Smart Strip LCG4 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology and Fax/Modem Surge Protection
by Smart Strip
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List Price: Our Price: $29.29 You Save: $12.66 (30%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $27.00 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Smart Strip LCG4 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology and Fax/Modem Surge Protection
Customer Review: A real money saver
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this because I found out that my home theater receiver is a power hog. It uses 60 watts even when "off". I did the math, and assuming I want it on 6 hours a day, this would pay back fast. I added a few extra things: a sub woofer (6w at idle), VCR (7w when "off"), and a DVD player (2w when off). I measured all this with my Kill-a-Watt.
Add that up and you get 75w that's wasted. Multiply 75w * 18 hours a day * 365 days * $0.18 (cost of a kwh of electricity here)/1000 = $89/year in savings. This thing will take less than 6 months to pay for itself. You can plug in your own numbers and figure your payback time.
Installation was a breeze. I plugged my tv into the "control" outlet. My receiver, VCR, sub woofer, and DVD player got plugged into the switched outlets. There are some always on outlets too, and I plugged the UPS that has my Wii and TiVo into one of those.
Then I turned on the power switch. No adjustment was necessary.
Now when I turn on my TV, the receiver and sub (and the rest) turn on with it. When I turn off the TV, the rest of the stuff turns off too.
Customer Review: Worked great right out of the box
Summary: 5 Stars
Why does this one with the phone line protection cost less than the one without? I don't know, but I bought this one for the better price, although I didn't bother with plugging in the phone line. Really, I just needed a power strip with more outlets on it, and thought I'd try this out.
I have a pc controlling the strip, speakers, two printers, and my DSL modem plugged into the controlled outlets, and a lamp in an always-on outlet. It worked perfectly the first time, without having to adjust the little wheel at all. I have my BIOS set to turn on the computer every morning, and this was not affected at all. Yes, I have the modem turning off when I turn off the PC, although the box says to put it in an always-on outlet. I just wanted the added protection against any weird malware using internet connection overnight. By the time I'm ready to use the computer in the morning, it's already reconnected.
I hope to save a little energy (too soon to tell), but even if I don't-- it's nice to have plenty of room on a power strip, and convenient to be able to turn everything off at once.
Customer Review: Do NOT use to protect your electronics!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this about a year ago and it worked well until my apartment building had an actual power surge--then, not so well.
In my apartment, ever electric item that was plugged in and NOT on a powersurge protector was completely fried. My computer equipment, which was on a regular $8 surge protector was fine (although the surge protector was destroyed).
Now, my TV equipment (Wii, stereo, playstation, etc) was not as good and this was on the Smart Strip. Although all appliances were off at the time of the surge, but television still made a popping sound and started to smoke. It is burned out. Most of the other appliances seem okay, but it is hard to check them when your apartment is being rewired and I don't have a TV to check it all. They all turn on, but the DVD player seems to overheat quickly.
If you want to be eco-friendly and save energy, buy a regular powerstrip and just turn it off when you aren't using it. At least you won't have to put all your equipment in a landfill when your electricity has a freak problem!
Customer Review: Good design, and it works well for me
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased a Smart Strip and use it to power my PC, monitor, printer, speakers and other peripheral devices. I find that it performs quite well. My PC is plugged into the control outlet, so the other outlets turn on when the PC is turned on. When the PC turns off, the other outlets shut down, so I no longer worry about shutting off my monitor, printer, or speakers. Sometimes there is a few minutes of delay before the peripherals power down, but this sensitivity can be tweaked with a setting on the Smart Strip - it is adjustable because some devices continue to draw a small current even when powered off, which can be enough current to keep the other outlets from shutting down. But with some adjustments, it can be set to work in most situations. The energy savings/environmental benefits make this a worthwhile purchase, but the convenience factor of not having to power on or off my devices just adds value. I plan to buy another one for my stereo system.Customer Review: Smart Strip: Smart Idea, but Mac Mini is smarter
Summary: 4 Stars
The Smart Strip worked great. It is well laid out, supports surge protection and has wall wart spacing on some of the outlets. But it doesn't work with the surprising Mac Mini. Did you know that the Mac Mini only uses 4 Watts when it is idle? I had no idea. The Smart Strip can't resolve 4 Watts, so it won't work with the Mac Mini, but it works fine with my HP Laptop. To be fair, the Laptop has an LCD screen, but it burns more than four Watts no matter what. The display for the Mac, a Dell FP2005W, uses about 45 Watts.
I can use the Smart Strip with the laptop or the display and it works flawlessly.
Kudos to the Apple crew for saving a lot of energy with the design of the Mac Mini. Kudos to Smart Strip people for designing a peripheral that helps me save power on the less well designed peripherals. Now, Smart Strip, please make that adjustment circuit capable of handling a Mac Mini and you'll have a great product.