best they can at a reasonable cost.

In reality, when the power company distribution takes a hit, anything on the AC mains line can be damaged. A little box with a few varistors is not going to do anything much for you unless it is very elaborate in design. This will cost a lot more than you would be willing to pay. If the power lines delivering power to your home get a lightning hit, there is no way a small surge protector or a small UPS will help. The only thing you can count on is that the ground on the power entry of your home does its best to absorb as much as possible.

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JANA
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Reply to
JANA

This is, to say the least, incomplete and unduly pessimistic. The writer appears to be mouthing half-truths and platitudes; I don't think he has the least idea what he's talking about.

Any protection is better than none, and as you add surge suppressors around the house, you get additional protection for everything on the same circuit (and to a lesser extent, on other circuits).

Twenty years ago, PC Magazine regularly tested surge suppressors. They no longer do, so there's no way of knowing which are good and which are ineffective. I have a lot of $80 Belkins that were purchased for $20 or less from buy.com. I've never had a problem, but then, I have no idea of what _might_ have happened if they hadn't been connected. *

Some manufacturers offer a warranty that states that, if your equipment is damaged _and_ the surge suppressor itself is damaged, they will repair or replace your equipment.

What is commonly called a UPS is actually an SPS. A true UPS would provide fairly good surge suppression, because it replaces the line voltage with its own internally generated voltage all the time. An SPS does this _only_ during a brownout or full loss.

You need surge suppressors for anything electronic, and an SPS or UPS for your computer.

  • The only damage anything I owned suffered was a lot of blown semiconductors in an answering machine using discrete devices. (I fixed it by systematically replacing shorted or suspect Qs and Ds.)
Reply to
William Sommerwerck

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Is hard to beat.

Reply to
Leonard Caillouet

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sighhh....Why can't something like that be found in a STORE - a building with large windows and sliding doors on it with humans at cash registers??

Even if it had only 8 or 6 recepts - the protections specs on that are great - and worth more than that price. Something like that at BB or CC here in Connecticut is at least $80-90!!!

-CC

Reply to
ChrisCoaster

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