Should I buy a Monster Surge Protector?

[DonGallego28]

I have a new setup at my house. I just purchase a 30 in HDTV Widescreen Panasonic which will be connected to my surround sound, dvd player, p2, etc. Should I buy a Monster Surge protector? The reason I'm confused is because I was looking at an APC surge protector that had 3500 joules of protection for 45.99 while the monster one only has 1750 for 99.99. Any reason why there is such a big difference? What should I be more worried about, Joules or Brand?

[ROF]

Joules is important, but so is the clamping voltage of the protector. Most power protection devices come with warranties. These warranties are not valid unless you register the product with the manufacturer within a certain specified time from the date of purchase (your receipt date). Those three things combined (Joules, Clamping Voltage, and Warranty) are what you should consider. Monster makes some nice products, but they are mega-expensive when compared to others. If you want to own a caddy that drives like honda, buy a monster surge protector, just make sure it offers the protection and peace of mind you require.

For the record, I do not own Monster surge protectors. I do have monster cable for my home theatre sound. It was worth the extra price for better shielding and crisper sound.

[TBoneit]

IMHO Get a good model of the APC!

To my mind the and it is only an opinion ,the Monster brand is a marketing gimmick. The gimmick is that the quality is not any better or can even be worse as in the Joules rating you noticed (How much of a surge it can protect against) and the price is generally higher. The Gimmick is that it is sold as a high priced brand by the stores and they probably do not pay any more than a different brand costs if as much, but they sell it for much more giving them a higher profit margin and an incentive to stock Monster brand exclusively and not have a cheap version of cables for example to give a choice. If you go buy a whatever and mention you need cables they'll steer you to the Monster Cables. As I said this only an opinion.

My feeling is for many cables they are no better or worse than a cheap brand, just more expensive. To me since it is a light beam traveling through an optical cable a 6ft monster and the cheapo brand will work the same. Some will say the Monster can take more plugging and unplugging or has less loss or can be bent back and forth more... You are not supposed to be doing that so it is IMHO a moot point. And since it is a light beam brand can not affect frequency response, Only amount of line loss.

Sorry for the rant but overpriced and overmarketed things get my goat.

Cheers

[tnamrog]

Go with a good APC, but for even better protection go with a UPS instead.

[DonGallego28]

hmmm...i guess i'll just go with the apc one then....it had 3500 joules and it was only 4599....plus it has a lifetime warranty against lightning and all other types of disasters.

[piano632]

If you intend to use this surge protector on audio/video components, make sure it is designed for that use and not for computer equipment. The ones designed for computers use different filters and could actually make your audio and video quality worse than before.

[twobti326]

Actually the reason that the monster power protector is so much more expensive is because it cleans the power coming into the system as well as giving you surge protection.

If you are a true video/audio phile (and mabey if you're not) you may notice possible disruptions in your video/audio. I can't remember the exact changes to quality that the monster surge thing makes (I don't own one but have read about them). The monster power strip cleans any jolts or surges or drops in the power coming into your video/audio devices. Giving you a much cleaner, more accurate picture and sound.

So the reason it is much more expensive is because there's a whole lot more going on inside. Monster makes a comparable power strip to the one that you're looking at for about the same price without the power cleaning feature.

UPS's can also be a bad thing unless you keep them a considerable distance from your cables and devices. All that stored up power can mess up the signal going through your cables.

Monster cables are great products, but you can make your own for your entire system for less than the price of 1 of their premium cables. For some good cable advice, go download the latest episode of SYSTM from systm.org and they go through step by step how to make your own excellent quality video cables and some tips about cable managment.


-Twobit326

[Myrdhinn]

I'm no fan of Monster especially not after, i believe, it was the avs forums that took their expensive cables apart and found they were no better than cheap cables in shielding and with thin wires. AS for their cleanpower, pffftttt, I can build one cheaper using a lineconditioner and a good surge protector that will outperform it each way to sunday.

[andkiich]

If you look hard enough, you can find a decent APC UPS for the same price or less than that Monster surge protector. You can get a 350 CS for $40 at Circuit City, probably cheaper on the net somewhere.

[edDV]

Do your research on the best surge protector and the best place to buy it.

The monster brand has high retail markup and sales incentives so the store will push it.

[Nelson37]

I live and work in the Lightning Strike Capital of the World, southwest Florida.

APC surge protectors and battery backups are fantastic. They have no registration requirement, simply a copy of the receipt and a copy of my work order stating damage caused by surge or lightning strike, and they pay fair market value for repair or replacement. Their reps have told me face to face, "we don't care if you watch the lightning bolt come through your window and strike the equipment directly, if you are properly connected to an APC (meaning ALL incoming cables are surge-protected) we pay to repair or replace your equipment. In one case the electric company miswired a transformer and sent 220 volt thru the 110 lines, fried everything electrical in the building. APC paid off, I personally saw both the damage and the check.

There is no maximum surge which invalidates the warranty. Only APC and Panamax have such a policy, SFAIK. All others state a maximum surge beyond which you are no longer covered.

All of their battery models maintain voltages within certain values, the more expensive units will maintain within a narrower range. A surge protector can protect against an overvoltage condition, but SFAIK can do nothing with an undervoltage situation. (a brownout). Only a battery backup can do this.

They determine fair market value by checking sale prices of similar equipment on E-Bay.

The proper term is Battery Backup, NOT UPS. A true UPS is ALWAYS on the battery; very, very few places have these and they are typicaly small refrigerator size. If it switches to battery during an outage, it is a battery backup.