[Daman]

Hi!! Am planning to buy another Surge Protector or Line Conditioner for the HT, i already have one by Radioshack which is just a surge protector with no line conditioning. I was reading the primer section which mentioned that any protector with joule rating over 2000 should be good, was checking out a few monster line conditioners above that rating which are pretty expensive - the one i like was for 150$ odd with line conditioning built in and rated at 2770 something joules.. now i would get the same stuff at Radioshack for much less,i mean with regards to joule rating but dont know whether they have line condionters built in or not.. can anyone advice me which would be a better buy? The Monster one or the Ratshack one? I would probably buy today after work so any quick advice would really be appreciated

[Steven_Jobe]

Don't waste your money on the Monster ones. As for the RatShack, they don't have line conditioning however you can get many other cheaper brands that do from places like Walmart and even Home Depot for very good prices. Basically the best buy would be one that has an AVR or Automatic Voltage Regulator so it keeps the volts steady throughout the line in order to protect your very sensitive equipment. You can find many brands of those for $80 or less.

[StephenHa]

I use panamax (but I get them wholesale too)monster gets a huge mark up even before the dealer sees them

[Chu Gai]

Just what sort of conditioning do you need?

[Philip>L]

I bought a Panamax surge protector that has both overvoltage AND undervoltage protection. We had a nasty brown out here last year and the undervoltage protection came in handy...

[Chu Gai]

Did it refuse to transmit current during the brownout?

[James Buhler]

Quote:

Don't waste your money on the Monster ones.

Proof of statement please???

[Chu Gai]

Because you can get comparable if not better specs for less money? Regardless though, if you've got your own house it's far more effective and cheaper on a $/protected appliance basis to install a whole house unit

[James Gumbart]

Quote:

Because you can get comparable if not better specs for less money? Regardless though, if you've got your own house it's far more effective and cheaper on a $/protected appliance basis to install a whole house unit

From what I've read about this, it's not a very effective method of protecting individual items. It's only designed to stop very large surges and will not protect against smaller ones or things like brownouts.

[Vincent_S]

I also recommend/use Panamax.

[Kevin. W]

Quote:

Don't waste your money on the Monster ones.

I too would like proof to support this.

Quote:

Because you can get comparable if not better specs for less money?

For the average joe that walks into Futureshop/BB/CC they are overpriced. If your willing to go into your local BM store and negotiate a better price its worth the time and money.

Kevin

[Chu Gai]

Who needs to negotiate? Get a TrippLite or a Belkin for well under $100 US or for that matter, a Stratitec for $20. It's like when you go to a car dealer and you want to buy oil or a filter. You're going to pay more. I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that people who haunt the forums are looking for more insight or other options.