Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

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Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #50 – 2006-11-09 10:45:41

Yes, I know what Gigapod is talking about. A friend of mine lost his computer and everthing on his hard drive once when, during a storm, the power went out and came back on a couple of seconds later.

Oh, but I guess I should mention that the computer was on when it happened, and I think he had it plugged straight into the wall, but I am not sure.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #51 – 2006-11-09 19:58:07

Quote from: cabbagerat on 2006-11-09 06:36:47

Quote from: Mike Giacomelli on 2006-11-08 19:57:20

^^ Thats less of an issue in 120v countries since almost all supplies are dual 120/240 anyway, and you're unlikely to spike to 300+ v without a lightening strike. I don't know how it works in 240v countries though.
I disagree. A lot of transients peak up to 4kV - the extra 120V won't really make a difference. Granted, these transients generally are very short and hence contain very little energy, so they don't often cause damage.

That extra 120v represents a 100% increase in maximum rated voltage, so yes its going to make a difference in how higher voltages are handled. Arbitraily high spikes are possible, but if they're not sustained, they're not going to make it through the inductors and caps on a supply anyway.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #52 – 2006-11-09 21:47:42

Quote from: TrueAudio on 2006-10-22 07:28:07

1) How can a power amplifier sound better when it measures thousands of times higher in total harmonic distortion and/or intermodular distortion in comparison to other amplifiers?

2) How can cryogenically treating a conductor improve its sound quality?

3) How can a piece of vacuum tube gear sound better or worse depending on the brand and vintage of vacuum tubes that you use with the device? When all a vacuum tube is is metal, glass, and a partial vacuum?

4) How can custom made interconnects (RCA jacks/cables) sound better than the ones from Radio Shack or the ones that came with your gear?

If you believe that none of these things are in fact quantifiable, legitimate and true examples that actually can be proven by double blind tests, then you sir, can "keep on walking". While your keeping on walking, I'll be enjoying listening to my music the same before you ever came around, and you can keep living in a world where "If I didn't learn it in class, and if it's not measureable, then it either doesn't exist, is impossible, or is too insignificant or immaterial to warrant my attention". Because thats the reality with most "scientific types", and that's no skin off my back, nor anyone of the other tens of thousands of people that would challenge your almighty degree clouded by narrow judgement at:

http://www.audioasylum.com/index.html

If you want to "waste money" buy the deluxe model of this: Better yet, audition it for free first in Pasadena, CA or at the next Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.
http://www.vrsaudiosystems.com/

Audible difference in cases #1 and #3 are certainly in the realm of likely, for resaons that aren't at all esoteric or controversial --'better' will always a subjective call, though.

Audible difference #2 and #4 will require DBTs to verify, as they lack substantial physical or theoretical bases. (I'm assuming we're talking about noncoroded cables/jacks of comparable length and gauge that aim for 'transparency', and thus aren't deliberately acting as crude equalizers). Can you point results of such positive DBTs?

AudioAsylum is *laughable* as a reference. The handful of scientifically-minded and deeply knowledgable posters there (such as the aformentioned J. Johnson aka 'jj') is far outnumbered by 'true believers', the ignorant, and pseudoscientists. Places like AudioAsylum are one reason why places like hydrogenaudio exist. From a scientific POV doesn't matter if a thousand Robert Harleys think that the 'directional chevron crystal structure' of copper may result in audible difference between cables, any more than it matters whether a million people believe in astrology. The history of mankind is littered with mass belief in phenomena that have no scientific basis.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #53 – 2006-11-10 11:24:04

Quote from: Mike Giacomelli on 2006-11-08 19:57:20

^^ Thats less of an issue in 120v countries since almost all supplies are dual 120/240 anyway, and you're unlikely to spike to 300+ v without a lightening strike. I don't know how it works in 240v countries though.

Many (not all, though) power supplies for computer equipment are "wide-range" switching PSUs, meaning they'll accept anything from 100 to 240V, 50~60Hz on input. If you examine them closely, you'll find that capacitors are specified for 300V or more; similarly for diodes and other components in the "hot" part of the circuit.

