Monster Power conditioner or Monster Power bar???

[4x12]

Hey Guys,

I was looking into getting some new protection for my gear tonight. My current protection is a Belkin 8plug power bar that seems to be ok but its about 5 years old so I imagine due for a change.

While I was checking out the Monster HDP-1800 at FS, my wife pops in and said "why don't you get a power bar... something like this? and its cheaper!" She was showing me the Monster Blackout bar. So not knowing what to answer honestly I said... let me ask my people (youz guys) and we'll get back to this...

So, the two units I was looking into was :

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=5317 $149

and

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=4885 $299

Besides the esthetic factor... Is the 1800 worth $150 more for an the extra 2500joules, the clean stage 2 etc... or is this just another Monster marketing pitch?

what to you think?