I’ve been testing a surging-protecting power strip called the Smart Strip by BITS. The Smart Strip works like this: it has a “Control Outlet†which controls six other outlets on the power strip. If you plug a computer into the Control Outlet, and it turns off or goes into sleep mode, the other “switched†outlets on the strip will be turned off.
I’ve been testing a surging-protecting power strip called the Smart Strip by BITS. The Smart Strip works like this: it has a “Control Outlet†which controls six other outlets on the power strip. If you plug a computer into the Control Outlet, and it turns off or goes into sleep mode, the other “switched†outlets on the strip will be turned off. There are also three other outlets that are “always onâ€. Most people use this power strip to turn off all their computer peripherals, or to shut down their home theater system, when they turn off their television.
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If you use a notebook computer with an external monitor (as I do) you’ll have to set things up a bit differently, because laptops don’t cause a large enough power dip for the power strip to detect. To solve this problem, you can use your monitor as the Control Outlet (see more details here).
Smart Strips are available from Amazon.
