Should I get a whole-house surge protector instead of power strips?

They serve different purposes. A whole-house SPD installs at your electrical panel and shunts large surges (lightning, utility events) before they reach branch circuits, while point-of-use strips handle smaller residual surges and minor everyday spikes. Across mainstream how-to coverage and r/AskElectricians threads, the consensus is layered protection: whole-house at the panel plus joule-rated strips at sensitive equipment.