This kind of UPS doesn’t deliver packages
If I had it my way, the $10 surge protectors you get at Wal-Mart would have their name changed to "power strips". I don't think they stand a chance at protecting any kind of real surge. They do, however, do a great job of turning one electrical outlet into 6 or 8 outlets.
Don't read this the wrong way. Not all surge protectors are junk. This is definitely one of those areas where you get what you pay for. I just don't think $10 cuts it for quality protection.
In fact, if you truly want good protection, I recommend an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). No, this doesn't mean that a UPS delivery man will throw himself in front of your computer when lightning attacks. But it does mean you have much better protection than that silly $10 power strip.
More than surge protection
The main purpose of a UPS is to maintain the power to equipment plugged in to it. So if the power goes out in your home, whatever is plugged into the UPS stays powered on for as long as the battery can keep it powered (anywhere from a few minutes on cheaper models to a few hours on the mac-daddy models).
When the UPS does switch to battery, it usually sounds an alarm which is your indicator to gracefully power down the equipment attached to it before the battery gives out. I usually recommend the models that give you anywhere from 5-10 minutes to get this job done.
Beyond battery backup protection, most UPSs also protect against surges, sags, spikes, noise, frequency instability and harmonic distortion. Yeah, I don't know what half of this stuff is either but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy knowing I've got protection against all of it.
I don't get that same feeling with the $10 power strip.
Recommended models
If you're looking for a good middle-of-the-road UPS, the following two choices will do you just fine. They both offer an extended amount of outlets to plug your equipment into. Just be careful to note that while all of the outlets provide surge protection, only a select few of them provide battery backup protection. So plug the equipment you want to stay powered on into the battery backup outlets and the rest to the surge protection only outlets.
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