I bought a fair-sized UPS for flat screen Sony & satellite rcvr. I wanted protection for both units that the UPS could give, like spike protection. It's part of the UPS. I also have previously experienced minutes of "satellite searching" after line power went out for only a second, or less, then you'd spend 2-3 minutes while the sat rcvr found all it's necessary items & gave you a picture back. So, my motive was not to continue watching tv while the rest of the neighborhood was without power, my objective was to try & hold satellite & tv settings for those few seconds that one sees intermittent power outages during thunderstorms.

In the end result, it has been a success. I would do it again if necessary. Again, no surge protector needed since most hi-quality UPSs have such built-in. You do have to add up the total potential load on a UPS however so as to not overload.