A/V equipment PSUs are (usually) linear PSUs, which may or may not have a switch for 120/240V (or more options). This usually involves various taps in the main transformer's primary winding.

It is often the case that after a power failure, when line power returns it may take a few cycles to stabilize to normal values. By how much it overshoots, for how long, what inductors/capacitors one has in the circuit, and how the power supply will stand these voltage spikes and how many times, are all a matter of chance.

Lightning strikes are a different problem, see the various posts in this thread.

For my personal computer and A/V equipment at home, I just switch off the power strips after a power failure or during a lightning storm. For the 24/7 servers at work, I have specified heavy-duty UPSs, costing > USD 1500 each. Different requirements, different solutions.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #54 – 2006-12-10 22:46:45

What do you guys think of the PureAV Pf60? can it eliminate the noise coming from a set of speakers at maximum volume without an input audio signal?

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #55 – 2006-12-13 23:00:13

Quote from: lag0a on 2006-12-10 22:46:45

What do you guys think of the PureAV Pf60? can it eliminate the noise coming from a set of speakers at maximum volume without an input audio signal?

No, because this noise is coming from the amplifier, not the wall. Even if you gave it 100% perfect AC input, it would still be there, because the amp circuits have internal noise. That's what you're hearing when you turn the volume to max.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #56 – 2006-12-16 22:40:53

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-11-10 11:24:04

For my personal computer and A/V equipment at home, I just switch off the power strips after a power failure or during a lightning storm.

A nearby lightning strike will arc across the small switch in your power strip. Especially since the switch (if properly wired) is only switching hot. The 1/4" gap between the hot wire and your still grounded load is an easy and tasty junction for high voltage to jump. Turning it off offers little to no protection. Unplugging the device is the only sure way to get a large enough gap.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #57 – 2006-12-17 00:18:06

So what would you guys recommend for a home theater setup (50" TV, amp, sub, dvd, satellite box) I don't think I'll waste money on UPS, since it'll have to be huge (and hugely expensive) to supply power to all that (esp amp+sub). I was thinking something like this, just to have a breaker for a particularly large surge, but I don't know if it'll be of use in case of power fluctuations (not constant, I'm talking small spikes or drops once in quite a while)

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #58 – 2006-12-17 00:31:17

Quote from: Soap on 2006-12-16 22:40:53

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-11-10 11:24:04

For my personal computer and A/V equipment at home, I just switch off the power strips after a power failure or during a lightning storm.

A nearby lightning strike will arc across the small switch in your power strip.
...
Unplugging the device is the only sure way to get a large enough gap.

I agree. That's why I wrote, just before the phrase you quote:

Quote

Lightning strikes are a different problem, see the various posts in this thread.

Quote from: lexor on 2006-12-17 00:18:06

...
I was thinking something like this, just to have a breaker for a particularly large surge, but I don't know if it'll be of use in case of power fluctuations (not constant, I'm talking small spikes or drops once in quite a while)

That'll do fine. Small occasional spikes are not really a problem. Short drops (shorter than 1 or 2 cycles) are usually not a problem either for audio equipment.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #59 – 2006-12-17 00:37:14

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-12-17 00:31:17

That'll do fine. Small occasional spikes are not really a problem. Short drops (shorter than 1 or 2 cycles) are usually not a problem either for audio equipment.

would it be of any use in case of power outages (we have those a few times a year for almost every big rain storm during summer especially). Probably a UPS would be better to actually allow me to properly shut it down, but as I said UPS is impractical for me. Everything I have is plugged straight into the wall right now, but a friend of mine (a few houses away) had his computer not go back up after an outage (pretty sure not a surge, but maybe it was a surge right before outage), and I don't want that to eventually happen to me too (actually comp is OK, it's my pricey home theater that I'm worried about).

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #60 – 2006-12-17 01:06:34

Quote from: lexor on 2006-12-17 00:37:14

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-12-17 00:31:17

That'll do fine. Small occasional spikes are not really a problem. Short drops (shorter than 1 or 2 cycles) are usually not a problem either for audio equipment.

would it be of any use in case of power outages (we have those a few times a year for almost every big rain storm during summer especially).
...

