Surge protectors: important investment or waste of money?

[SMOKEU]

Is it worth spending $100 on a decent surge protector to connect my computer, monitor, amps etc into, or am I better off buying a $5 multi outlet power board from the Warehouse and using the $95 change to put petrol in the bike?

[Fatt Max]

I would buy a decent surge protector myself, It would keep your gear safe especially as the security of the general power supply is so crap generally

So, $100 is a good investment I reckon

[pete376403]

I've got a large Belkin one protecting all the A/V equipment, a single outlet Belkin protecting the new fridge - cos warranty doesn't cover fried electronics. They were both cheap enough and Belkin provides insurance if they fail to work and the equipment gets hit. Desktop PCs are connected to an APC ups.

The street transformer is right outside my house, so we get consistently high voltage during the week, and very high (250+) during the weekend. I've provided the power co with a printout of a Fluke power analyzer showing that over the course of a week the power never went below 248 and peaked at 254 yet they seem to be unable to do anything about the high voltage, despite the fact that by law the power supplied is supposed to be 240 + or - 5%. So with crap power like this, I think the surge protectors are worthwhile.

[Gremlin]

unless the entire house is sorted (newer ones should be) then they are absolutely useful. Had enough customers fry equipment from strikes etc

[steve_t]

I started with surge protectors with built in noise filters but my audio was still giving me clicks when the fridge and washing machine turned on and off. I basically decided that the metal oxide varistor boards are probably only good for protecting against lightning strikes... hopefully. So now the computer and TV, Sky, Dvd etc all run off UPS and it's all good. If you're gonna spend some money go with a UPS, otherwise I'd say get a Dick Smith surge plug thingy for $15. It's still a MOV protector with noise filter and seems to be no worse than a zapcatcher or Belkin Pure AV power board

[Milts]

I didn't used to use one, even at LAN parties. Went to a lan in Wellington a few years back, there was a CBD power cut, fried my motherboard (but nothing else, somehow). Now I always use one. If you have delecate electronic equipment worth upwards of $1000, I'd highly recommend it. If not, probably not worth it.

[blackdog]

i've thought about this a few times and i reckon i've been lucky so far...maybe i should make the investment.

i often wonder why items like a big plasma tv or desktop pc don't come with it already built in.......

[SS90]

I didn't used to use one, even at LAN parties.

What the hell is a LAN party.........

[blackdog]

What the hell is a LAN party.........

i'm guessing 'local area network' gaming party

i've been wrong before tho

[slofox]

I use 'em.

[98tls]

I dont but methinks i should.

[Gremlin]

I probably wouldn't trust DSE for $15, given they overprice stuff, but good brands like APC etc with a background in UPS are a good bet. A surge protector is not a power conditioner like a UPS, but a Damn site better than nothing

[pete376403]

i've thought about this a few times and i reckon i've been lucky so far...maybe i should make the investment.

i often wonder why items like a big plasma tv or desktop pc don't come with it already built in.......

It's not really in the TV makers (PC makers, etc) interests to protect the device against events beyond their (the device makers) control. If the device gets fried its not going to be a warranty claim, but might well be an insurance claim, ie they will sell another box.

[huff3r]

Yup, i use a cheap surge-protected board for my delicate stuff... never had any issues with it, i doubt id spend big money on just a surge protector though. Cheap works for me, and if i wanna spend i'll get a UPS.

[davebullet]

I don't bother with surge protection. My stereo is 35 years old, built like a brick shithouse (when they knew how to build amplifiers). My computer is backed up off site (a hard disk crash is more likely than a spike blowing your machine).