Re: Soon to arrive my HDTV

W_tom, I think that you are confused.  

You stated that a surge protector is only as effective as its earth
ground.  That is true.  You also stated that plug-in surge protectors
and wall outlets do not have earth grounds because their ground wires
are longer than ten feet.  That is false.

The "ten foot" requirement means that the electrode at the end of the
ground wire must be embedded into the earth for a minimum of ten feet.
It does not mean that ground wires greater than ten feet are not earth
grounds.

A 100-foot-long 12-gauge ground wire might have too much resistance to
divert a lightning strike, but it is more than adequate to divert a
power surge away from a plug-in surge protector.  Consider that the
surge *entered* the protector through a 12-gauge wire.  The requirements
for an earth ground for a surge protector are not as demanding as the
requirements for an earth ground for a lightning rod.

In the United States the ground wire and the neutral wire are bonded
together at the service entrance.  That means that a surge protector
does not even need a ground wire.  By diverting surges into the NEUTRAL
(normal mode), they go to earth ground.

Surge protectors absorb surges and then "slowly" (relatively speaking)
release them into the earth ground.  Because the earth ground does not
have to dissipate the surges as quickly as they happen, a "short thick"
ground wire is unnecessary.

You mentioned that Tripplite does not have an earth ground.  Of course
it doesn't as you take it out of the box, but it does once you plug it
in.

With respect to whole-house surge protectors -- they may suppress surges
from the outside, but most surges originate from INSIDE -- from
refrigerator motors, air conditioners, and vacuum cleaners.  And no, UPS
units, muffin fans, and disk drives -- although it *might* be argued
that they are the same technology as refrigerator motors -- do not
produce surges when they power on.
 
With respect to your remark that MOVs explode because they are
underrated for their application (I paraphrase) --   They explode
because they do not have a chance to cool off between surges.  How is a
user to know how frequently surges are going to occur?