Lets look at the quality of that Monster Cable product.
Take a $3 (retail) power strip. Add some $0.10 components.
Sell it as a Monster Cable product for how much? You too
would love to have this price markup. Why would a salesman in
Circuit City, with no basic electrical knowledge, recommend
that Monster Cable product? What is his motive?

All appliances contain protection that can be effective at
the appliance. If that plug-in protector was so effective,
then those parts are already inside the appliance. Internal
appliance protection that is effective if not overwhelmed by
the typically destructive transient.

Every incoming utility must connect to the same protection.
What is that protection - a protector? Of course not. Junk
science reasoning using word association says "surge protector
= surge protection". That internal appliance protection,
instead, assumes the single point earth ground (the
protection) connects 'less than 10 feet' to every incoming
utility.

Some utility wires connect directly to protection without a
protector - ie. cable and satellite dish. Others require a
'whole house' protector to make that 'less than 10 foot'
connection. Once we eliminate the hype (from those educated
by Circuit City salesmen), then we can move on to what
professionals say. For example, this figure from the NIST
demonstrates why even multiple earth grounds can compromise
the protection 'system':
http://www.epri-peac.com/tutorials/sol01tut.html

How to identify ineffective protectors: 1) Protector has no
dedicate connection to the all so critical single point earth
ground, AND 2) manufacturer avoids all discussion about
earthing. Notice the Monster Cable product violates both.

'Whole house' protectors are so effective that the telco
installs one, for free, on your incoming phone line. Cable
company, if employees were properly trained, dropped their
cable down to the single point ground before rising back up to
enter building. But the most common source of destructive
transients is AC electric - which is also wires highest on the
utility poles and that connect directly to every appliance.

We still build new homes as if the transistor did not
exist. Therefore YOU must verify the integrity of single
point ground (ie. meet or exceed post 1990 National Electrical
Code requirements) and must install the 'whole house'
protector on AC electric. Some minimally sufficient 'whole
house' protectors are sold in Home Depot as Intermatic
IG1240RC and in Lowes under the Cutler Hammer and GE brand
names.

Yes, all electronics require building wide protection that
costs about $1 per protected appliance. So how much is that
Monster Cable product being pushed by a salesman? Salesman
who must avoid mentioning earth ground to sell a product that
may cost 80 times more money per protected appliance.

"R. Bharat Rao" wrote:
I just bought a 61" Samsung DLP.

How important is getting a good surge protector (I'm guessing "very").

How important is getting "clean noise" -- Circuit City is
recommending a $80 Monster Power which has "clean noise"...

Thanks for any help,