They Don't Make Them How They Used To
Instead of the square flaps hanging off the strip's sides, which were common fare for the ground connection in all of the power strips I have opened up for our round-up, this unit has a completely different ground finger structure that gives them considerably more flex.
Dimensions-wise, the power strips are 5.5mm wide and 0.45mm thick, while the ground strip is 3mm wide by 0.45mm thick (both above-average).
Putting It Back Together
Mr. Duck lends his help once again into putting this bar back together. Aside from a few gouges and areas of whitened plastic from stress, the bar looks almost good-as-new.
Of course, I removed the MOV before putting it back together.
Second Round Verdict
Kensington's offering is little more than a first-round unit with a PCB for its MOV and thermal fuse, but without the benefit of a built-in switch and power indicator. The wire welds are also somewhat questionable.
In term of visual design, my favorite is Belkin's bar, though it has incomplete surge protection, uses an uncommon MOV brand, has a few manufacturing flaws and is welded shut, making inspection without destroying it impossible. The lack of some form of “On” indicator can also cause confusion.
Still, between those two, the winner is easily Belkin.
And that's it for part two. In part three, we will be digging into a CyberPower, a Tripp-Lite and an APC budget surge-protector.
