Cheap Smart Strip. Any good ?

[Nataq]

Anyone have tried this one ?

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=13128

I know Sears is selling a cheap one to but I cant order from Canada. Im thinking about ordering this one. I never heard of it before...

Thanks

[Green Giant]

Never heard of it but it looks good enough.  The logic to get those things working is probably 25 cents worth of parts so 10 sounds fair.  Worst comes to worst and your extra stuff won't power on or off with computer power on or off.  You won't have to worry about it sending 120V up the ground line or anything like that.

[MrMojoZ]

I ordered one so guess I will see how they work. 

[Havok]

Make sure to type up a review and post it!

 

[Nataq]

They called me back with the shipping quote and it ended up costing too much for me (ship to canada). Its amazing that we dont have anything like this in Canada. I try every computer or electronic stores I know of and finally found the mini power minder at tigerdirect.ca. Price is bigger but at the end it cost me less because of shipping. Its just a shame theres no store selling a device like this in my town...

[superbigjay]

They called me back with the shipping quote and it ended up costing too much for me (ship to canada). Its amazing that we dont have anything like this in Canada. I try every computer or electronic stores I know of and finally found the mini power minder at tigerdirect.ca. Price is bigger but at the end it cost me less because of shipping. Its just a shame theres no store selling a device like this in my town...

How much was it to ship to Canada?

BTW, where do you live?  I'll probably order one and make it ship to NY (my business address)
If you live near Montreal, maybe I can order 1 for you that you could pickup?

Jay 

[BORIStheBLADE]

um... How does that one work? Mine is usb controlled and I dont see anything other than the cord on this one.

[Green Giant]

um... How does that one work? Mine is usb controlled and I dont see anything other than the cord on this one.

These are pretty simple.  There is a relay hooked up to the four extra ports on it.  When the computer draws power it trips the relay and sends power to the four extra ports.  When the computer is off the relay closes until next time.

[Joystick Jerk]

This is something I posted in another thread. It's still running great!


I just purchased the PAM-102 Powerminder from Jay Kang. It's manufactured by Hobbes USA, and so far it looks to do everything the Smart Strip does, but at a MUCH cheaper price. You can probably find it at a lot of online shops, but Jay Kang was the cheapest at $24.95 that was in stock. The product I recieved was also in a rebranded box called "DataGuard Smart", so search around for that one too to find the same product.

Initial testing proves it works great. There's not much to say since it just turns stuff off and on based on the monitored outlet, but it does that perfectly so far. To hell with you Bits Ltd. and your overpriced product!

[patrickl]

I have a cheap (25 euro) master slave surge protector from Sweex. Works fine too.

[Nataq]

Hey thanks SuperBigJay! I was thinking about asking someone to ship it to me but tought it was asking too much. I already ordered the mini power minder tough. I appreciate the offer very much! There's definitly some nice people here 

[heretic]

Sears Canada will get you their Craftsman Auto Switch but it is $33 Can. To buy the exact same thing in the US at Sears is $20.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00924031000P?vName=Tools&keyword=00924031000&sLevel=0

[MrMojoZ]

Okay give me some insight here. The strip turns the slave ports on when the PC is plugged into the master port. Notice the PC does not have to be on for the slave ports to be activated. If I set the switch on the powersupply to off, the slave ports are turned off. Is this working right? I was wanting it to shutdown the slave ports when the PC was shutdown and thats not how it seems to work. Any ideas?

Next I'll try a standalone AT powersupply. I was already considering adding one to power leds etc. Might work well having it in the master port and setting the PC to turn on when it sees power.