Protection Testing – Is This Surge Protector Really a Surge Protector?

If you notice none of the described symptoms when you plug the laptop adapter directly into the wall outlet then you should consider discontinuing the use of this surge protector / plug strip. This seems to me to be a serious safety issue that needs to be addressed immediately.

Once you get back to a safe usage scenario you should do some checking of the laptop adapter for safety issues as well. Remove the adapter from the wall power and from the laptop. Now using a digital multimeter in the resistance (ohms) measuring mode check for any low resistance readings (less than 10 megohms level) between any of the AC power leads and any of the contacts at the laptop charger plug end. If you find any low resistance connections from the AC to DC side of the adapter then you should replace that as well.

(Note that all of the numerous laptop adapters I have encountered are supposed to be 100% isolated from input to output. I.e. NO input to output electrical connection).

Now back to your surge protector. Some surge protectors may have installed components such as MOVs or high voltage capacitors between the AC lines (hot and neutral) and the earth ground connection of the AC wiring coming into the protector. If they are wired this way it is possible for some people to feel a slight shock when touching any grounded metal parts of equipment that is plugged into the downwind power jacks of the surge protector. In my electrical engineering opinion I do not think this type of surge protection wiring is the best idea. Now at the same time some manufacturer of a surge protector may boast that their unit is superior (and thus way more costly) if it has MOVs attached line-neutral, line-earth, and neutral-earth. This can lead to low level leakage currents from the AC line to the earth ground connection. If your "high end" unit is like this you should consider not using it!

If your laptop adapter has a connection from its input AC leads to DC output side and it is used in conjunction with a surge protector that has multi-MOVs causing leakage currents to flow then this can lead to the slight shocks that you feel when touching metal parts of the laptop.

My recommendation - safety first when dealing with anything electrical attached to the AC power lines. At first indication that there is something amiss discontinue use immediately.

Surge protectors and circuit breakers both cut off power during exceptional conditions, but they have different purposes and react to different events:

Circuit breakers

Circuit breakers have only one job: to prevent the wiring inside your house from catching on fire. That's it, they do nothing else. They don't protect you from shocking yourself, or from lightning, or from your cat chewing through a power cord.

Circuit breakers work by monitoring the current (number of electrons) flowing through the wiring, and cutting off the power if the current is too high for too long (which puts the wiring in your house at risk of overheating). The higher the current, the quicker a breaker will trip: it may be just a split second or it might be hours. The idea is that a transient burst of power (e.g. when your fridge turns on) is not particularly dangerous.

The rating of a breaker depends only on the size and type of wire used in your house (which in turn is based on the expected usage). Typical sizes would be 15 or 20 amps for outlets and standard lighting, and higher, dedicated breakers for high-use appliances like stoves or hot water heaters.

Surge Protectors

Surge protectors have a very different goal: to quickly disconnect equipment from the power supply if there is a power surge. Surge protectors don't monitor the quantity of electricity, but rather it's voltage. An unexpectedly high voltage can force power into appliances beyond their specifications. Typically surge protectors cut off power when the voltage reaches 300V or 400V, which may be indicative of a lightning strike.

Surge protectors also have the job of absorbing energy due to a voltage spike.

Neither surge protectors nor circuit breakers do anything to regular minor fluctuations in voltage like a brownout.

In my opinion the need for surge protectors is somewhat overblown, since harmful power surges are relatively rare and there's no guarantee that a surge protector will be robust enough to prevent damage anyways. But they are convenient if you need extra outlets.

EDIT @Ecnerwal's answer is correct that technically surge protectors don't disconnect the power, they redirect (or absorb) it. And his answer has much more technical detail about the types and purposes of surge protectors.