No, it won't be of much use in case of power outages. I would still recommed switching off your audio and computer equipment at home during a power outage.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #61 – 2006-12-17 01:36:04

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-12-17 01:06:34

No, it won't be of much use in case of power outages. I would still recommed switching off your audio and computer equipment at home during a power outage.

well I do that... when I realize what's happening but the at least twice last summer it happened while I was submersed in a game (damn you WoW!) and I didn't realize there was a rainstorm... then puff, no power.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #62 – 2006-12-17 01:41:05

Quote from: lexor on 2006-12-17 01:36:04

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-12-17 01:06:34

No, it won't be of much use in case of power outages. I would still recommed switching off your audio and computer equipment at home during a power outage.

well I do that... when I realize what's happening but the at least twice last summer it happened while I was submersed in a game (damn you WoW!) and I didn't realize there was a rainstorm... then puff, no power.

No problem! The thing is to switch off the equipement *while* the power outage is on-going, *before* power returns. See my posts above for details.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #63 – 2006-12-17 04:53:15

I recently had a direct lighting strike hit a tree 40 feet from my couch. I was home at the time, and on the phone (bad idea). I had several pieces of expensive audio/video/networking equipment get fried. ALL of it was plugged into APC power strips, and some were plugged into an APC UPS unit.

In some equipment, the surge blew out the power supply section. In most, it entered via the CAT5 networking interface, and fried the network ports. I had many long runs of unshielded CAT5 cable, which apparently, absorbed a lot of energy, a delivered it very efficiently to my Slimserver Squeezebox (which they repaired at no cost), my Netgear wireless router, a Netgear switch, and more than one PCI network card.

The moral of the story is that power conditioning alone will not protect your equipment. At least, not in the typical home.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #64 – 2006-12-17 05:00:13

Quote from: lexor on 2006-12-17 00:18:06

So what would you guys recommend for a home theater setup (50" TV, amp, sub, dvd, satellite box) I don't think I'll waste money on UPS, since it'll have to be huge (and hugely expensive) to supply power to all that (esp amp+sub). I was thinking something like this, just to have a breaker for a particularly large surge, but I don't know if it'll be of use in case of power fluctuations (not constant, I'm talking small spikes or drops once in quite a while)

What about a small, cheapish UPS for the dvd, satellite box and TV (which have fairly sensitive power supplies) and leave the amps plugged into the wall, maybe with an affordable MOV based surge protector? This won't give you 100% protection, but will be much better than what you have now.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #65 – 2006-12-17 10:25:02

Quote from: indybrett on 2006-12-17 04:53:15

I recently had a direct lighting strike hit a tree 40 feet from my couch. I was home at the time, and on the phone (bad idea). I had several pieces of expensive audio/video/networking equipment get fried. ALL of it was plugged into APC power strips, and some were plugged into an APC UPS unit.

In some equipment, the surge blew out the power supply section. In most, it entered via the CAT5 networking interface, and fried the network ports. I had many long runs of unshielded CAT5 cable, which apparently, absorbed a lot of energy, a delivered it very efficiently to my Slimserver Squeezebox (which they repaired at no cost), my Netgear wireless router, a Netgear switch, and more than one PCI network card.

The moral of the story is that power conditioning alone will not protect your equipment. At least, not in the typical home.

No, that's not the moral of the story at all. You are generalizing from your unique experience of a direct lightning strike.

If you want to generalize, you could say that home-use power strips and UPS units are not sufficient protection against a direct lightning strike - something no honest manufacturer will tout them to be, anyway.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #66 – 2006-12-17 15:37:24

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-12-17 10:25:02

Quote from: indybrett on 2006-12-17 04:53:15

I recently had a direct lighting strike hit a tree 40 feet from my couch. I was home at the time, and on the phone (bad idea). I had several pieces of expensive audio/video/networking equipment get fried. ALL of it was plugged into APC power strips, and some were plugged into an APC UPS unit.

In some equipment, the surge blew out the power supply section. In most, it entered via the CAT5 networking interface, and fried the network ports. I had many long runs of unshielded CAT5 cable, which apparently, absorbed a lot of energy, a delivered it very efficiently to my Slimserver Squeezebox (which they repaired at no cost), my Netgear wireless router, a Netgear switch, and more than one PCI network card.

