Crave

Water and electricity: that's a winning combination if ever we heard one.

Clearly Philips thinks it's a theme that has some legs--five of them to be precise--because it's created a mains extension socket it calls the "power squid."

Anyone with an encyclopedia would be able to tell you that a squid has 10 appendages--that's 8 arms and 2 tentacles, fact fans. The Philips SPR550BN also differs from aquatic reality in its color, which is black, rather than the more realistic white or slightly translucent skin tone of most squid.

Behold the squid of power.

(Credit: Philips)

Still, most real squid don't aim to protect your AV equipment from an electrical surge either. Nor do they offer you the opportunity to turn one plug socket into five--which means, despite its unrealistic color and incorrect number of limbs, the Philips power squid scores over nature's squid in a number of key areas.

The power squid should help you keep the area behind your TV a little tidier, which should in turn lead to a happier home life. Trust us, we've had plenty of arguments about wiring in our time.

One word of caution though: despite its oceanic inspiration, the power squid states very clearly on its rear that it can't be used with any sort of aquarium. Perhaps this is to prevent any real squid getting tragically over-excited by this exotic little chap and jumping out of their watery homes.

Could this be the start of a whole range of sea-derived home electronics? Could we one day see the electric eel-themed HDMI cable, or perhaps an octopus-inspired subwoofer interconnect? Only time will tell, but we're hoping so.

The U.S. version can be found here.

(Via Crave UK)

Can this $230 surge protector improve home theater performance?

CNET reader Chris writes:

My question is are expensive surge protectors even necessary? I see lots of other surge protectors in the $20-30 range that seem like they would be sufficient. Will an expensive surge protector really keep the "dirty power" out of my lines and give me better picture and sound?

That's a great question. If you listen to the companies selling the equipment, there's no doubt about it. Monster promises, "a more natural sound, increased dynamic range, and the most vivid video images possible," and includes a highly suspect comparison to back up its claims. Similarly, Panamax claims, "improved picture and sound quality from AV component sources" from its $500 surge protector. (We did notice that Belkin--another major manufacturer of surge protectors--makes no claims of improved AV quality.)

So is the marketing hype true? As far as we can tell, no. At CNET Labs, we have a large Monster surge protector, plus a variety of other, less expensive models from different manufacturers. In terms of video quality, we've never seen any difference from the Monster surge protector compared to other surge protectors, or even compared to plugging components directly into the wall--and we're constantly looking for even the slightest video artifacts. Maybe our lab just has good, "clean" power, but we haven't noticed any differences in our personal home theaters either.

For audio, it's largely the same experience. Unless you hear something obvious like a hum, hiss, or pop from your speakers, the increase in audio performance from a surge protector is going to range from about nothing to negligible. In fact, if you are hearing problems, your money might be better spent on an electrician to examine your home's electrical wiring rather than a surge protector. And if an electrician isn't feasible--say you're living in an apartment--you're probably better off with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

But before you go writing off surge protectors as overmarketed hype, don't forget about their main purpose--protecting your gear from electrical spikes. It makes much more sense to purchase a surge protector based on its clamping voltage (the lower the better) and maximum surge current (the higher the better), instead of suspicious performance claims. Also pay attention to how much insurance the company offers if your gear is damaged from an electrical surge. As long as it covers the value of your home theater, you should at least be able to replace your gear.

The bottom line is that when buying a surge protector, focus on its ability to protect your gear from getting fried, and pretty much ignore any claims about improved audio/video quality.

Power three devices--plus two USB products--with this portable surge protector.

(Credit: Belkin)

You'd think that the design for power strips and surge protectors would be pretty much played out, but Belkin has actually done some pretty interesting things with them in recent years: clamp-on models, ones that hide all of the wall warts, and even the forthcoming Conserve, an eco-friendly model that truly shuts off connected devices at the touch of a wireless remote.

The company is taking that spirit of innovation on the road with its latest power product: the Belkin Mini Surge Protector. The travel-friendly model packs three grounded three-prong power outlets and two powered USB ports into its tiny frame, and plugs directly into the wall socket, so there's no dangling cord. A green LED confirms that connected devices are protected against surges, which Belkin backs with a $75,000 warranty. In other words, this one miniature power strip should be able to power and protect your laptop, iPod, and cellphone--and still have space left over for connecting two other AC-powered devices. Belkin even throws in a mini-USB cable, which will work with many brands of cellphones. Yes, laptop-toting travelers can usually use the spare ports on their computer to juice up various mobile devices. Considering that the device is slated to cost less than $25, the Belkin Mini Surge Protector looks to be a worthwhile combination of the Monster Power Outlets To Go (see related hands-on review) and Belkin's Dual USB Power Adapter. Like that latter model, we wish Belkin would include more USB ports, since the list of USB-powered devices--phones, Blackberrys, iPods, the Nintendo DS, PSP, and Bluetooth headsets--is seemingly endless.

You might see the Belkin Mini Surge Protector already available for preorder on some online stores, but the company says that it should be widely available "in office superstores" by the end of April.

Everyone knows to use a surge protector for their computer. But which one? How do you choose? Welcome to surge protector school.

As their name implies, surge protectors prevent voltage spikes from entering a computer (or whatever else is plugged into them). They are available in a variety of types and, to paraphrase the manual that came with a Dell server, usually provide a level of protection commensurate with the cost of the device. In other words, you get what you pay for.

A surge protector is not a power strip, although a low end model may look like a power strip. Power strips are just extension cords and won't protect a computer from power surges. If it doesn't say "Surge Suppressor," it is probably just a power strip. You can also judge by the price, power strips are cheaper than surge suppressors. A device with no Joules rating is a power strip.

There are many features that go into making a good surge protector.

To begin with, electrical surges can happen on any wire. Thus, you need a surge protector that protects every wire going into your computer. This includes the phone line, if you use dial-up or DSL, and Ethernet network cables, if the computer is on a LAN. Lower end surge protectors only protect the electrical outlet; to get Ethernet or phone line protection, expect to pay a bit more. As a starting point, expect to pay from $20 to $35 for a surge protector.

Have you ever blown a fuse? Some surge protectors work like fuses, and when they absorb all the electricity they can, they die. They may die either from a single big surge or from absorbing many small surges over a long period of time.

What then?

Most likely, a dead surge protector will indicate the fact that it is no longer protecting your equipment with some type of indicator light. However, months after installing it, will you know what the light means? You may not even see it, if the surge protector is behind furniture.

When the surge suppression no longer functions, some surge protectors will continue to provide electricity to the devices. Better models cut off the juice, which protects your devices and makes sure you know to replace the surge protector. Never use a surge protector that provides unprotected power! The last time I checked, the current models of both APC and Tripp Lite would never provide unprotected power to your devices.

You may be thinking that fuses have been replaced by circuit breakers. When there is an overload, a circuit breaker trips and you can easily switch it back later without having to go to the hardware store and buy a new fuse.

Better surge protectors work this way, too. These models are designed to cut off power in a surge rather than absorb it. As a result, they should not wear out over time. There will be a little button that pops out, and you can pop it back in after the surge.

How can you tell if a particular surge protector works like a fuse or circuit breaker? One hint is the warranty, if it has a lifetime warranty then it probably works like a circuit breaker. I suggest only purchasing a surge protector with a lifetime warranty. In general, both APC and Tripp Lite surge protectors have lifetime warranties.

Next up, clamping speed and let-through voltage.