Surge Protector Recommendations?

What would be the main reason someone uses a UPS vs a surge protector? A UPS protects devices much better than a surge protector right? Even if the battery in the UPS is no good?


What if you are in a building that is not grounded then?

What would be the main reason someone uses a UPS vs a surge protector? A UPS protects devices much better than a surge protector right? Even if the battery in the UPS is no good?


What if you are in a building that is not grounded then?

i'm outside the us most of the time and here i use a cyberpower ups as a surge protector even though the battery is no good anymore. did not replace the ups battery so use it as a surge protector.


i want to buy a surge protector for use in the us and leave the surge protector there for use and for other people to use. in the home, we have a very old powerstrip.... it might even be twenty years old. reason being when i'm in the us, i use my laptop and monitor there so want to make sure my electronics are safe. had used the same old power strip there with no issue but would you say its risky? i connect laptop charger, monitor and phone charge to it. sometimes connect other things but i try to connect more than three things at once with it. the thing is the people in the house has no issue with that power strip ever... they only connect phone chargers and ipad and rarely anything else.


but would you say its good idea to buy a surge protector for the house or not?



These two below seem to be the most popular surge protector on amazon. The second one has lot of good reviews as well but not a name brand? Belkin good but how is it?

Now what about best buy rocketfish? Those cost a lot more than the belkin or the nuetsa but the reviews are really good. Eight outlet seem to be more than good enough?

What about the insignia power surge protector from best buy? Looks like a power strip but it says it is surge protector?

Amazon.com


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https://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketf...?skuId=4689072


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketf...?skuId=5482701

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insigni...?skuId=5986112

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What about these?


https://www.amazon.com/APC-Protector...s%2C829&sr=1-2


https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Pr...s%2C276&sr=1-3


https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Pr...s%2C276&sr=1-4



Also buying one of these gives you insurance? So anything that happens to your electronic while using it gets

insurance? How that works?



So you would recommend the belkin over all the other ones? The tripp lite one has less than 500 joules. The apc one has more than that but not as much as the belkin.


So the belkin is the best if you connect laptop and monitor to it?


i ask this because we use a very old power strip in other location where the power strip is at least ten years old. Thing is the people don't connect important things to it besides phone charger or lamp or electric razor.

I recommend SurgeX - but they're very pricey.

Standalone 120V Power Surge Protector

I'll chime in.

First and foremost, don't think for once a surge protector will protect you from a lightning strike or even a step leader, it won't. You would need something installed in the breaker box called a lighting arrester. They are pretty pricey but won't protect you if lightning comes on down from a ceiling light fixture or something via a different path other than mains power. Like from the roof. I just unplug EVERYTHING when a storm is nearby. You also need to know lightning can enter any old way possible, not just through mains power...

Now, for a nearby strike to a pole a block or miles away, a good, reputable UL listed surge suppressor could help. BUt keep in mind these overly priced devices just use a type of resistor (can't remember the name off hand) that act as the "suppressor" and over time get worn out. As a consequence they can become a fire hazard. That's why I replace all of mine every five years or so. It really depends on how much of a work out the surge suppressor absorbed. Unfortunately, there are no consumer products I know of that have such an indicator.

A UPS is nice as you get two protection mechanisms for the price of one. The obvious is the surge suppressor and then a battery backup that should give you just enough time to safely power off the computer without an abrupt loss of power causing data loss or worse yet, total PSU or hardware failure. I've seen that thread on many tech forums...

In synopses, go name brand, go reputable, go UL listed. I can't stress that enough. UL is an American thing, but will apply all over the world like ISO 9001...


Edit-

Test the UPS battery every so often with a non-computer load. By that I mean unplug the cord to the UPS. Reason being is that in about 4 years or so that battery will becomes useless when the time comes you need it. It also depends on the quality of your mains power. Are there lots of brown outs, power sags and whatnot? Then the battery will need replacing more often. I buy my replacements on eBay using the picclick website to sort from low price to high price. I'm not sure if they have too many Lithium ion battery UPSs, but if they do I'd go with that hands down. Lead acid is very old tech and it sucks. LOL You could make your own UPS... but I'm not going there.

So I didn't buy a surge protector yet. I just continue to use that cyberpower UPS that I have for years that I posted the link to earlier even though the battery needs replacement and I never bothered with that. Still no issue using it that way right? It works still has a power strip but obviously when power outage, all power goes out.


Now, the place that I'm at now which I'm here for a short time before I go back to my regular apartment later on, they have an old power strip that they been using for many years. I am pretty sure it's a power strip and not a surge protector. How do you know if it's a power strip and not surge protector? It looks like one of those plain white power strips with that red light so it's a power strip?


The thing is they only connect phones to it so no expensive equipment like a laptop or tv or anything like that. The thing is when I'm here, I use that power strip to connect my xps laptop and another laptop and 1 monitor at the most. I also connect my phone to charge it sometimes. It has 6 outlets only and looks like a power strip. Now all the times I have used it, there has never been an issue. I believe the most things I ever connected to it at once is... xps laptop, dell monitor, another laptop, phone charger and there has been no issue. Now I'm only here for a short time so I use this power strip to connect my electronics when I'm here.


The thing is should I buy a surge protector for them or not? The thing is they don't need one since they only connect maybe 2 devices to it at once and that never uses much power. Now when I'm here, I connect the devices I mention but is there any concern of too many things connected to it or not? I assume if I were to connect 2 laptops, 2 monitors and a phone and possibly use the last outlet for another phone, only then this would be a concern? The thing is this power strip of theirs... it is at least 5 years old minimum but it works for them and no issue.


On Amazon there are these 2 Belkin surge protectors and one that is anker. The belkin is a lot more joules than the anker one. Now I know these have very good reviews but my concern is when I read some of the negative reviews... obviously there will be tons of negative reviews when there are over 25000 reviews. But the 1st belkin one that is very popular, several posters mentioned how their belkin surge protector was burning and if they weren't home, well you know what would have happened. Several other posters mention how they notice smoke coming out of it so that is very similar. Now obviously if a surge protector just stops working, that sucks but when you just get a new one. My concern is... are there any surge protectors out there where you have no concern or very concern to worry about in terms of smoke and a heavy fire? Or pretty much every product will have that risk no matter what?


Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Belkin USB Power Strip Surge Protector - 12 AC Multiple Outlets & 2 USB Ports - 6 ft Long Flat Plug Extension Cord for Home, Office, Travel, Computer Desktop & Charging Brick - White (3,996 Joules) : Electronics

Amazon.com: Surge Protector Power Strip (2100J), Anker 12 Outlets with 1 USB C and 2 USB Ports foriPhone 15/15 Plus/15 Pro/15 Pro Max, 5ft Extension Cord, Flat Plug, 20W USB C Charging for Home, Office,TUV Listed : Electronics


So of all these 3 options, which would you choose? What about the rocketfish one's on best buy that cost a lot more? The other thing is this. The place where I'm at now, even though there are storms occasionally, I don't recall there ever being a power outage or anything like that here at this location. Thus if there was, obviously a surge protector is needed. But since they don't have any expensive equipment like tv, computer etc... would you saying buying a surge protector for them is a good idea or not? I thought it's good idea but then I thought well their old power strip has been working for them for years and no problems at all. Last thing I want is to buy a surge protector and then there is some fire and smoke issue if you know what I mean.


So based on this, what do you recommend? Now I'm here at this location for a short time in visits so I just use that same power strip for my expensive electronics. But should I buy one of these surge protectors just so I can them when I'm here? Then when I'm not here, well take it with me or just put it in their home?