Surge Protection Experience

I used to sell these and it's been my experience that nothing can stop lightning. Your best bet is to buy a surge protector with an equipment guarantee. This way if it does get fried, it can be repaired or replaced at no cost to you.

Hi Jim, ditto what Rich said, you know your getting something good when they guarentee to replace your damaged equipment, if it works great, if it doesn't work no problem WIN/WIN. Also ask electrician for his advice. Bob :~)

I would recommend a UPS with AVR (High voltage and low voltage regulation) peferably from APC.It is a matter of how fast they react and brownouts kill electronics too.

APC units are a little pricey, but well worth the investment. When it says AVR(Automatic voltage regulation) read carefully, as stores like Compusa and costco have special units made by APC with AVR (low voltage protection only). You can also contact APC and check for refirbs! A really quality minded company with excellent customer service! CLEAN POWER!!!!!protect your telephone line and modem and router too as they can also damage your computer if something hits them!

If you can only swing a Surge protector look for the number of Joules... higher the better. Stay away from the cheap ones. Again, I like APC!

I have 2 APC towers (one for the Imac and one for my PC). One has both high and low AVR and the other only low regulation, so I connected that one thru a quality surge protector.

Good Luck
jeff

If you have a surge protector with a replacement garrantee, how do you demonstrate that your computer was fed through their surge protector? I live in a stormy area and hate having to unplug my iMac all of the time, but I don't know how I would prove that my surge protector failed on my computer. I'd hate to trust to much in something....

Ditto on the UPS, but protection CAN be had that doesn't kill your budget.

APC has a UPS ES 350 that HAS power conditioning and will run your iMac for about 8 min. They can be had at WalMart for $39.

We have tons of lighting strikes here in Tampa and I wouldn't trust just a surge protector.

I was interested in the APC ES 350 power supply, but I noticed on the box that it only supports the iMac G3's. Does it work OK with your G5?