Rand McNally TripMaker RVND 7710 7-Inch GPS for Car and RV

• 7-inch LCD display
• This Rand McNally GPS device is designed specifically for the RVer and camper. Routing includes legal weight and height restrictions designed for the type of RV you are using
• More than 14 million points of interest - including festivals, National/State/Regional Parks and other Rand McNally researched locations
• Pet-friendly locations - animal hospitals, hiking trails, parks, beaches, and more
• RVer Tools including Checklists, Quick Mileage Calculations, Maintenance Logs, and Breadcrumb Trails to get you back to your campsite

The difference between this GPS and other GPS products out there is that this one is tailored to RV use. In addition to providing directions and helping the driver locate services in the area (such as food, lodging, gas, etc.) it also includes places that are of interest and use to people who use RV's, such as campgrounds, RV lots, etc. It also plans routes based on the size and weight of the vehicle to ensure that the roads are accommodating.

This is quite a large product it has an easily visible 7" screen and is like a little brick. It's quite sturdy and heavy and really would not do well on a normal car dashboard. It comes with a mounting stand that allows you to attach it to the windshield.

The GPS is supposed to be connected to a computer with internet access when first used, so that it can download updates, firmware, register itself and get set up properly. This took a while, so be prepared to wait while all of the files get downloaded. Once that is done, you can begin setting up the unit and tailor it to your vehicle. You can select a class of RV, or a camper, or a normal car. If you select a normal car, some of the features of the product will not be available to you (obviously, since they are meant for RV's). You also enter the size and weight of your vehicle.

Once that is done, operation of the GPS is pretty self-explanatory. You can input destinations and save them to the address books. When entering a destination, you can also enter insertion points if you want to stop somewhere else along the way before reaching your main destination. The touch screen has a nice feel to it you just tap on the glass and it makes a comforting click sound to acknowledge your tap, and the glass also has a fine texture on it so it seems to resist fingerprints. While driving, the dashboard (main screen) of the GPS shows you your route, speed and ETA. The voice guides you along the way, naming off streets and letting you know about things to be watching for. It is important to keep your device updated by regularly connecting it via your computer to the Rand web site in order to get the latest traffic information such as road closures and construction. The voice also alerts you to changes in the speed limits and tells you when you are exceeding that limit (you can adjust the tolerance of how many miles over the limit you can be driving before you get a warning up to 15 mph over). In terms of providing information, it lists places of interest, places for getting services, and also does list places that are of particular interest to people using an RV such as where they can park overnight.

When you enter addresses for destinations, you can either enter the city or the zip code. Once you begin, and then enter the street name and number, the device continually shrinks the available choices based on the information you have already entered. For example, once you enter a zip and then start typing the street name, the visible letters from which you can choose continue to narrow down based on what streets are actually in that area. Same with the address numbers. If you select a street address number that is outside of the range, you get an error message notifying you of what the range of house numbers are for that street (such as if you enter 8600 Milton, you may get a message saying the relevant range is 3000-8000, meaning there is no such address as 8600 Milton).

Actual use: here are some impressions from actually using the GPS. I found that when I entered my own address as the home destination and used my zip code to start, the device told me that my house address was not within that zip code and wouldn't let me proceed. I had to enter the name of the city instead of the zip and for whatever reason, this time it worked. That happened with another destination I entered, as well I had to enter the city instead of the zip code. The first time I used the device to navigate to a place outside of downtown Los Angeles, when I reached my destination it told me that it was on the "right" side although it was actually on the left side. That is the only time it happened, though.

You are given a choice of two voices: a female and a male voice. Both my wife and I found that the female voice was sort of irritating. She sounds more like she is nagging you than being a friendly guide, with a rather terse, abrupt tone (I know it is just a computerized voice but can't they make her sound more pleasant?). Switching to "Tom" was an improvement. He sounds more affable. I found that both voices speak rather quickly so you have to be listening carefully. They also tend to talk too much in that the reminders about the street or place to turn coming up keeps getting mentioned frequently. I guess that is a good thing to remind you but it gets a little annoying after a while because it tends to be too often. I suppose that's a matter of preference. Also, I set the speed limit warning to the max of 15 mph over because that got annoying as well (haha, you now know I drive over the speed limit).

