Surge protectors for your beloved VAIOs?

Curious to find out how many of you invested in a good surge protector for your beloved VAIOs. Do they actually work?

Do Sony AC adaptors have surge protector built-in?

All these years, I've never had any problems without using protectors (touch wood) and so I wonder if it's worthwhile to buy one.

 

Ever since a power outage fried my router, modem, and a desktop hard drive, I've been using surge protectors on all my electronics.

Doesn't hurt to be careful, and surge protectors aren't exactly expensive

 

I use 2 of them

 

All electronics contain protection. For example, a 120 volt UPS in battery backup mode can output two 200 volt square waves with a spike of up to 270 volts between those square waves. Electricity so 'dirty' as to be harmful to small electric motors and power strip protectors.

But that UPS output is also perfectly ideal to electronics. Because electronics routinely contain protector that makes, for example, that 270 volt spike irrelevant.

Many will say they have never had damage with a protector. So how often are they replacing dimmer switches and GFCIs? These electronic devices have no protector. Therefore they are being damaged daily? Or are they on invisible protectors? For the reasoning posted by others to be honest, those other undamaged appliances must be on invisible protectors. Or (and this is reality) that power strip protector does nothing.

Well, it does do something. It puts the house at greater risk. Some pictures demonstrate what most fire departments have seen:
http://www.hanford.gov/rl/?page=556&parent=554
http://www.ddxg.net/old/surge_protectors.htm
http://www.zerosurge.com/HTML/movs.html
http://tinyurl.com/3x73ol
http://www3.cw56.com/news/articles/local/BO63312/
http://www.nmsu.edu/~safety/news/lesson-learned/surgeprotectorfire.htm
http://www.pennsburgfireco.com/fullstory.php?58339

One link from a fire marshal is why the threat exists.

Protection inside every appliance can be overwhelmed by a rare and destructive type of surge. It may occur once every seven years - a number that can vary significantly even in the same town. When surge damage is never acceptable, then informed facilities install one 'whole house' protector with the always required short (ie 'less than 10 feet') connection to earth ground.

No protector provided protection. That 'magic box' myth is widespread due to what is taught in retail stores. Protection is not provided by any protector. A protector only connects surge energy to earth ground. Either that energy harmlessly dissipates in earth. Or you have let that energy hunt for earth ground destructively via appliances. Only you make that choice.

Why do you need only one properly earthed 'whole house' protector? View those above scary pictures. Those plug-in protectors also must be protection by the 'whole house' protector. Or you spend no money on ineffective protector. Instead, install only one 'whole house' protector AND upgrade a building's earth ground.

Protection is always about where energy dissipates. No plug-in protector will even claim to do that protection. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. For everyone reading this, the most effective solution costs about $1 per protected appliance. How much for that plug-in protector that does not even claim protection? $25? $150? It does not even claims that protection in its numeric specs. A superior protector for tens or 100 times less money is so effective due to a short connection to single point earth ground.

All electronics contain significant protection. You must earth the rare and destructive surge so that internal protection is not overwhelmed. Energy that is not inside the building will not create those scary pictures.