Customer Reviews

Belkin PureAV® PF30 Home Theater Power Console

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This unit has done all that I wanted to protect my home theater system. I have my 60" plasma, receiver, PS3, and cable box hooked up to it. I've had it over a year and it has tripped to protect my equipment a few times during thunder storms. I feel more secure having this item and I'm glad I bought it.

The manual is straight forward and it is easy to hook up and has both switched and unswitched power feeds.

I rated it down to 4 stars for one small but irritating feature. It has a bright blue power light that is very distracting when the lights are down low for movie viewing at night. I debated on even mentioning this but it is distracting and I wish the light was softer.

After I removed this product from its package I was highly disappointed by what I saw. Amazon.com's product information for this device falsely claims "2 Pairs Of Gold Coaxial Connections For Coaxial Cable Line Protection ; 2-Line Telephone/Pay-Per-View Protection With Splitter ; Network Protection For Media Streamer Support." None of these features are present on this product. This product actually only has one pair of gold coaxial connections, not two. It does NOT have telephone line or network protection!

Belkin has actually sold different models under the same "PF30" product name. I downloaded the manual for PF30 model AP20800-10 from the Belkin website, which I thought was the manual for this product. I didn't know there were different models of the PF30 other than having different colors. Amazon lists this model as AP20800FC10, but the model I received was actually numbered AP20800FC08.

The AP20800-10 manual from the Belkin website showed RJ-11 connections, RJ-45 connections, and two pairs of coaxial connections, thus matching Amazon.com's description for this product. However, if you look at the diagram of the back of this product at the top of the product page, you will see that there are no RJ-11 or RJ-45 jacks, and only one pair of coaxial connectors.

Amazon.com also lists the incorrect dimensions. The actual dimensions are 17" width x 8.25" depth x 2" height. Before I placed my order I could tell Amazon had the dimensions wrong from the photo.

For use as a surge protector, the three important criteria to look at are clamping level, joules rating, and response time. Unfortunately the Belkin manuals and website don't give technical specs, which is a red flag. The clamping voltages (written on the PF30 itself) for this device are: Line-Neutral 330V, Line-Ground 500V, Neutral-Ground 400V. By comparison, the much cheaper APC Personal Surge Arrest Protector with Telephone has clamping voltages of L-N 330V, L-G 330V, N-G 330V. Lower is better. The Panamax M4300-PM 9-Outlet Home Theater Power Conditioner also seems to have clamping voltages of L-N 330V, L-G 330V, N-G 330V based on my reading of the online user manual.

I never thought that when I bought an HDTV that I would have power problems. I did. Rolling lines.

The Belkin Pure AV Console fixes that problem. It has very clean lines and plenty of plugs in the back for all your devices. They also include labels for all of your cables (and extras if you mess up).

The console style power center is definately the way to go if you have the room. No more power strips behind the stand.

Cheers!

I bought this power conditioner/surge protector after I had been told it would improve my HDTV's video quality and increase its life. While I can't say it improves video quality in a noticeable way, I can say that it significantly reduced the amount of feedback I got from my guitar amplifier when I plugged it in to the device to see if it really did what it said. My amp went from a buzzy, sub-par piece of equipment to a nearly silent amplifier. I was amazed. I also liked how many devices could be plugged into the console because it allowed me to save space (very important in a dorm room setting) while allowing me to power my various electronic devices. Admittedly, I don't use it for a home theatre system (because I don't have one) but it works fine for everything else. As I said earlier, it does clean the power that goes to your precious electronics. As to whether or not that will improve their performance, I can't really say. What I can say is that I would recommend this to anyone in need of a power conditioner and surge protector and who wishes to save space. One important note is that the device is fairly heavy, so it should sit on a well supported surface in order to avoid damaging it.

So you have your HDTV, Blu-Ray and receiver all set up, maybe some other components as well, and a cable box. Probably a couple of grands worth of equipment, all connected to a basic surge protector, or even daisy chained to the wall outlet on multiple adapters??

Why people can't spend a few bucks on protecting their Home Theater equipment escapes me, but this is definitely the way to go.

A sleek looking, heavy but sturdy piece of equipment that is functional and stylish, plain and simple.
But more than that, it says "Offers Multi-Phase PureFilterTM Circuitry to provide the highest level of AC line-noise filtering and clean and clear power" sounds technical but it does just that. I thought my set up was pretty good before I had this, now the sound especially is crisp and clear, no buzzing or interference, no occasional picture flicker with power spikes, and best of all, everything protected up to $300,000 worth of damage.
There is of course a disclaimer, this is not "fireproof" if you have a severe electrical thunder storm, unplug it, that's always the safest way to go.