All in all, this is a decent GPS unit tailored for RV use. It seems kind of pricey but it does offer continual downloads of information updates, and is a timesaver when it comes to pointing out local places of interest. It also is useful for planning routes that are RV-friendly. Unless you actually have an RV there is no point in getting this GPS, because it costs a lot more than a regular one and is also too large for a normal car.

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We purchased the RVND 7710 for an upcoming trip of 3000 miles round trip, The unit works great. The screen is very large and bright and the voice is loud enough to clearly hear over the RV road noise. The large screen size makes it much easier to accurately use the touchscreen than smaller screens. There is also a stylus located on the windshield mount if needed for the touchscreen. The windshield mount is very heavy-duty and holds the unit firmly,

The unit was fairly easy to setup and input for our destination was easy. The POIs were accurate for fuel and dump stations. Calculating routes takes a little while but there is a lot of information due to the RV info that is being calculated. It is really useful to have the specific info of your RV being taken into consideration for routing. It syncs to the satellites faster than our Garmin did.

The only downside that I have is with the Dock software for MAc. It auto loads on computer startup and can take several tries to get it to close. I have not used the windows version of Dock.

We are extremely happy with the performance of the unit.

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Well we got the 7 inch RV Rand and it has some good features, about what I expected. Good big screen, easy to read, with good resolutions, sensitive touch screen. Sunlight does not seem to be a problem on the screen.

In the RV setup you enter the overall length of HM with towed, height, weight and width. Then you set when you want to be warned about what. Will warn of steep hills, curves, state lines, time change, Low bridges, bridges that will not carry your weight ect.

Shows Speed limit on major Highways as well as your speed and you can set limits that will warn you if you are more that XX over the limit, along with mile markers, Both very useful. And most are dead on. You will pass a speed limit sign and see it change on the screen. Of course there are some that have been changed, so don't depend on it 100 percent. It also give you elevation and time on the screen. With one click you can get GPS coordinates. You can also mark and save your location. And You can leave a bread crumb trail, tho it does warn the trail function eats up memory space.

It has a good heavy, fully adjustable mount, and you can get an extra mount for $29, making it easy to switch to the tow car. We plan to use screws to mount one to the overhead in the MH. Has a good list of rest areas and overnight stays including Walmart, and list which allow overnight stays and when you need to notify the manager and phone numbers of the store. Has a good list of RV parks, but missing some. Has a good list of corp park, but missing some there too. Easy to set destination and multiple stop routes. Lane change info seemed minimal, but probably adequate. Good list of near by poi and give them to you in the direction you are traveling, destination, or around any location you search. Enter new location by Town name, which seemed strange instead of starting with state. But I could not find a town, every very small, that was not listed. This does make finding a town lots easier than going to state first as my Garmin is.

Routing,, well I did not expect perfect routing so I was not disappointed. There are limitation on the truck info available, just a fact that is going to exist on every truck type unit. There is no way to know everything but The technology will improve with time, hopefully as a result of the feedback button that is on this unit! and constant updates.

I Set for 60foot overall with tow car and 45,000pounds, 8.5 wide, and 12ft8inch high. In my car, It tried to take me down closed streets and lanes I could hardly get my car down. Did not say "turn around" but tried to get me to turn around, not just once but repeatedly, in road and areas that would be impossible with this size rig. Course this in a very rural area where local uncharted roads have little info available. But this same condition exist all across the country. On a main road that carries major truck traffic, said I exceed bridge weight on a bridge that has been there for more than 30 years. On a recent trip to Baton Rouge it routed me off of I49 which was 75mph to 2 lane SH71 with no shoulder and 55mph and some 45pmh and several miles of ROUGH. With a big rig is it not easy to get turned around, and just pulling off the highway can get you stuck. So when you get wrong routed, you can be stuck. I think it will work most of the time and route well, but not always. Point is, just be happy for any worthwhile info it does give you, and report any bad. And always use good sense and double verification before taking a big rig down an unknown road. The unit syncs up with your computer for updates on general information. With free maps, the maps are updated a couple of times a year. When you link up, it cks for all updates and the screen, when in use will ask if you have updated lately. There is also a button to send feed back about anything you find wrong, including map data, and it up loads the next time you sync the unit. Problem is it is very difficult to enter incorrect info. Sure don't have time while driving. Should be a better way to report wrong info. Like an e mail with GPS coordinates of problem area.

