Fight for the power to plug in your stuff...

Belkin Compact Surge Protector4GB
Power Outlets: 4 Traditional, 4 BlockSpace
MSRP: $45.00
Cord length: 4 feet


Since most homes were built before the tech-crazy 21st century it's usually common to find there's never enough power outlets to plug in all our electronic toys. Cell phones, PDAs, laptops, MP3 players, all these gadgets require recharging on top of all the normal stuff you’d find in a home taking up valuable outlet real estate.

When most people say “power strip” they’re actually referring to a surge protector since it’s pretty foolish to plug in a half-dozen devices without some sort of electrical surge protection. Many different designs and brands are available from $10 to over $100… somewhere in the middle is where you can find a quality unit that’s still affordable.

----- Why a Belkin power strip? -----

I’ve had several multi-plug power strips that boasted they could hold 8-10 plugs at once, yeah right! So many electronic devices now come with ”power bricks” on the plug end of the cord which make it taller and wider than a normal 110V plug. What this means is that every oversized plug on a normal strip blocks the plug on either side leaving an 8-plug strip only capable of holding 3 plug bricks. That’s pretty frustrating since that’s barely better that the normal 2-plug outlets you have in the wall.

I first noticed the Belkin Compact Surge Protector when I was paying a bill at my local AT&T Wireless store. There was a charging station behind the counter with 2 of the Belkin units that had multiple Motorola and Blackberry chargers plugged in and still room to spare. As anyone owning a Motorola or Nokia phone knows, the charger plugs are always huge and blocky, taking up the outlets on both sides when they're plugged in. Since I charge multiple cell phones and other stuff every night, I value my desk space and would love to eliminate one of the two power strips I’m using. Not only does this unit fit multiple oversize plugs but it also has built-in cord management and an smooth exterior that blends in and doesn't look like a normal power strip.

After shopping around I found the Belkin Compact for $39 on sale and quickly installed it behind my desk to power my electronic lifestyle.

Since I started using it I've been very satisfied with how easy it is to arrange my plugs and power packs without having to leave things unplugged. Belkin calls their oversize plug area BlockSpace connectors which is a good description of how big and blocky these powerpacks are. I'm currently running my iMac, external speakers, printer, and my MacBook charger on the normal-sized plug section and a Blackberry charger, Cycling light charger, Energizer battery recharging station, and Nikon camera charger on my BlockSpace outlets. As you can see I definitely need a power strip and it's got to be a surge protector since I have over $3,000 in electronics hooked up to it.

I haven't had an electrical storm or power outage since I started using my Belkin Compact, but I trust that it will keep my gear safe if a surge does come. If at some point the surge protection fails Belkin offers a $200,000 Connected Equipment Warranty to replace your gear. There is a surge protection light which indicates normal operation and a faulty ground indicator which glows red if the outlet you connected the surge protector to has a bad grounding connection.

Overall I'm very happy with my Belkin Compact Surge Protector and would recommend it to anyone with lots of blocky, oversized plugs looking for a home. If you don't need 8 outlets there's also the Conceal and Clamp-On surge protectors which keep your power cords hidden and plugged in at the same time.

Related links:

•Apple MacBook 13.3" 2.0GHz"
•Apple iMac Intel Duo 20"
•Apple iMac Intel Duo 24"
•Apple iBook G4 12"
•Apple Powerbook G4 17"

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