Calling Hi-tech Gods
 

Just bought a Panasonic 53" HDTV 16:9 and the people were trying to push a "Power Bar" for it to provide constant voltages, and keep power surges leveled out. Here's what they wanted me to buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...t=153&scat=425

$200 for a surge suppressor? Something tells me that's not worth it. Any experience with or without them? And what other brands are good to buy (the $200 POS is the only thing Best Buy carried, conveniently)?

Any specifications to make sure I get?

I have rack mount conditioners that cost way more than that. 200 is cheap for good flow regulation, consider the price of your machines. have 3000$ synths, the juice I run through it better be conditioned. ;)

Thats the main problem with home electrics, no constant flow.

All my synths and machines are on conditioners.

:stoned

never listen to what anyone at bestbuy tells you..... especially the insurance

Exactly what I was thinking...I DO think I need a surge suppressor, just not this $200 nicely color-coded POS. Any online locations, or other stores that you guys can recommend?

I've heard you get A LOT better picture with a constant flow of power (obviously), so I do want to get one.

they are the king of scare tactics

Any recommendations on specific products, or whether to have one at all?

Monster is what I run my audio shit on... I don't trust anything else. Yeah, it's spendy.... but so is my equip.

Amen.


To add to the BestBuy thing. Their people are incompetent at best. Go to an A/V specialist store and get their opinion.

famous quotes from bestbuy:

Don't waste your money on junk like that. All tv's have built in voltage regulation and filtering, you will not see any difference in picture quality any where from 90 Volts AC up to 120 Volts AC anything below or above that and the TV will shut down. any cheap surge protector will help, but lightning will go through anything. Turn off and unplug your equipment when there is a bad storm. Best Buy peolple are funny. :2 cents:

actually, it's not really about lightning, because as you say, lightning will go through a surge protection device. If you want real lightning protection, you put a lightning rod in your yard.

But the line conditioners/surge units help ensure a smooth flow of juice and absorb spikes and whatnot that are inherent in all lines. I wouldn't run my gear without one. If you plug your shit direct into the wall outlet, you are a fool asking to have your equipment damaged. Lightning is not the only thing that can go wrong you know. I discovered this the hard way when 2 systems burned out because of a split second surge, caused by a neighborhood overuse of air conditioners one day.

Yes, the Best Buy guys are idiots, but you should still use power conditioners and surge protection. Even a ten dollar wonder from Ace Hardware is better than nothing.

depends on how much the Equp. cost you are buying.... AND yes it is a very very good ideal to have a Power conditioner. I work on Electronic Equp. not TV's.... My computer is plugged into one and also a UPS... And yes $200.00 is cheap for good power regulator. I like TripLite my self..... you can get a fair one for $300.00 to $375.00.... I have no ideal why someone would tell you NOT to get 1..... I guess because they just don't know and because they do not have 1 and thinkyou should not have 1. if you don't get one and your shit smokes you can thank them I guess....:2 cents:

I agree you should not plug your equipment straight into an outlet, all my stuff goes through some sort of surge protection. I disagree with seeing a difference in picture quality. Like i said any cheap surge protector will work. Better to have your cable go through it also.

I am talking about Tv's since thats what the post was about. Computers and other equipment are a different story.

all my audio gear and tv gear goes through line conditioners as well. That's what I was talking about. The computers go through UPS on top of the surge units.