All in all, we are happy with the unit and the free lifetime maps, and it does provide lots of useful info.

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I have this unit for about one month and here are my first impressions:

Not as friendly as any Garmin GPS to work with.

Lack of a printed user's manual

For the price of the unit compared to Garmin's, Rand McNally should have included a protective case as well as an anti-glare screen protector at no charge.

Very long boot time before being able to use it

Experienced problems in downloading custom POI's

Unusable in direct sunlight. Wrong design.

Male voice (Tom) speaks too fast and sometimes difficult to understand.

Speed limits are not always accurate.

Announcement of custom POI's is too close to the POI itself. Not enough time to react.

No information in the manual as what happens when one wander off a predetermined route regarding road clearance, propane restrictions etc...in the upcoming new road.

Short battery life when using it without power in the home to plan a trip.

No possibility of planning a trip on the RVND dock instead of the unit and then download it in the GPS.

Lack of small letters and French accents on the keyboard.

Find it rather expansive for what it does.

No security code

No dashboard support

The Pros:

Lots of information on the screen itself

Sturdy holding bracket

Touchscreen reacts promtly to the finger

A must for RVer's

All this being said, I am impressed with the quantity and quality of the data that unit holds.

However, just after one month of ownership, I had to return the unit to Rand McNally for repair. I was two days past the return policy of Amazon.com

Update: After discussion with an Amazon representative, I sent the unit back to them and purchased another one. The new one works perfectly without problems. Thanks to Amazon excellent customer service.

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Had trouble with Rand McNally GPS 7710 from the get-go. Had an extremely hard time just registering the unit let alone employing the unit. The unit would not identify satellite(s). Support from Rand McNally was essentially non-existant. Would not answer e-mails and had to wait in excess of twenty minutes to talk with a live person, which never happened. I'll stay with my GARMIN and my Magellan backup. The best experience of this whole transaction was with AMAZON and their return policy which is excellent in my book.

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Motorola MT352R Giant FRS Weatherproof Two-Way - 35 Mile Radio Pack - Silver

• The Motorola Talkabout MT352R is equipped to secure functionality by guarding against extreme weather and harsh environments.
• With a range of up to 35 miles, it is perfect for your active outdoor excursions as well as life's everyday adventures.
• Take a pair on your next hunting, camping or hiking trip and stay connected no matter what the season.
• The VibraCall silent vibrating ringer is especially useful for locations where ringing can be intrusive.
• MT352R includes: 2 radios, 2 NiMH rechargeable battery packs, 2 belt clips, 1 Y cable wall adapter with 2 mini-USB connectors, 1 Emergency Preparedness checklist sheet, 1 user guide, 1 accessories sheet.

Just to give you some background, I have been an Amateur radio enthusiast for about 3 decades now. I collect radios and I am a member of a Disaster volunteer radio group. I have 2 Base Stations and dozens of professional and consumer radios of all brands spanning 3 decades.

I really wanted to give you a very detailed comparison of these 2 radios. Prior to buying these radios I called up Motorola and Giant and got information from them about these MT352R handhelds. They told me that it is generally the same as the MR350 except that it is more forgiving to bad weather and has a much better battery. I ordered them and when they arrived I did a side by side comparison with my favorite consumer radio, the Motorola MR350. I have 4 of MR350s and I have had them for about 4 years now, and they are still working great. So when I did my field test I was expecting the same performance out of both radios in terms of distance and clarity.

Here is my side by side comparison between them:

1. Menu Features They have very similar features. Not much to write about there. The menus are the same as well. You can read about their features from Amazon. I will not waste time on this.

2. Battery The MT352 has a superior battery. Specs say it has 15 hours of battery life as compared to the MR350 which has 9 hours. But in the field, I have never been out longer than 9 hours, so I do not think this really matters as much.

