Surge protectors

fiend

Formerly fiend44444
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I am in the process of buying a new TV and was wondering what you guys are using for a surge protector on your TVs. I was interested in one of the Monster Cable protectors, and was talking to a local TV shop and they were saying that they are overpriced and they would offer a different brand. I didn't catch what brand that they said it was. I know you pay for what you get but if there is another brand that is just as good for cheaper than why not. What brand would you guys recommend?
 
APC makes good equipment. I would highly recommend their UPS devices for any sensitive electronic equipment. Battery backup and surge protection in a single package.
 
APC makes good equipment. I would highly recommend their UPS devices for any sensitive electronic equipment. Battery backup and surge protection in a single package.

+1 Voltage regulation is just as important, if not more important that surge supression. An irregulat voltage drop such as a brown out can kill your electronics. Test your ground prior to installing a supressor, as without ground, they are worthless.
 
Being in the IT biz, i do not like surge suppressors. I have a UPS on all my hi-end electronics - computers, servers and HDTV. I have a DVR also, and i plug it in to the UPS. That way i do not loose anything due to a power hit. We live in the sticks and the power is out a lot. The UPS's can also handle the load until i start the backup generator. But seriously, go for an UPS. APC is the best. Consider it the Busa's of the UPS world, everything else is a Harley! :whistle:
 
I am a big fan of Smart Strips. They work like a normal surge protector, but also help save you some money.

Basically, you have one control device ( i use my tv) and then you plug all of your other electronics into the controlled ports (ps3, surround sound, etc). This way, when you turn on the TV everything gets power, but when you turn the TV off, the devices in the controlled plugs are switched off. This saves you power because those items are no longer doing a vampire drain, which runs your electric bill up. There is also a constant hot port, where you can plug in your cable box or other items that take a long time to recover from no power.
 
It all depends on the TV your buying and how much it costs.
Don't want to go crazy for a TV that doesn't cost much ?
While all new HD TVs need protection just don't go crazy.
I have several HD TVs and have always used the monster stuff but am not a pro on it .
Never had a problem with them or my TVs and south Florida gets more lightning strikes/surges than anywhere .
 
i would look into a belkin surge protector because if for some reason they fail they have a equipment replacement warranty on them that covers up to like 100k in equipment thats why we use them at work
 
i would look into a belkin surge protector because if for some reason they fail they have a equipment replacement warranty on them that covers up to like 100k in equipment thats why we use them at work

Read the warranty carefully....very carefully. Claiming thousands of dollars on a $20 power suppressor will not be easy. They will rake you over the coals before giving up a cent.
 
Being in the IT biz, i do not like surge suppressors. I have a UPS on all my hi-end electronics - computers, servers and HDTV. I have a DVR also, and i plug it in to the UPS. That way i do not loose anything due to a power hit. We live in the sticks and the power is out a lot. The UPS's can also handle the load until i start the backup generator. But seriously, go for an UPS. APC is the best. Consider it the Busa's of the UPS world, everything else is a Harley! :whistle:

Well the reason we use them in the IT business has little to do with surge protection. We use the UPS so that if there is a momentary loss of power, the servers, routers, switches, etc. do not go down and have to reboot.

A simple power strip will suffice in most cases. They are made to combat variances in the electricity flow of your home or office or "surges". Many people think they are lightning protection and they are in a way, but let me tell you, a large enough lightning strike will fry anything.
 
make sure it has a port for your cable or phone line. I lost a laptop once because a surge went through the phone line when I was still using dial up.
 
Being in the IT biz, i do not like surge suppressors. I have a UPS on all my hi-end electronics - computers, servers and HDTV. I have a DVR also, and i plug it in to the UPS. That way i do not loose anything due to a power hit. We live in the sticks and the power is out a lot. The UPS's can also handle the load until i start the backup generator. But seriously, go for an UPS. APC is the best. Consider it the Busa's of the UPS world, everything else is a Harley! :whistle:

I live in the sticks and do the exact same thing. I was more worried about brown outs, so I figured out the wattage and put all high end stuff on APC UPS's.
 
I work for the cable company and most of the TV issues i see are more so due to Manufacturer issues and are not preventable but opt for the xtended warranty by all means.
 
+1 Voltage regulation is just as important, if not more important that surge supression. An irregulat voltage drop such as a brown out can kill your electronics. Test your ground prior to installing a supressor, as without ground, they are worthless.
I know that this happens, having experienced it myself... But what causes low voltages to fry electronics? ???
 
Buy the Ultra ULT33046 2000 VA 1200-Watt AVR Backup System at TigerDirect.ca

done and done. I have 5 of them in my house. tv's netowrking equip. I even have my sump pump running on one. They are very nice. APC is great if you have a $500,000 san and server cluster. But for $5,000 apc is overpriced
Are they kidding with that run time? 1 minute at full load? That thing must have the same size battery as in my 300 watt system holding up my MacMini.

Pitiful.

Whenever I get some money, my next desktop will be entirely 12V powered, and recharged via solar, so I don't have to worry about blackouts. :laugh:
 
Are they kidding with that run time? 1 minute at full load? That thing must have the same size battery as in my 300 watt system holding up my MacMini.

Pitiful.

Whenever I get some money, my next desktop will be entirely 12V powered, and recharged via solar, so I don't have to worry about blackouts. :laugh:

That UPS is designed to bring your servers to a shut down. I minute is more than enough time to shut down everything. It's more about total voltage supply and not so much about duration with this particular model.
 
That UPS is designed to bring your servers to a shut down. I minute is more than enough time to shut down everything. It's more about total voltage supply and not so much about duration with this particular model.
Awful nice servers to be able to shut down in 1 minute. There's always a dozen different things slowing down my shutdown. :whistle:

Also, 1 minute runtime is 60C battery consumption. I know we're talking about PbA here, but still, I've never seen a battery handle 60C and survive, save some of the very newest (and hellaciously expensive) Lithium batteries.
 
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I put the tv all the electronics on a battery backup. Not so much for power going off, but the times when it surges rapidly, that's the killer. For the bigger tv, I found a large battery backup at Sam's. It has a digital display and will run a 50" tv, DVR, stereo for approx 8-10 minutes. Plenty of time to turn it off manually. The 42 tv would run for 15-20 minutes on the same backup.
I plugged everything into a monster surge protector and plugged the monster into the batt backup.
 
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