The moral of the story is that power conditioning alone will not protect your equipment. At least, not in the typical home.

No, that's not the moral of the story at all. You are generalizing from your unique experience of a direct lightning strike.

If you want to generalize, you could say that home-use power strips and UPS units are not sufficient protection against a direct lightning strike - something no honest manufacturer will tout them to be, anyway.

Direct being 40 feet OUTSIDE the house, and the fact that it was the ethernet ports that blew out. Not all that uncommon. My experience is not unique. Lighting damage can also occur via the phone line/modem entry path, and often does. As internal modems become more rare, so does that particular problem. This is not an argument or debate. It happens. I think it's important to realize that the powerline is not the only thing that needs to be protected if you are that serious about it.

Edit: Now, if this thread is not to include any discussion of protecting against lighting damage, then my post is offtopic, and I apologize.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #67 – 2006-12-17 18:39:50

Quote from: indybrett on 2006-12-17 04:53:15

I recently had a direct lighting strike hit a tree 40 feet from my couch. I was home at the time, and on the phone (bad idea). I had several pieces of expensive audio/video/networking equipment get fried. ALL of it was plugged into APC power strips, and some were plugged into an APC UPS unit.

And ALL the power strips and UPS unit were switched on, right?
Just to make sure I understand:

You were at home, on the phone.
There was a storm, with lightning.
You had all your surge protectors and UPS units plugged in the wall and switched on.
You don't have any special lightning protection.

Right...

Quote

In some equipment, the surge blew out the power supply section. In most, it entered via the CAT5 networking interface, and fried the network ports.
...

Most home-grade APC surge protectors and UPS units have a dummy ethernet and modem port, which are adequately MOV protected. If you had "fried" ethernet ports I assume your ethernet/modem cables were not plugged in the APC surge protectors and/or UPS.

Interestingly, APC offers an insurance with some models, exactly against that sort of event. However, they *will* ask you to send them your APC hardware for post-mortem analysis.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #68 – 2006-12-17 18:45:08

Quote from: Gigapod on 2006-12-17 18:39:50

Quote from: indybrett on 2006-12-17 04:53:15

I recently had a direct lighting strike hit a tree 40 feet from my couch. I was home at the time, and on the phone (bad idea). I had several pieces of expensive audio/video/networking equipment get fried. ALL of it was plugged into APC power strips, and some were plugged into an APC UPS unit.

And ALL the power strips and UPS units were switched on, right?

Quote
In some equipment, the surge blew out the power supply section. In most, it entered via the CAT5 networking interface, and fried the network ports.
...

Most home-grade APC surge protectors and UPS units have a dummy ethernet and modem port, which are adequately MOV protected. If you had "fried" ethernet ports I assume your ethernet/modem cables were not plugged in the APC units.

Interestingly, APC offers an insurance with some models, exactly against that sort of event. However, they *will* ask you to send them your APC units for analysis.

The ethernet ports were not protected. You've just made my point for me. They should be, if you're really serious about protecting your equipment.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #69 – 2006-12-23 08:55:25

This topic has wandered quite a bit, but I just wanted to point out something, for those following the ORIGINAL point.

The "Zero Surge" brand surge protectors that TrueAudio was endorsing only retail for $150-200.

So, it's about the same price as a quality surge protector from any brand. The Zero Surge literature is pretty interesting. I'm no BSEE, but it ultimately boils down to what you want to spend your $150 on: Tripp Lite, Zero Surge, APC, etc.

You can always buy your own aluminum at the local metal store and make your own fancy case...

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #70 – 2006-12-23 09:24:24

Quote from: Danger Rabbit on 2006-12-23 08:55:25

This topic has wandered quite a bit, but I just wanted to point out something, for those following the ORIGINAL point.

The "Zero Surge" brand surge protectors that TrueAudio was endorsing only retail for $150-200.

So, it's about the same price as a quality surge protector from any brand. The Zero Surge literature is pretty interesting. I'm no BSEE, but it ultimately boils down to what you want to spend your $150 on: Tripp Lite, Zero Surge, APC, etc.

