We all have seen or used a power strip that has a "surge protector" built into it for certain appliances or electrical equipment. Some of these may include a battery back-up function allowing computers to automatically turn off when the power is out without losing valuable information. These are designed to protect against small surges only for the devices plugged into the strip or unit itself. These are a great option for items like computers but as more and more devices have circuit boards or other software built in, it becomes hard to install point of use devices.
Note: Point of Use Surge Protection devices become less effective over time. In reality, your 10 year old power strip may have outlived it's useful life for surge protection.