At 4:14 PM -0500 2/15/05, peter wrote:
This touches on a question that's been wandering around in my head.
Do protections built into modern power adapters eliminate the need for surge protectors?
The manual for my Aluminum PB seems to make no official statement on the subject, but it shows an illustration that indicates one is not needed. This could be an oversight, however. I plan on traveling to places where power fluctuations occur more often than in the US, so I'm interested in the wisdom of folks on this list.
There is a certain amount of cumulative protection. That is having a power strip with surge protection means that the protection built into your computer won't have to work much. And surge suppressors are usually rated for a total amount of energy absorbed, above that and they stop protecting. So putting a protected power strip ahead of your equipment does protect your equipment better.
A laptop has a double layer of protection too, the external power supply has protection on the AC line and the power controller in the laptop protects against noise and surges coming in from the external power supply. Thus a strong enough surge might blow the power supply but not hurt the laptop. An external surge protector will add another layer of protection but it's more to protect the power supply than the laptop.
Personally I don't use an added surge protector with my laptop. It's a convenience thing and basically I'm willing to risk the power supply as it's a small risk.
--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting
"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
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