Power Protection

Modern electronics are marvelous machines, but they can be a little delicate on some points: spikes and surges. Computers like a nice, steady flow of electricity; surges and spikes (which are basically the same thing) are unsteady flows; they can fry computer hardware, killing your computer (and other consumer electronics you own). This is bad. Surge protectors act like a dam between your computer and the raging torrent of electricity that might come through the wires. Surge protectors maintain the right flow, keeping your computer equipment and data safe. This is good.

You can think of a surge protector as a computer accessory that is designed to break. It breaks easily and can be fixed easily, much more easily (and cheaper) than desktop computers or laptops. Usually, you just flip a switch; your surge protector is then fixed and your computer system is back in business.

Be warned: A lot of small surge protectors look just like power strips, which are extension cords with half of a dozen or so outlets on the end. Just because it looks like a surge protector, it doesn't mean it actually is a surge protector. Be sure of your protection by being sure of what you're buying. Also, you usually get what you pay for, so be sure that $9.00 drug store surge protector is all the protection you want before you bet the life of your desktop computer on it.

By the way, an uninterruptible power supply, commonly called a UPS, also has a surge protector built in. A UPS is a battery, holding enough juice to allow you to shut down your computer so you don't lose data in a sudden black-out or brown-out.