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Recommend A UPS/SurgeProtector

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My Surface Pro should be here in a couple days. I've been thinking of using a dedicated outlet for all my Mobile devices. My Nexus, Surface and whatever other Mobile I'll be using at the time, will be in one place. The one thing I don't have is a good quality UPS around.

What are you guys using and recommend?
 
I would not bother with a UPS for mobile devices. Get a surge protector. Most UPSs will have a surge protector but the usually the rating will be like 600 joules or something like that which is low end for a surge protector.
 
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A surge protector that includes a choke-capacitor (L-C) line filter, probably around $40 - $70 and from APC, Tripplite, or Panamax. Most protectors have nothing but MOV crowbars for protection, which won't help with surges below their trigger voltage, and typically when a protector includes an L-C filter, its MOV protection is better, too. BTW some surge protectors advertise RF/EMI filtering that may consist of nothing but a single capacitor, which won't be nearly effective. A good L-C filter will let you plug the surge protector into the same wall outlet as a laser printer and will prevent the computer from locking up or rebooting when the printer is turned on.
 
larrymoencurly said:
A surge protector that includes a choke-capacitor (L-C) line filter, probably around $40 - $70 and from APC, Tripplite, or Panamax. Most protectors have nothing but MOV crowbars for protection, which won't help with surges below their trigger voltage, and typically when a protector includes an L-C filter, its MOV protection is better, too. BTW some surge protectors advertise RF/EMI filtering that may consist of nothing but a single capacitor, which won't be nearly effective. A good L-C filter will let you plug the surge protector into the same wall outlet as a laser printer and will prevent the computer from locking up or rebooting when the printer is turned on.
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Do you have a particular unit you are fond of?
 
drescherjm said:
I would not bother with a UPS for mobile devices. Get a surge protector. Most UPSs will have a surge protector but the usually the rating will be like 600 joules or something like that which is low end for a surge protector.
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I'd prefer a unit that does both. I've got at least two Mobiles charging, unprotected, right now. To replace them? At least a $1000 out of my pocket. Add a Surface Pro? I'd rather be safe than sorry.
 
bmstrong said:
Do you have a particular unit you are fond of?
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I don't know what's available now, and Consumer Reports hasn't published an evaluation in about 12 years, but the last time they did there wasn't much correlation between joule or voltage ratings and protection.

I think you'll have to phone the companies about the RF/EMI filters because their websites don't seem to provide much information or use the same standards for specifying the decibel (dB) ratings. For example, TrippLite says one of their products blocks noise by 40dB, while my Belkin is rated for 60dB (10x as good), despite its filter being just a single capacitor. The best companies provide graphs like these from Corcom: http://cor.com/pdf/C.pdf
 
I don't know what's available now, and Consumer Reports hasn't published an evaluation in about 12 years, but the last time they did there wasn't much correlation between joule or voltage ratings and protection.
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Interesting I will have to check on that.. As an EE I trusted that the joule rating would be an indication of how much power the device would absorb.
 
drescherjm said:
As an EE I trusted that the joule rating would be an indication of how much power the device would absorb.
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I saw a picture of a surge protector for industrial equipment, with MOVs were much bigger than those found in consumer surge protectors, yet it had a much lower joule rating. Also the joule ratings for consumer devices may be the total for all 3 sets of MOVs.
 
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dandragonrage said:
Go ZeroSurge instead, as it's their technology, not Brickwall's. Why Brickwall became somewhat more well known than ZeroSurge baffles me. Either that or Furman - their higher end products use both MOVs and the same type of series-mode protection.

ZeroSurge thingie on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZeroSurge-N...e_Protectors_Power_Strips&hash=item3f1f8295c7
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Better marketing, I'd suspect. Thanks for the heads up, it was interesting reading up on the history of the tech. I like to buy new though, so I'll pass on that ebay link :p
 
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Oh and also, I'd recommend a service entrance ("whole house") surge protector if possible. I use the Panamax GPP8005 though that's an older model.

I'd actually sooner recommend a service entrance protector and additional cheap (not VERY cheap, but like $20+) surge protectors at important stuff than recommend a $100-200 high-end series-mode protector for just a few things and crap for your other stuff. Though those are definitely great at what they do. The service entrance models won't be series-mode but they will have the advantages of protecting everything, having a much better ground (not having to go over the thin 16-12 gauge ground wire from your room) and will react quicker than anything in your room. They just install using a 2-pole breaker (or some panels have them available AS a 2-pole breaker). On mine the Panamax is just screwed into the side of the main box and has like 6 inch leads to a 30A breaker (per Panamax's spec). Can't get series-mode for whole house because it would be BIG (the power needs to be dissipated over resistors/inductors) and you'd need to disconnect the main service line and run it to the protector, then run a new large-gauge cable from it to the box.
 
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I'm in an apartment so no whole house protection for me in the immediate future :eek:
 
Having pulled apart a couple surge protectors, I can safely say that the joule rating on the box and the actual joule rating of the MOVs inside rarely have much to do with each other.

If you're going to get a worthwhile surge protector you definitely want one with a full on transient filter (PSU style, X caps, Y caps, inductors) in it, like LMC said.

Whole house protectors are nice for surges that originate outside the house, but still like the laser printer mentioned above won't get caught by it.
 
Personally aside from series-mode protectors, I like surge protectors that also have the "protect or disconnect" protection... Panamax PM8 is a surge protector that I like for the price that does that.
 
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