>... a special AVR [alternate voltage regulator]? A friend of mine just bought a new desktop for home that has a 1.6mhz Pentium 4 processor. The salesperson said he needed one of these AVRs instead of the usual surge protector to help prevent overheating of the processor. The AVR acts as a surge protector and supplemental power [battery] to better regulate the max and min voltage limits. WHile this is a good idea for other reasons, I thought this particular reasoning sounded fishy. Anyone heard of this? TIA!

Sounds to me like a line conditioner. Provides minimal regulation, good for filtering noise and such. Just a monster isolation transformer. Tell your friend he can have mine - weighs about 80 pounds, from an old Wang mini. Great as a foot warmer under the desk.

It could be an online UPS that the salesgeek is promoting...commissions, you know.