A couple of things about the unit surprised me also.

I originally thought that after plugging in my components, they would not work until the unit was switched "on" - not so, The first 4 inputs VCR, DVD, CABLE/SAT, and TV work like a pass through surge protector, so units plugged in here remain in "standby" mode even when the unit is powered "off".
The last four, TAPE, CD, RECEIVER and the last input labelled AMP DELAY are not. If your unit is powered off (top green light on front not lit) whatever is plugged in to these sockets is also off. There's a good reason for this, it saves power and usually audio components don't need to be in standby all the time for clock settings etc.
The "Amp delay" socket is designed for heavy duty equipment like big A/V receivers, which the unit ensures turn on last, and off first, preventing that "thump" from your speakers or sub woofer.

The back of the unit has 8 outlets. 4 for A/V equipment like BDP or DVD players, VCR's etc, 3 for other components, and 1 for the aforementioned Amp delay.
You don't have to plug what they say into each respective outlet, but the first 4 specifically are designed to eliminate hiss, and voltage spikes for good picture and sound quality, so best to stick to DVD players and such like for these. It also has a grounding outlet for underground units, and an input and output for coax to TV, or cable box to prevent electrical surges.

I have the following connected, in order from left to right (when viewing from behind) Blu-Ray Player, HD DVD, TV, Sony Turntable - (pass through) these units stay in standby mode as long as unit is connected to wall outlet.
CD Changer, Tape deck, Powered Sub-Woofer, A/V receiver (Amp Delay)- these units are OFF when power is set to OFF.

Power, performance, video and sound so far have been flawless.

Three points to remember:

As another reviewer mentioned the power lights on the front ( 3 green, one blue) are always on, cannot be dimmed, and may be a distraction in a dark room when watching a movie for example. Mine is inside a cabinet behind a glass door, so this is not an issue for me personally.

Secondly, all the outlets are side by side, that means that transformer style plugs will not fit, or will block adjacent outlets when used. My new cable box has one such power cable, so I had to plug that in separately with an additional "in wall" surge protector, no big deal really, the coax cable to the cable box is still routed through the main unit, so I have kind of double protection on the cable box.

Thirdly, this is manual on/off - I originally configured my harmony remote to turn the unit on with each activity, which of course it did not, as the unit has no remote control capability.

I'm not saying that other surge protectors are worthless, anything is better than plugging straight into the wall outlet, but when you consider that some high end trailing style surge protectors can cost over $50, this is worth it for aesthetic value, as well as clearing up trailing wires. it also gives you that extra layer of AV filtering for better sound and visual reproduction.

A small investment really, for looks, style, performance and protection. 5 stars

Product is pretty much as described. Fast shipping and great price. Worth protecting your low to midrange theater components with this unit. I'm probably going to buy 2 more for my bedroom and bonus room electronics. By the way, the power light is not bad compared to my Furman unit.

This is a nicely designed surge protector that offers light protection for all your home theater components. It has enough outlets for the common home theater applications. Doesn't offer as much protection as some of the larger units (PF-40), but is in a very compact case that doesn't take up a lot of room. Makes no noise as well which is an advantage. Decided on this unit over the PF-31 or PF-40 because of 1) Space in my cabinet and 2) Price.

Do not buy this product thinking you will get "Pf30 Silver Series with 2 Pairs Of Gold Coaxial Connections For Coaxial Cable Line Protection ; 2-Line Telephone/Pay-Per-View Protection With Splitter ; Network Protection For Media Streamer Support" This is only available on model number Ap20800fc10. If you buy this Amazon will send you model number AP20800fc08. It does not matter who the seller is because all the orders are filled by Amazon. Just make sure to buy the cheapest one because they are all AP20800fc08 no matter who the seller is.

I bought this product based on the above description and got burned. Otherwise a very good product from Belkin. I will be returning it simply because I overpaid and the description was misleading.

Only one star because the ad is misleading. i give the product 4 stars.

Making use of all the plug-ins except one.The unit stays cool to the touch while in use.A Power filter is a must for me;for two reasons>unwanted noise and surge protection-ecspecially in the region in which I live.Belkin PureAV® PF30 Home Theater Power Console,seems flawless in design and function.No unwanted noise at any volume.

This surge protector/line conditioner was a great purchase. It's solidly built and seems to be doing its job well. The only downside is the bright, blue light that can be a bit distracting.