beadles,

Another "gotcha" with those cheapie imports is that the output voltage may be listed as 100 instead of 120 and/or 200 instead of 220-240. For an incandescent lamp or a heater, this is not really an issue, however for motors and electronics this can present much grief. Then on top of the low output voltage, when you factor in the line losses (reduced voltage at the far end of your extension cords) it can really get ugly.

Regards,
Comanche7