You can always buy your own aluminum at the local metal store and make your own fancy case...

$150-200? No kidding?
Let me see: $20 APC surge protector + $30 Sennheiser PX-100 + $50 used Marantz Amp + $70 Yamaha NX-E800 Pianocraft bookshelves = $170 for my stereo system, complete.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #71 – 2007-04-04 22:29:24

Hi all,

First post, and like to tell you about my power conditioners ordeal.

My A/V gear is unfortunately connected in the same AC circuit of a 18,000 bTU air conditioner (A/C).

Even more unfortunately, for a number of reasons, this cannot be changed.

Whenever the damn A/C is working, either pumping heat in the Winter or cooling in the Summer, the compressor kicks in, then out, then does some other stuff and, guess what, it's all loud clicks, pops and worse of all, my TAG McLaren AV32R-DP processor gets muted, and the 55" Hitachi gets its picture distorted. The thing is so big and powerful that even lighting goes down whenever the compressor kicks.

So, I set about to find a solution:

1 - 100€ APC 1200VA Line-R voltage regulator: manages to more or less stabilise voltage (too slow, though) so that there's no muting, but all the loud clicks, pops and video artifacts flow unimpeded to my speakers and display. Scratch that;

2 - 300€ APC UPS RS1500VA line interactive topology (the one I use with our 2 PCs): manages to more or less stabilise voltage so that there's no muting, but most of the loud clicks, pops and video artifacts flow unimpeded to my speakers and display. The Hitachi buzzes. Scratch that;

3 - 1000€ APC UPS RT2000VA, online topology: no clicks, no pops, no video artifacts, no voltage sagging. Sounds good? Well, it also made: 1- my TAG 250x3R buzz loudly and in waves, 2 - Hitachi buzzing, 3 - loud pink-noise in my TAG McLaren Calliope speakers (yes you got that right, my gear is almost all TAG). Scratch and return that;

Then I figured: well, I now must try the audio gimmicks. Disclaimer: all my power cords are of the computer grade type, all my connectors are simple but professional quality Neutriks (I made all my cabling for my installation), all my audio cable was bought by the meter, although I decided to use silver double shielded Trichord Research cable, for its resistance to oxidation and ease of soldering. This all means that: I do not believe in power/cabling gimmicks to aledgedly improve sound/picture. IMHO, the only way to audio Nirvana is by using high quality gear, careful configuration and sound electrical connections.

4 - 2600€ black Purepower APS 1050. First impressions were very good, the looks matched perfectly the TAG gear, making it wife friendly and first and foremost it did away cleanly with ALL clicks, pops, video artifacts, power sags absolutely everything went away! I rejoyced! Solution found, albeit at a price. I kept the demo for the weekend only to find myself disturbed by the 1050's own noise, or so I thought. This was when I found that, added to fan noise, which I could live with, guess what, the TAG 250x3R buzzed.... man, what a disapointment.... I'm still waiting for a response from the dealer/APS, but I don't they have a solution. Most likely, scratch that....

5 - 2000€ PSAudio Powerplant Premier. I think this is the next attempt. They are due by end of April in Europe, I'll probably try one.

Other than what I did, does anyone have a suggestion, other than getting rid of the A/C???

Luis Alves

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #72 – 2007-04-05 05:56:00

@laalves: First of all, you must check the output of the line-conditioning device. Does the live-neutral AC voltage has good sinusoidal form? And when the a/c cycles, does the voltage shows spikes/sags?

If the output is well, then check the ground connection, or better still, separate the ground between the a/c and your audio equipment. Electric spikes can creep in via an equipment grounding, as its high HF content & sizable power allows it to jump from grounding plane in the equipment to a nearby parallel plane.

If the output still shows spikes/distortions, then put an AC current filter on the output side of your line-conditioning device. A passive filter should do; maybe you can buy one on electric shops, or ask a friend who's familiar with power electronics to build you a high-current notch filter.

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #73 – 2007-04-06 18:30:27

Quote from: pepoluan on 2007-04-05 05:56:00

@laalves: First of all, you must check the output of the line-conditioning device. Does the live-neutral AC voltage has good sinusoidal form? And when the a/c cycles, does the voltage shows spikes/sags?

