If you're guessing that I visited a Best Buy store recently, you are absolutely right. I am looking into getting a new home theatre type set up, so the salesman tried pushing a fancy power bar on me, specifically the Monster brand. After listening to his spiel about how it's good for your TV and blah blah blah, I asked him if the TV's in the store were hooked up to one so I could see the benefits of this device. He said there weren't any hooked up to one. I asked him why. If they are so great they should all be on them. He didn't have an answer for me and didn't sound so smart anymore. So, what's the real deal here? Did this salesman not know enough about a possibly good product, or is it just hype as I suspected? What should I really know about choosing a power bar to plug all my stuff into?
The numbers speak for themselves. Monster products are ridiculously overpriced, you're paying for a brand name and not for the most capable product in any given price range. The big box stores are notorious for pushing Monster cabling and surge protection onto consumers as the huge markups (hundreds of percent) offer big profits for the retailer. I'd recommend instead purchasing an APC or TrippLite surge protector, for $50-$100.
Even the $40 APC surge protector found in the computer section at Best Buy offers more protection than the Monster product above.
...for the same reason that they push Mon$ter HDMI cables for $100-150, when you can buy an HDMI cable for $20 from a computer store or less from Monoprice .com. Both Mon$ter and the Store make hugh profits from these products. Mon$ter are Charlatans.
Try Home depot, Belkin Home Theatre/Multimedia surge protector with 10 plugs, huge joule rating and $250,000 insurance for $69, Really solid heavy unit
Thanks for all the answers everyone, including the link on "luxury cables". I still have a ton to learn before my next purchase, but it's making sense and not going over my head.
One thing you may also want to note in the fine print is the time the warranty is applicable for due to surges. Some of these are timebound whereas others are "life time" like Tripp-LIte (see link below)
I've read the threads on whether or not to use a good surge protector, UPS, or one of those bars that provide surge protection and "clean" the power like the mon$ter ones claim to do.
I'm still kinda confused. I went to the APC site and the guide there pointed out their PF 11VT3 after I input my criteria. This is carried by Costco for a very reasonable price.
Would this be a satisfactory unit to hook up an LCD TV, AV Receiver, upconverting DVD player, subwoofer, and STB to? Do I really need to go any higher end than this? Would a non-Mon$ter Home Theatre bar be a better go?
Another one I was thinking of was a Cyber Power unit. It goes for under $90 online. The same unit under a the name of Dynex goes for more than double at FS. There are also a couple of the Tripp Lite's I'm looking at around the $80 - $100 range. How would any of these be better than the APC mentioned earlier?
That's the one from Cyber Power I was thinking of. Do you find it cuts down on "noise"? Does it make your video any cleaner or sharper? I bet it makes cord management a little easier with the "in rack" design.
To tell you the honest truth I didn't notice any difference with either audio or video. It is a nice looking unit though and with things like showing you how much power you are using and if your ground is o.k. it was worth the 100 bucks from tiger direct.
I just bought this from tiger direct.
Tripp Lite Smart1200 LCD mostly for my DLP. Kinda worried about the area I am moving to soon with regular power outages and what seems to be irregular voltage. Even though I am installing a couple of 20 amp lines with a surge protector in the main panel this unit does a whole lot more.
-LCD display indicates input voltage, battery capacity and a variety of operating conditions
-1200VA/700 watt line-interactive 2U rackmount shelf/tower UPS system
-8 UPS-supported AC outlets, dataline surge suppression for tel/DSL or network Ethernet line
-DB9 serial and USB ports with HID protocol support and complete cabling
-Corrects brownouts as low as 75V and overvoltages to 147V back to 120V nominal levels
-BATTERY MODE: PWM sine wave 115V +/-5%
I can tell you with this unit I noticed that my HP tv seems to run quieter(fan). Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me.
The new cables etc being pushed by Best Buy ( here in the US anyway) are called "Rocket Fish". Trade mark of Best Buy and Distrubuted by Best Buy. They look nice, like high end Mon$ter at about 1/3 the price. Probably still a rip off. I guess Mon$ter and others are getting phased out?
I wouldn't say they're beinig phased out, but that there's some people who will absolutely will not/can't afford to buy cables at that price, but would afford/buy the "more economical" Rocketfish brand. The retailer is just trying to get every last dollar they can out of you.
My last experiance with a salesman pushing Monster cables was at London Drugs when he tried pushing a 150$ monster HDMI cable when I bought the Bell ExpressVu 9200 kit. He flat out lied, and kept insisting that it did not include a cable of any type, when it does come with a DVI/HDMI cable & adaptor.
He finally only stopped when I pointed it out, "It's listed right here as included on the side of the box."
Three reasons:
1. High markup
2. High markup
3. High markup
Margins are low on electronics so they push high markup products like cables and power bars. They probably make as much on a Mon$ter cable or power bar as they do on a HDTV on sale at 10% off. Cables from Monoprice_com are good enough as are power bars from Tripp-Lite, APC or Belkin. I Like Tripp-Lite power products but they are hard to find in Canada, probably due to reasonable prices and low markups for retailers.
tigerdirect.ca or their B&M stores carry a lot of tripp-lite products. I use them specifically because their warranty are for the life time unlike many others are applicable for a limited time period.
I got the APC mentioned earlier for now. The main thing is that the equipment is protected. When I upgrade, the APC won't go to waste as I can use it elsewhere in the house.
Nice unit from Tripp Lite!! I don't think I need the UPS part though with the LCD TV, and my power here is pretty good. Still thinking of the final solution and the Cyber Power is right up there on the list.
RNAChemist...I think kingpin111 was talking $100 for the Cyber Power unit, not his new one.
Cheers,
RH
Edit;
On another look, Tripp Lite also has a SMART 1000 LCD which offers Coax surge protection too. Hmmmm...maybe this is the way to go for me. (UPS would be an added benefit!)
Hmmmm. Looks like a nice unit and the specs on-line sound like it's up my alley. Now just have to find one for sale around here. SS has one in stock, but they are notoriously over-priced.
I just ordered one from PCNAtion. I got it yesterday but havent had time to hook it up yet (can comment later on that). But you may want to try a US vendor. PCNAtion was amazing and got the order to me via FEDEX in two days (and Monday here was a holiday).
Unfortuneately, PCNation doesn't ship to Canada. Too bad because even with exchange and duty, it would be about half the price of what I've found here.
Funny thing...you look all over the internet for a deal when there's a solution sitting right under your nose. There's a retailer here that stocks Tripp Lite and I think I might go with the UPS solution similar to kingpin111. Retail price is the same bottom line as ordering online from Tiger Direct when factoring in shipping. The company I work for does a lot of business with this retailer and I can get at least 10% off sticker!
Cheers,
RH
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