Customer Reviews

Belkin 8-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector with Phone/Coaxial Protection and Extended Cord

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Brief evaluation
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This surge protector allows for up to 8 devices, including 4 'wide' DC adapters to be plugged in. It will protect them against power surges and, in addition, it can protect one phone line (RJ-11) and one coax wire if they are connected to pass through the Belkin surge protector.

My personal experience does validate the claims the manufacturer makes for the features that I am using and I can verify at this time. So far, I am happy and, in my opinion and based on its meeting real needs, good design, features and low price I recommend it as (in my view) one of the better it its class.

Soon after purchasing this unit I learned that for very little extra I could get and, in fact, I purchased the Belkin 12-Outlet Home/Office Surge Protector with Phone/Ethernet/Coaxial Protection and Extended Cord which has 4 extra outlets and comes with a true RJ-45 Ethernet support.

More details
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The following are noteworthy, in my view.

Positives:

+ TRUE 8-outlet capacity. Unlike the traditional surge-protected power strips where one beefy AC adapter would cover 2 slots, Belkin's device truly accommodates 4 AC adapters and allows for 4 more plugs to fit in.
+ 'Protected' green light (must be on) provides assurance that the surge protector is operational. When the green light stays off it usually means that the surge protector 'expired' while protecting your device from a power surge and it must be replaced ASAP. [The Belkin warranty promises a free replacement under its warranty terms if you meet the requirements and, it seems, you pay for shipping the damaged unit to Belkin and, possibly, the new unit to you. That's likely to add up to the price of buying a new unit from Amazon and, if you factor in the hassle, probably not worth it.]
+ 'Not grounded' red light (must be off) will warn you when there's something wrong. Belkin's warranty won't apply if the light was on when your devices got fried. I don't know if for a fact but I assume they have a way of telling if that was the case.
+ 10 ft. long chord. This is very important to me and it was one of the criteria that had to be met when I ordered this item.
+ 90 degree plug allows you to easily plug it into a busy 4-plugs wall outlet.
+ Clip for cable management. I find it useful.
+ Thin (one inch) and flat shape. Stands well on a table or on the floor.
+ Telephone and coax cable pass through for surge protection. I don't use these but I'm surprised that something this inexpensive has them.

[NOTE: The 'phone' jacks are RJ-11 (phone), not RJ-45 (Ethernet). I heard of installations where RJ-11 connectors are used for Ethernet but that is not the norm.]

Negatives:

- Other than encouraging the unrealistic expectation that Belkin would pay you big $$$ on connected equipment warranty, I can't think of anything bad.

Warranty
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On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is a worthless warranty and 10 is one that's unbelievably generous, Belkin's should be somewhere around 2 or 3 - 95% of all warranties on devices this cheap are likely to be a 1.

They do promise to replace the item if it sacrifices itself while protecting your devices for as long as you can prove that you didn't do anything stupid, you have a purchase receipt and you ship the damaged item to Belkin at your own expense. It's not clear if they will charge you for shipping you back a new item. This may or may not be something worth pursuing. My impression is that you are not going to save a lot of money to get a 'free' replacement from Belkin and you are likely to waste a lot of time in the process. I'd probably buy myself a new one if the one I have now stopped working but it's good to know that they do have a 'lifetime' warranty. By 'lifetime' they mean the natural life of the product but 'natural life' is not precisely defined.

As far as being reimbursed for damage to devices that this surge protector was expected to protect, my impression is that you are not likely to get much if anything unless you can afford a lawyer and you are willing to sue. You have to meet a long series of requirements that are expressed in several paragraphs of techno-legalese.


Rating
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I will have to repeat myself stating that, in my view, this is one of the better surge protectors in its class. It loses one star for the 'Ethernet' confusion. I could have and maybe I should have removed one more star from the over-hyped warranty statement printed on the box but... as sad as it is, everybody does it and Belkin's warranty is better than most so, I am awarding 4 stars on an item that inexpensively addressed real issues I had with protecting several devices clustered in a corner of my basement.

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Disclaimer:
I would call myself the opposite of a Belkin shill. After reading the news stories concerning some Belkin employees' attempts at promoting their wares at this site via employee-written reviews and other unethical practices I tended to stay away from the Belkin brand. In this instance, the price and the promised features were hard to resist and, to my surprise, I am very happy with my purchase.

Most electronic devices run at a lower voltage than the 120 volts provided at the typical wall convenience outlet. A transformer is typically used to produce the lower voltage required to run the device. Sometimes the transformer is located inside the device, other times the transformer is part of the cord assembly. These plug in "power supplies", are common for laptops. For other power supplies, the transformer is located in the male plug, resulting in larger plugs of various sizes and shapes. Belkin has designed a series of outlet strips with a larger flat footprint, to try and accommodate these odd shaped plugs, by providing two rows of receptacles, and spacing them further apart, to allow space to plug in oversized plugs. While this arrangement works very well for cords with normal sized plugs, and some smaller power supplies, it does not work that well for odd and oversized plugs.

