Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Dale: I just bought my son a new laptop at Walmart.
As we were walking up to the register to pay, I asked the salesman if he could recommend a good surge protector for it.
He said laptops don’t need surge protectors because their power bricks protect the machine from power surges.
That just didn’t sound right to me, but I’m not one to argue.
Was he right or do I need to go ahead and buy a surge protector for my son’s new laptop? [Read more…]
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Question from Shelby: I bought a new computer the other day.
The salesman told me I won’t need to plug it into a surge protector because the power supply automatically protects it from over-voltage.
Is he right? [Read more…]
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.
If your home is like most others these days it probably has surge suppressors plugged into the outlets that are powering a sensitive electronic device.
And some homes have one plugged into every outlet.
These portable surge suppressors are fine for protecting your computer equipment, flat panel TVs and other devices from moderate power surges.
However, if your incoming power line gets struck by lightning or a strong power surge you will likely be replacing many of those items the very next day. [Read more…]
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.
You’re probably aware that lightning and power surges can damage electronic devices such as computers and TV sets.
I’m also guessing that you have your expensive tech gear plugged into surge protectors.
But did you know that surge protectors don’t last forever?
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Question from Jeannie: Hi, Rick. I live in an area that’s prone to frequent electrical storms so I’ve always been fanatical about keeping my electronic stuff plugged into surge protectors.
But I heard the other day that surge protectors can go bad after a while. Is that true? All of mine are several years old.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]