My non-tech 2Cts:
We have APC brand surge and batt units on our TV/Stereo/Sat/electronics set up and seperate units on our hot water boiler (has fancy & fragile electronics), the 'puter, etc., etc.
We have a hard wired 15kW Generac brand generator, so the APC UPS units are simply to keep us "cooking" during the mulitide of electrical outages and glitches...the Generac only comes on if power is off for 30 seconds, continuously.
The APCs work ok, though their batt backup time is slim based upon very "low horsepower" batt power reserves. APC makes bigger kick ass units, but there web page is not the most informative and once one jumps beyond household back-up units like the kind they sell in Circuit City, et al, the price really rockets north.
http://www.apc.com/solutions/index.cfm?segmentID=1
I think Surge is more important than a batt trying to keep your dvd player "going", for example, except for the batt backup ability on your 'puters, so one can safely shut those down, IF you don't have a hardwired, "automatic" generator.
Another item: in room speakers...we have them in many of our rooms and they were just some "reasonable" brand that our whole house/high tech wire guy sold. They are flush mounted w/grills, painted to match the wall color and, very unobtrusive. They sound exc. to my ol'ears, as they are for background music not critical "Collie-like" listening, imo. We have friends that spent Really big bucks on in room speakers but, the horizontal and/or ceiling mounting that is commonly used, coupled w/no "wall room" around speaker(s), seems to negate the higher cost they spent. "Thiers" vs 'ours', sound the same to most whom have listened.
We have a simple rheostat knob, matches the light switches, that controls the vol at each speaker pair. Obviously the amp/preamp qual and real power are the pump that allows for softer "volumes" via the wall speakers with good to vg fidelity.
The lists offered by the Regs&Faves are remarkable for their specifics and qual and length...though, I sometimes think most people have huge wishlists in new construction, but the reality of what actually "gets used" and those detailed practicalities vs. the overdone list, are miles apart, lol! I know of few people, for example, that need to cell phone their house to turn on mood lighting, turn on the toaster, etc., but many are caught up in the "let's BillGates our new Joint", lol.
My Qtr's up, from a non-tech ol'fart. GL,md