If the rows of outlets were spaced further apart than 1.1 inches, more devices could be accommodated. Instead it is often difficult, if not impossible to plug in two oversized plugs across from each other. One good idea is that the two rows of outlets are oriented to mirror each other, which provides more versatility, and utility.

Voltage spikes can damage sensitive electronic equipment like televisions or computers, so having surge suppression protection is a good precaution. The components that provide surge suppression protection are metal oxide varistors (MOV's), which degrade as they handle voltage spikes. So the higher the initial joule rating, the longer the device may be effective at surge suppression. This strip is rated at 3240 joules, which is fairly high. Surge suppression protection is also available for coaxial and RJ-11 connected devices via connectors at the bottom edge of the strip, which hopefully works well with your particular setup.

The outlet strip appears to be well built and solid, with a 12 foot heavy duty cord. The power switch is at the upper left corner. A green LED indicates that power to the strip is turned on, and a red LED indicates that there is a problem with the grounding connection. If your ground is not secure, you are not being protected from surges. It also has a removable plastic clip for wire and cord management.

Power quality varies from place to place, so if you are in an area with "dirty" or unreliable power, using a power strip like this might be advisable. The design layout of outlets is on the right track, but is not that functional in practical use, mainly due to the many different sizes and shapes of power supply plugs, and the rows of outlets being spaced close together. Belkin backs their products with a lifetime warranty.

Great thin profile. Enough room for all plugs. Included cable management clip is helpful depending on what you are using it for. Good input for cable and coaxial cords.

I use it for my home theater system (tv, speakers, ps3, dvd) and it works fine. It is wall-mountable, which is what I did. Cable management clip is helpful when it is on the wall.

Overall great product because it has a great design and value for the price (I paid $20 when it was on sale).

Bought this for 17.60 from ShopCell.

The 8 outlet are spacious apart so I can plug various devices. There was lot of dust when I opened the package, made me feel that perhaps I got a 'used' or 'not so new' item but overall am happy with the product.

Extended cord is a plus. However, I had bought thinking I could use the Phone/Coaxial slot for protection but haven't so far.

Am not sure about the warranty nor the claims made by the manufacturer but Belkin is a recognized name and I feel comfortable purchasing this.

Update: 08/09/2010 -----------------------

Ordered another one for $12.99 from Amazon but looks like Belkin has downgraded the product.
The older one had a clamping voltage of 330V but the newer one is L-N 400V, L-G and N-G 500V.
Downgrading to 3 stars ***

With a surge protector, one never knows how well it works until it is tested. The decision which to get is based on factors of cost, value of equipment, and features of the protector. My decision for this Belkin Surge Protector (BE108230-12) was based on these factors. It probably is not the best unit on the market, but I would say it is in the upper class. The unit was small in physical size and large in features. It was easy to set up. Hopefully, it will never be tested, but if it is, the features appear to be sufficient to protect my equipment.

For my computer desk, I need a surge protector that will give me a central place up high that will fit a wide variety of plugs. Most strips either do not have the cord length or have sockets that get covered up by odd sized wall warts. This power strip fits my needs perfectly. It has plenty of room for the various sizes of plug that are inevitable when you have a large number of different devices hooked up in one central area.

It works!..I had a power surge on..04/08/2011..and it work great!..Glad i put this in..Been useing this for months now...This unit may not stop everything...like a hit from God!..but it work really good the other day when my power blink off and on. It trip..looked in the back and saw the red LED on..turn the switch back on and everything was cool!..

It's a surge protector, it does what it is supposed to. HOWEVER, I needed a long cord and this one is fantastic in that regard. Extra long 12 foot cord is a godsend. For $13 on black friday this was a fantastic deal. If you don't need the cord length, it may get in your way so be sure that's why you are buying this one....

Perfect!

Nice long cord.
The type of plug that doesn't stick out from the wall and get in the way.
4 spots for "power bricks"
Grounding indicator light.

I could want nothing more from a surge protector. May buy more.
The only possible disadvantage is the size.

This device appears to work great. Can't comment on the surge protection part and hope to never have to. The 90 degree wall plug is great. One of the best features of this unit. For your electronics, I advise to go with a reputable company. This company has earned a name for itself and you can't go wrong with purchases from this company. The spacing of the plugs are good and will accommodate many different styles of plugs for your equipment. Highly recommend. Of course, No direct lighting strike (surge) will be stopped by this unit or any unit on the market, but for normal power surges, I believe this unit is up to the task.