Home > Consumer Reviews > Smart Strip LCG3 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology

Bought three of these for 2 computers and one entertainment center. My electric bill went from 650 kilowatts to 291 in one month.

I bought another model like this for my computer first, then picked this one up to use for my home entertainment system. It is very straightforward--even my mom was able to figure out how to use it. The TV went into the blue outlet (the control outlet) and my older game consoles and the DVD player went into the white ones. My newer game consoles and cable box went into the "constant hot outlets" in red, which, as it implies, are always on whether or not the device in the control outlet is powered up. This sets it apart from other surge protectors and I find this feature very convenient.

It may not work at first. There is a place on the side of the unit where it can be adjusted (with e screwdriver) so the "switched" outlets will switch on and off with the control outlet if it doesn't do so right out of the box. I didn't have to adjust this one, but I did with the model that I bought for my computer system. It's very easy to do--just twist it until the "switched" outlets go off. So, if you encounter this problem, don't be alarmed. It isn't hard to fix.

I had to make an exchange for a "generation 3" model, in order to get it work with an iMac. After that, it's great. The company Bits LTD really stands behind this product.

Thus, all my little warm transformers for speakers, docks, hubs and other accessories are a thing of the past. This power strip auto-senses when the computer sleeps, and turns other stuff off also. This auto-detection is both the strip's greatest strength, and the greatest weakness. You may have to tune the device to get the switching to work right.

Mac users: Mac OS X has various weaknesses that can prevent automatic sleeping... you may have to upgrade certain printer drivers or fiddle with mystery reasons for lack of sleeping.

PC users: your PC has several sleep modes, most notably "S1" and "S3". Many PC's come set to S1, which results in very little power savings in sleep mode (so little your power strip might not activate). Switch it in the BIOS to ACPI mode S3 for much better savings. Google "S3 Standby Done Right".

This was easy to use an allowed me to have several computer peripherals turn off automatically with the computer. I plugged it right into my UPS with no problems.

It took a little fine tuning, I guess to accommodate the age of my devices.
This one is on my entertainment electronics. I'll be getting another one for my computer.
I had originally planned to use a Kill-A-Watt, but just went straight to the smart strip.