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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2016
Pros:
- Price
- Tripp Lite Warranty (details below)
- Several ports specifically for power bricks
- Has a higher joule rating than anything I've seen at this price
Cons:
- Ports can be VERY stiff at first, but after they're used once they're much easier to work with
- No USB ports
Other Thoughts:
I have two or three of these surge protectors laying around the house now, as I won't buy any other brand anymore. I used to work in retail selling TV's and Laptops, and one of my functions was to try to sell accessories. I wanted to make more money (and keep my job), but I also wanted to do right by the customer as much as possible, so I decided to learn as much as I could about each accessory and point people to the ones they needed, and away from the ones they didn't. I would say that what I learned over the years about surge protectors over the years was the most fruitful.
Many people believe that once you buy a surge protector, that it will work in perpetuity forever, and that isn't the case. Most (if not all) surge protectors have a 1-3 year warranty for a reason, and that's because the Joule rating that it claims to have is cumulative, not a constant level of protection. If your SP is rated for 1000 joules and you're hit with lightning that has 1100 joules, you just lost all protection on your SP and might have lost other equipment in the process, but it's not that easy to measure how much power a hit will have, so at any point you really could end up with a protector that's little more than a glorified extension cable.
Due to this lack of predictability, I find myself leaning heavily on the warranty included on these. Over the years I've heard and seen many stories of equipment frying (whether it's the SP or the attached equipment) and people attempting to use their warranties to replace the products, only to be turned down. This is where Tripp Lite has stood apart, in my experience. I've heard stories where they've replaced entire home theater setups with very few questions asked and no hassle. I've heard stories where the SP saved their equipment, but died in the process, and Tripp Lite replaced that piece of equipment for free. I even heard of them honoring a warranty on a 10 year old SP once, and that's practically unheard of. I'm not saying that every experience will be 100% the same, but I KNOW that the experiences I've mentioned are not common (in fact it's unheard of with some companies), and I feel safer knowing that I at least have a good chance to have my warranty honored.
I also know that Tripp Lite (some Belkin SPs do as well) includes equipment in their SPs that will actually shut off power to the ports if it's unable to protect them, which makes it far easier to know when to replace your equipment.
- Price
- Tripp Lite Warranty (details below)
- Several ports specifically for power bricks
- Has a higher joule rating than anything I've seen at this price
Cons:
- Ports can be VERY stiff at first, but after they're used once they're much easier to work with
- No USB ports
Other Thoughts:
I have two or three of these surge protectors laying around the house now, as I won't buy any other brand anymore. I used to work in retail selling TV's and Laptops, and one of my functions was to try to sell accessories. I wanted to make more money (and keep my job), but I also wanted to do right by the customer as much as possible, so I decided to learn as much as I could about each accessory and point people to the ones they needed, and away from the ones they didn't. I would say that what I learned over the years about surge protectors over the years was the most fruitful.
Many people believe that once you buy a surge protector, that it will work in perpetuity forever, and that isn't the case. Most (if not all) surge protectors have a 1-3 year warranty for a reason, and that's because the Joule rating that it claims to have is cumulative, not a constant level of protection. If your SP is rated for 1000 joules and you're hit with lightning that has 1100 joules, you just lost all protection on your SP and might have lost other equipment in the process, but it's not that easy to measure how much power a hit will have, so at any point you really could end up with a protector that's little more than a glorified extension cable.
Due to this lack of predictability, I find myself leaning heavily on the warranty included on these. Over the years I've heard and seen many stories of equipment frying (whether it's the SP or the attached equipment) and people attempting to use their warranties to replace the products, only to be turned down. This is where Tripp Lite has stood apart, in my experience. I've heard stories where they've replaced entire home theater setups with very few questions asked and no hassle. I've heard stories where the SP saved their equipment, but died in the process, and Tripp Lite replaced that piece of equipment for free. I even heard of them honoring a warranty on a 10 year old SP once, and that's practically unheard of. I'm not saying that every experience will be 100% the same, but I KNOW that the experiences I've mentioned are not common (in fact it's unheard of with some companies), and I feel safer knowing that I at least have a good chance to have my warranty honored.
I also know that Tripp Lite (some Belkin SPs do as well) includes equipment in their SPs that will actually shut off power to the ports if it's unable to protect them, which makes it far easier to know when to replace your equipment.