3. Size The MR350 is hands down the better radio for carry. The MT532R is long and wide, whereas the MR350 is svelte and sleek. The MR350 design is excellent if you intend to put the radio in your pocket. You will not even know it is there.

4. Weather resistant The MT352R says that it is Weather resistant. It has an IP-54 rating. The "5" is the dust resistance and the "4" is the Water resistance. This just says it can withstand a dusty or rainy environment. Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact. Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect.

5. Distance see test below

******Range Comparison: MR350 vs MT352R********

Scenario: I had my daughter stand in the front of my house and she had an MR350 and a MT352R. I walked away from the house and would radio in every .1 miles. I also had an MR350 and a MT352R. I would transmit first on the MR350 which she will only use her MR350 to receive and transmit. Then we would try to transmit with the MT352R. I live in an LA neighborhood so there are many houses and trees. I believe this would be a typical scenario for most. We were also transmitting on a GMRS Channel pressing the High Power PTT button. I do have a GMRS license.

Test: 0.1 Mile

1. MR350 Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.2 Miles

1. MR350 Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.3 Miles

1. MR350 Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.4 Miles

1. MR350 There was a little static. We could hear each other clearly.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.5 Miles

1. MR350 There was a little more static. We could hear each other. I had to ask her to repeat what she said. She heard me but asked me to repeat as well. Sporadic noise, but we could still communicate.

2. MT352R Crystal clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.6 Miles

1. MR350 Her transmission was getting a little choppy. It was choppy on both sides. We both had to repeat ourselves in order to understand.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.7 Miles

1. MR350 Our transmission was choppy. It was very choppy on both sides. We both had to repeat ourselves in order to understand. It was very difficult to understand what she was saying.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 0.8 Miles

1. MR350 We could barely understand each other. It was extremely choppy on both sides. I could hear her trying to transmit but could not understand anything she said. She said she heard me but it was very, very choppy.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends. I actually used the MT352R to check if she was having problems hearing me with the MR350.

Test: 0.9 Miles

1. MR350 The radio channel would open once in a while, but I could not hear anything anymore. It was the same for her.

2. MT352R There was a little noise in the background but it was still very clear on send and receive on both ends.

Test: 1 Mile

1. MR350 Cannot send or receive anymore.

2. MT352R There was more noise in the background but we can still communicate.

Test: 1.2 Miles

1. MR350 Cannot send or receive anymore.

2. MT352R Her transmission was choppy. The transmission was very noisy. It was choppy on both sides. We both had to repeat ourselves several times in order to understand.

Summary:

As far as features are concerned, there is not much difference between them. And if you are like me that prefer to use Alkaline, then there is no benefit to the better battery of the MT352R.

The MT352R had about a 30%-40% range improvement over the MR350. But considering that the MT352R costs about 40% to 50% more than the MR350, the MR350 is still a better bargain.

If you are going to use this around the neighborhood, camping or having in the car, then get the MT352R.

If you are going to use this for pocket carry in the mall or department store, or where size is important, and you want to carry something sleek that has enough power, get the MR350.

If you intend to use a radio for a cruise ship, then I would prefer the MR350 because it is not bulky to carry around.

I will not replace my MR350. Depending on the need, I will use the appropriate radio.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the MT352R very much. It is a full sized, weather resistant, more powerful version of the MR350R. Consider the MR350R the more portable version of the MT352R. It is like comparing the IPAD Mini and the IPOD Touch. I value portability over power because what use is the power if I cannot bring it with me everywhere I go(like the mall). And that is why I like the MR350R over any other radio, professional or consumer.

That being said, I prefer the MT352R over my ICOM, Kenwood, or Motorola Professional radios. These MT352R are Emergency radios and they are very, very good for that purpose. The only advantage of a professional radio over these MT352R is that they are practically indestructible. But feature, function and usability, the MT352R is better.

I hope this review helped you. Hope to talk to you on the air.

*******UPDATE December 21, 2012******

The price dropped on these to almost the same price as the MR350R, in which case there is no price advantage to the MR350R anymore.

