First let me say that you will enjoy your HDTV as at the end of winter I bought what sounds like a similar model.

Surge protectors are not 100% effective as nothing man-made will defeat mother nature. As the owner our goal is to reduce the chance of a negative incident. Ignore the "insurance" that models offer and concentrate on the protection. The price range varies from inexpensive to overly expensive. Cheap is no good and costly doesn't always give you more. The features vary, i.e. joules, telephone line protection, cable protection and satellite protection.

After reviewing the offerings at Best Buy I made an informed purchase of a Woods 7-outlet strip #3102027 for $15.49+ tax. I live in rural America where the storms at times can be intense. Even more so this year. I am comfortable and as confident with my selection.

DA

I use the battery backup with surge protection for all my electronics here, I have one unit in my home theater cabinet that I have the tv, direct tv box, my Onkyo receiver, DVD player etc all plugged into, some things I have on the battery back up part some just on the surge protect.
I have a similar unit in my computer room with all my related machines plugged into.
I got the CyberPower brand I bought them at Fry's store but they do have an online site too.

CYBERPOWER LCD 1500VAUPS
that is what I have for my tv electronics.
You can also run your phone line and cable or direct tv line through it for protection to them.

Thanks to both of you for those good suggestions. I will make my purchase tomorrow.

I do have a good APC battery back-up on my computer but it is nowhere near the TV.

Don't rely on a surge suppressor in a severe storm. No product can protect you from a direct lightning strike. Best to turn off and unplug in these circumstances.

I'm with ravencajun on this. A UPS offers much more protection than a surge suppressor. Even if you're not using it for the battery backup, the surge suppression in a UPS is much better than what is in a surge suppressor. I'm not sure a power strip type of surge suppressor would be able to handle the power drain from a TV for an extended period.

Informed means numbers. If a protector does effective protection, then each recommendation cites manufacturer spec numbers. None were provided for one damning reason. Nothing adjacent to an appliance claims effective protection.

Appliances (ie your TV) contain serious protection. Your concern is hundreds of thousands of joules that might overwhelm that protection. How do hundreds of joules inside a power strip make hundreds of thousands of joules magically disappear? Simple. Advertising. Many who ignore and never demand numbers will simply recommend what advertising says.

View numbers for a UPS. Near zero joules. Just enough above zero so that advertising can claim 100% protection. Where is that UPS spec number for protection? Myths are easily believed because most ignore numbers.

Your concern is a rare surge, maybe once every seven years, that can damage many appliances - not just a TV. A well proven solution costs about $1 per protected appliance. Is sufficiently sized to even make direct lightning strikes irrelevant.

Any facility that cannot suffer damage earths a 'whole house' protector. Homeowners obtain the same well proven solution from more responsible companies including Siemens, Intermatic, General Electric, Leviton, ABB, or Square D. A Cutler-Hammer solution sells in Lowes and Home Depot for less than $50.

Facilities that must never suffer damage waste no money on plug-in protectors. Well proven solution mean hundreds of thousands of joules dissipate harmlessly outside. Therefore protection inside every appliance is not overwhelmed. Hundreds of thousands of joules are harmlessly absorbed in earth. Or somehow that energy magically disappears?

An effective protector remains functional after every surge (including direct lightning strikes). Just a few reasons why reliable facilities spend tens or 100 times less money to earth a well proven solution. Informed homeowners earth one 'whole house' protector because even plug-in protectors must be protected.

I agree with grandms, a surge protector does not protect against lightning. It does protect against power surges, caused by storms, or any other means. We have a whole house protector put on by the power company, and we use surge protectors on a lot of stuff in the house, but, we still unplug, when it is storming out. It is the only sure way to protect yourself. It is a good idea to unplug phone lines in a storm too, or internet lines from the computer, because lightning will come in those lines.

My area has lots of lightning. Loose things occasionally.
Tripp Lite , has the iso-bar line of plug in surge protectors and Line Conditioners, which I really like. They are much like a regulated constant voltage transformer / noise filer, with surge protection.

Most things damaged here over the years mostly by near lighning are damaged with surges on the phone line, or the cable tv line... or just from the ground surge of lightning near by originating fron he earth and running through the electrical grounding. Lightning goes from the cround up too! not all comming dow from the clouds.

Nothing stops 100% nearby lightning surges. Our power utility offers whole house surge protection at the meter which is good.

Because my 'whole house' protector is properly earthed, I routinely use all electronics during every thunderstorm.

Your telco's switching computer is connected to buildings all over town via overhead wires. Obviously, they so fear thunderstorms as to also disconnect all phone service with each approaching storm. They don't? Why? Others just know protection from lightning is impossible only because they know. Since a telco CO suffers about 100 surges with each thunderstorm, then their computer must be damaged every time!

Telcos earth 'whole house' protectors. Then suffer direct lightning strikes without damage. Munitions dumps also suffer direct strikes without explosions. Why? They also connect 'whole house' protectors to the only thing that does protection - single point earth ground.

So why do so many here know that is impossible? Urban myths routinely promote a 'woe is me' attitude. Meanwhile, informed consumers waste no money on plug-in miracle boxes. And upgrade earthing to what makes even direct lightning strikes irrelevant. An earthed 'whole house' protector.

Damage from lightning is so routinely averted (when one learns well proven science) as to be considered a human created mistake. Or does your town disconnect all town phone service with each approaching storm?