Smart Strip SCG4 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology and Fax/Modem Surge Protection

I needed this thing to work. I really did. But no matter what kind of micro-adjustment I make to the sensitivity, it either does not power things up, or does not power things down. The 'master' is a run of the mill Dell desktop - and the product documentation specifies that this works with computers. I may understand if I plugged in an alarm clock or something as the master, but no - was playing by the book and got burned. The thing is no more useful than a regular power strip. Sounds like some people got this to work - good for them - but if you are the type of person that likes to be assured of purchasing quality goods, pass on this puppy.

I bought this product after reading a review in a magazine and was drawn to it for the "green" and money-saving claims. I thought it could be an upgrade to my very, very old surge protector (from the late-80s!) for my "home theater" system (just a TV, DVD player and cable box).

The instructions say that the TV should be plugged into the "control" socket so that "everything" turns off when the TV is off, assuming that you're using all the products together. However, my reality is that the the cable box took too long to boot up after the power was completely turned off, and my DVD player is part of a sound bar that I also use for my iPod and radio.

So in the end, I'm using this surge protector much like any ordinary one because my products need to be treated independently. Hopefully, I'm still saving some money since this product has more advanced technology than my old surge protector, but I'm definitely not helping the environment as much I as had hoped with being able to turn the power off to multiple electronics as needed.

Doesn't work.
It's not sensitive enough to work with a low wattage tuner that draws about 15 watts when on and 2 watts when off. Can be set to turn on the controlled outlets, but will not turn them off. If sensitivity is adjusted to turn them off, it will not turn them back on.

I had high hopes for this product to use with my TV, cable, VHS and DVD. Per the company's recommendation, the cable should be left hot to maintain settings and turning the TV on would control everything else. The first SCG4 product arced and left a burn spot. The company would not send me a new one until I returned the damaged one. Given a difficult "built-in" setup, I have to hire someone each time I need to install/dismantle the surge strip so I gave them my credit card to send another one so I could do the dismantle and reinstall in one service call and left everything off until it arrived. (One month later, I have confirmation that they recieved the original burnt unit but they still hold my credit card until they "have time" to look the unit over and see the burn mark for themselves.) The second unit also arced and the TV service tech helping me advised that the unit be disconnected entirely. I just went to get a new surge strip (with more joules) and will need to hire the tech again to install it. With what I have gone through so far, I will just eat the cost as a learning experience .

Using a Kill-A-Watt, I calculated I am saving about 35 watts of electricty on my home theater. Will pay for itself in 1-2 years. Before you buy, you should know this will only save energy for devices turned off. Also, it works by using a master device that when turned on allows the other devices to turn on. So, in my setup my master device is my television, when I turn it on, it lets me turn on my cable box, dvd player, etc. However, the master device will still draw power and the television turned off still draws about 20 watts. Still, you are saving energy on all the other devices. Great for home theater setups.