Buy Motorola MT352R Giant FRS Weatherproof Two-Way - 35 Mile Radio Pack - Silver Now

I bought these to use at work and they needed to be able to work in difficult situations. They needed to reach through four to five cement block walls then 1/8 mile distance and inside of a metal pole barn. They do this well with very little fuzz or distortion. I am very happy with these radios.

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good machine. lots of features. The range in a city is about one KM. looks good and may be used with regular or original batteries. recommended

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I've always been a techno geek, and have loved radios of all kinds. I have owned several FRS radios (all Motorolas), but this is the first pair that were weatherpoof. Which adds piece of mind. I haven't had the chance to test the range, but the clarity has been good so far. I like the extra features (weather radio, LED light, channel scan, and the ability to transmit on high or low power (separate PTT buttons).

It does what its supposed to, communicate over long distances.

The only minor negatives are the size and the belt clip. Its not a small radio, its thicker than previous versions, and I have never been a fan of the quick disconnect belt clip (seems cheap to me, afraid the radio might come off unexpectedly).

But the features outweigh any negatives for me. I'd buy them again!

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Firat off, I know better than to expect the advertised performance of any 2-way radio. When I purchased these, I was hoping for a 1 to 1.5 miles in the city on FRS channels. After a couple of tests, the best performance I've gotten was .4 miles while both radios were outdoors in an urban residential area (all single story buildings in area). I put in an application for a GMRS license. I sure hope I can get at least aile of range in the city.

Besides range, the radios are great. The number

of privacy codes is nice and the weather resistant covers seem tight.

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Rapid Car Kit Auto Plug-in Power Charger for Verizon Samsung Gem i100 - Tmobile Samsung Exhibit 4G -

Extremely well made and as sturdy as the $30.00 adapters from Verizon store. Does the job at a fraction of the price!

I purchased it from Electromaster for less than 3 bucks... with free shipping. It works and how many times I get to use it before it fails is an unknown but for the price I don't really care... especially since I rarely charge my phone in the car so it's a just-in-case purchase.

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works ok i guess there isnt anything bad with it but would rather have one with a couple of extensions for other phones

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The plug will not fit any of our car receptacles.

Therefore it does not work!

I tried to return to no avail.

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2600mah Solar Battery Charger for Mp3 Mp4 Camera /Pda /Gps /Phone Black

• This product is an energy saving,Environmentallyfriendly solar energy emergency charger
• This product is a multi-functionsolar emergency charger
• Style design andconvenient to take it with you
• Equipped with ahigh-Brightness far horizon LED light,can working more than 30hours

i have had the product for a little while now. it does what it says. however it does take a long time to charge my phone battery via my universal USB battery charger. it takes it about a hour and a half via my ac adapter and 2 hours via my computer usb port. through the solar charger set to 5.5V it takes about 3/12 to 4 hours to charge. i can live with that. one issue is the mini usb male to full size usb female cable never was in the box. so i contacted them and they told me that i would have to ship back the whole device to them and wait for replacement unit. when they told me to send them pictures. the device has a clip to remove the metal casing for like taking off the protective shield on the solar panel. and when you remove it you can see that battery. which has the battery size scratched out. however if you look close enough it says 2500MAH instead of 2600MAH.

all in all i really needed that cable, but the company is giving me a hard time. its a good charger, despite the slow charging time, fake battery and lack of cable. for 9$ its alright. you get what you pay for

Update: the device has died. i took it apart and checked all the wiring and everything seemed to look okay and in shape. device would charge and flashlight would work. however it wont give a out power. checked the cord and used several other adapters i ordered online and still nothing. i ruled it as a dead motherboard. so i now have a useless charger around. when i got it i thought it was too good to be true. i was right.. the smaller battery than advertised, the .8A output power, not worth the money. however i did make good use of the solar panel and turned it into a solar panel with usb out. which works fine. i discarded what was left of it and turned it into a flashlight for my 3 year old brother. so if you want something that inst going to last you very long, then go for this product. if you want something that will last you a long time and has real parts, and not fake ones from china then your looking in the wrong place. eg, no brand name, not real battery, cheep motherboard, etc.. as well as the other ones that are 2600MAh solar chargers have the same insides just different shells. so be careful

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The solar charger/battery arrived with a 75% battery charge. The LED Flashlight worked. I plugged in my phone and nothing. Left the solar charger plugged in overnight. 100% charge...plugged in phone..nothing.