If the output is well, then check the ground connection, or better still, separate the ground between the a/c and your audio equipment. Electric spikes can creep in via an equipment grounding, as its high HF content & sizable power allows it to jump from grounding plane in the equipment to a nearby parallel plane.

If the output still shows spikes/distortions, then put an AC current filter on the output side of your line-conditioning device. A passive filter should do; maybe you can buy one on electric shops, or ask a friend who's familiar with power electronics to build you a high-current notch filter.

Hi pepoluan,

My A/V gear is double insulated, there's no ground to any of them. No filters I've tried have worked, I tried different Schaeffner industrial models, single, double and three stage, and I have currently a RS three stage EMI filter connected to the A/C itself, but none have showed to be enough. Only the PurepowerAPS 1050 has showed itself capable of completely removing all effects of the A/C. I'm quite impressed and I think this is a very good product (to these situations not to make sound any better, it doesn't at all!), except that its harmonic filtering is not perfect and unfortunately the 3 toroids in my TAG 250x3R resonate with one harmonic. Either that or the addition of that amplifier shifts the load's phi to either capacitive or inductive and leads the Purepower to distort. I would bet more in the first option, though.

Unfortunately I don't have an oscilloscope available, but I could measure that whenever my brutish A/C kicks in, voltage goes momentarily to under 200V (from 230V), can't precise the exact value.

I have just ordered a PSAudio Powerplant Premier (with a return possibility) to see if it works for me. Most dealers I spoke with assured me the filtering in it is much better that the Purepower's.

I'll be judge of that, and post my opinion here. Unfortunately it will be available only in May.

Luís

Fancy surge protectors and power conditioners.. Gimmicks?

Reply #74 – 2007-06-30 09:57:44

Hey guys,

Sorry to dig this one up again from so long ago, but I've got some thoughts in my head recently that are related to this topic.

What got me thinking about this stuff is that I have recently been thinking about buying a $3000 workstation computer for studio recording, and I hope it will stay alive and well for a very, very long time.

I was thinking that the best thing to do to make sure it lasts would be to buy a nice UPS, but that's what got me thinking...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a UPS convert the current from AC to DC (for battery) then back to AC again and then once it gets to the desktop computer, doesn't that AC get converted back again to DC by the computer's internal PSU?

Desktop:
AC from wall plug to UPS --- UPS converts to DC for battery backup --- Converted back to AC from battery backup on the way out of the UPS --- Goes into the computer as AC and is immediately converted at the computer's internal PSU stage back to DC before the current is distriputed to the other parts

Is that correct?

If so, why are we doing things that way still if we want to protect our fancy stuff? I mean, isn't it generally a bad thing to be converting from AC to DC back and forth a couple of times over like that? Doesn’t all the conversion tend to make the power feeding the machine a little less "clean"?

Wouldn't it be a better idea if workstations worked similar to laptops with the UPS and the PSU stages basically integrated together so that there is no unnecessary conversion back and forth between AC and DC?

You see, with a laptop, all you really need is a good surge protector.. You don’t have to worry about getting a UPS for a laptop-- it can automatically handle a power outage a lot more gracefully than a desktop machine because if the laptop's built in battery.

Laptop:
AC from wall plug to surge protector where it stays AC both in and out --- AC going to the Laptop's external PSU where it is converted to DC -- stays DC as it is sent into your laptop to power your machine and charge the battery

The laptop setup seems a lot better to me as far as power goes. When the power goes out on a desktop, it could make you lose data, or worse, destroy your machine. But you don't have to worry about blackouts or brownouts with a laptop-- just have to make sure you have a good surge protector and that's it. THe laptop's battery does what the UPS does for a desktop, but there are less AC to DC switches necessary with the laptop.

And with a laptop, the current only has to be converted from AC to DC once-- which I guess means that the current should be "cleaner" for your system by avoiding all the extra conversions. Seems like a much better way of doing things to me.. So back to my question-- why don't costly desktop machines work like laptops in terms of power delivery to the machine?

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