Customer Reviews

Monster Cable HT700 PowerCenter 8-Outlet Surge Protect

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

A lot of the negative reviews have come from people that connected devices, which never should have been connected. I have had this item for about 3 or 4 years now, and it just broke because I was an idiot and plugged in two space heaters before checking the energy max of the surge protector. This unit is designed with AV equipment in mind, so naturally when it sensed a surge from high capacity units, such as space heaters,it did what it was supposed to: sacrificed itself to prevent the power surge from destroying my flat screen, dvr box, and other AV equipment. The high pitched ring it gives is a warning sign to notify you that it has self destructed to prevent the surge from reaching everything else connected to the protector.

I immediately placed an order for another one (the newer model) and remembered an important lesson: Never assume, and always read the instructions.

He HT700 is not your $7 power bar from Walmart, it's a power conditioner intended to filter out fluctuations and feedback on the line from things like a blender in the kitchen, or a power saw, to provide you with a clear picture. It is also a surge protector, hence it has a set load 1665 Joules or about 1600watts (1 Joule for 1 Second = 1 Watt). A typical 50 inch plasma tv draws around 400 watts alone, and a typical $25 space heater would draw around 1000 watts on low, 1500watts on high. Through in a couple peripherals like a DVD player, even a Lamp, and you're pushing the limit of this device. This is like towing a boat behind your Hyundai Accent, it might do it, but it won't for long.

My advice, plug your space heater into the wall.

After reading 3 1-star reviews, I decided to put in my 2 cents. I have had this surge protector for almost a year, and have not had ONE problem. I live in a townhouse, and when power goes out here...it goes out! I have had lightning storms, blown transformers, and many other outages. This product protected my Sony TV, Sony receiver, Panasonic Blu-Ray player and my 360 with no problem. I did get the HTS 1000 as a gift for Christmas, so I will be upgrading...but I have no problem doing that with another Monster product. It's not that I don't believe the other reviewers...it's just that I feel that the good products need to be balanced out from the 1-star reviews they are given. This is a great product that not only protected my electronics, but I believe it even cleaned up my cable line a bit as well!!!

My surge also seemed to have tripped. I was able to get it working again, but it tripped 3 more times. I gave Monster a call and to my surprise, they mentioned they have a life time warranty on this surge. I saved some money by calling Monster but overall if you want a better surge, you may want to research some other models as others have had similar issues as me. I figure a surge should last longer than 1.5 years. But for the folks that are having trouble, contact Monster if you want a replacement.

I just HAD to leave a review on this item. The Monster Cable surge protectors do their job wonderfully. As I read the poor reviews above, I couldn't help smiling and shaking my head. The person with the first post had an electric heater and other sensitive devices plugged into the same power bar. Electric space heaters are notorious for killing power/surge bars. I would never put anything valuable on the same power strip as a space heater...if I plugged anything else at all with it. Before you plug one into any bar, you should check the voltage and amperage output of the heater and how many watts it pulls, and then make sure the power strip/bar is rated for it.....but you should NEVER EVER EVER put sensitive equipment like tv's, computers, gaming systems, home theatre systems, etc. on the same bar as something like a space heater. Assuming there isn't a problem with your home wiring, I would bet anything that the space heater is what caused the problem. People need to also understand that different power bars are made for different loads...and this particular one is made specifically for home theater protection v/s high surge's/spikes, so plugging the space heater into the same bar is making it work overtime from the heater itself, as well as anything coming in from the pole. I just hate to see this device take the rap for a mistake made by the consumer/consumers. Monster Cable has a tremendous reputation in the music business and if it's good enough for equipment that costs a whole lot more than the average family entertainment and home theater packages...not to mention anything else a person might wish to protect in their home. In fact, the lady who had the space heater plugged in showed that the monster did its job. I personally would rather just plug it into the outlet and let the fuse or circuit breaker do the job.....it would be a much cheaper way to protect your home from the psycho surge from the heater, but if you want to double protect it and don't have a ton of money to throw away on a thirty dollar surge bar, you can buy a 2 outlet protector for a whole lot less, and that will keep you from the temptation of plugging a bunch more items into it :O)...oh yeah....and please please please read the usage suggestions on the packaging. Buy the HT for your high tech stuff and the AV for your space heater and other non-sensitive electrical items in your home, and you will be a much happier and safer home owner :O)

These Monster Cable surge protectors are well made, well laid out, the color coding is both helpful and thoughtful and the coaxial protection is a nice additional touch. I've bought different model's from Monster and I'll do so again in the future. In fact, I'm buying 2 right now, and noticed the remarks and just had to add my 2 cents worth :O) I hope I didn't sound hyper critical of the person with the space heater. I wrote this out of fear for your safety more than anything....and I guarantee that you are not even close to the only person who has done this exact thing or something very similar, so it's very possible that you bringing it up might save countless people from having the same outcome....or God forbid....something worse! So....give Monster another try (an AV model with only 2 outlets for your heater :O) ....and if you have a nice home theatre system or just several high dollar pieces of equipment that aren't easily replaceable (tv/vcr/computer/gaming system/etc....grab the HT for those types of items and barring a case of serious bad luck, I'm sure you will be very satisfied with this product :O) Best of luck with whatever you chose!!

The salesperson at a big electronics store tried getting me to buy this for close to $100. After looking all over the internet, I found the lowest price here. Many more outlets than a regular power strip with the protection that only Monster can offer.

I had this device for about 4 years, back when they cost $90, and never had an issue with it. Until, and it seems like everyone else who has had a problem, i plugged in a space heater. After that, the outlet stopped working and it made a high pitch noise and wouldn't reset or anything. However, no one has mentioned calling the Monster Cable Custermer Service, because after this happened i called them and explained that it doesn't work anymore and they are replaceing it for me, i just have to pay to ship it over there. So if you use this device correctly and just plug in home theater type electronice then there should never be a problem and if there is trying calling the customer service, they were very nice and are replacing it for me, so it is totally worth it.

Couldn't at first believe it was the PowerCenter that blew. I thought for sure a breaker had blown but the lights in the room were still on :)
Not even 2.5 years old and just crapped out. I've had a 6 port that I've been using from Magnavox on my computer equipment for better than 8 years and it's still going strong. And I'm sure I didn't even pay half of what I did for this Monster one. Spend your money elsewhere.
At the time the load on the PowerCenter was an xbox 360, LCD TV and a receiver (using only headphones). I've had all that and a PS3 and full surround going and it hadn't crapped out before.

Like some of the others mine also died shortly after 1 year. The Brand has a very good reputation and the salesperson spoke very highly of the product so I spent the extra money. The other day it stopped working and this morning I called the Monster Cable corporation and they were very polite and said I could return the product for replacement.

Hopefully, I will have better luck with the replacement.

I've owned a lot of power strips in my day, and I've never had one just die like this. This particular model must be a real lemon as I see many other reviewers had the same problem.

Mine died less than 2 years old on a day with no storms, no changes to normal setup, etc. All that's plugged into it is some AV equipment (a Plasma TV, a TiVo, a Receiver, a cable box, and a couple of little accessories).

Save yourself some misery and buy a different unit.