Opened it up to take a look. No voltage at all coming out through the mini USB and very low voltage from the battery. My conclusion is the battery is dead and will only hold a charge sufficient to power the LED flashlight. :( I didn't expect much for $10

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Stanley J509 500 Amp Jump Starter

• 1000 Peak Battery Amps / 500 Amp Instant Starting Power
• DC & USB charging plugs as well as a high powered LED light that rotates 270 degrees
• Consists of reverse polarity alarm for safety along with a top-mounted rubber molded handle for easy grip
• Heavy duty metal clamps and Number 6 AWG cables
• Contains power/charge indicator and audible & visual reverse polarity alarm

This review is based on ~8 months of use. Purchase price was $70.

This starter pack is useful if you have a car that sits a lot, and you cannot use a float/trickle charger (like at an apartment). I telecommute most of the time, so my car battery does not get charged much by the alternator. I noticed that the battery in my car was no longer zippy (starts up fast when the battery is good), so I bought this starter pack to supplement the car battery. I would use it multiple times before I recharged the pack. The car battery eventually became severely damaged (interior lights were completely dead) due to lack of use/charge and this pack started the car up on the first try so I could get to Sears.

Stanley recommends that this pack be charged every month, regardless if it is used or not. After the purchase of a new car battery, the jump pack sat in my car for a while, but still held a charge. It was able to start the car of a stranded motorist after not being charged for weeks.

Note that this starter pack cannot run a tire pump from the cigarette lighter outlet as the amp draw is limited to .5amp. Get a different unit if you plan on using it for this purpose. The LED light is quite dim, but better than nothing when you are on the side of the road without a flashlight.

Buy a short extension cord to charge this jump starter, as it does not come with one.

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I recently purchased the Stanley Jump Start for myself, and what a great item this is. Totally portable, charges off a common extension cord into your own outlet(s). Not too heavy, many features like a light attachment, a USB port, neatly accomodates the cables. Well worth the price, and I found out about it from my AAA service for dead car batteries. I love it when people share great buys.

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I am rating this unit at three as I am not sure yet if it is defective, or just not very worthwhile. I bought it about a month ago, and charged it fully as was recommended in the directions. A week later, I had the "opportunity" to use it and it failed to jump start my neighbors riding lawn mower. The battery on the unit did not did not hold a charge. I put a charge on it again, and will see if it holds this time. I should think a week between charging and using should not render the battery so weak as to not start a little lawn mower!

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This worked just fine in getting my car with a totally dead battery started. Had to get the jump starter charged overnight first.

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The jump starter works as advertised and as expected. Seems to be of good quality and has helped on one occasion so far. Too early to determine how long battery charge lasts. Looking forward to long term satisfaction and usage.

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Mountek nGroove Universal CD Slot Mount (Black)

• The MT5000-D: Mountek's 4th revision of its popular CD Slot Mount. Now with a rubber dipped nGroove blade for better grip!
• Firmly mounts cell phones, satellite radios, GPS units, MP3 players and more
• Inserts into front loading CD player slot, where device controls are easily accessible by the driver
• Requires NO suction cups, NO clips, NO screws, NO adhesives or glue
• nGroove design allows the MT5000 to fit thin grooves found in autos, planes, boats & motorcycles

I haven't had this too long, but so far I LOVE it! Here's why:

1. I have an iPhone 4 in a nice thick protective case, and the arms on this mount are angled perfectly, and have a nice cushy foam on them, so they close gently but firmly on the sides. Holds the phone perfectly, which my last mount did not.

2. The mount also has a "foot" that my iPhone sits on, and one feature I didn't see mentioned before is that this foot has a wide hole in it, big enough for the charge cord to fit through! On one of my other mounts, I had to leave the phone pushed up high in the holder, and snake the cord up and around the foot. With this one, as long as I've put my phone in straight, I can just push the cord up through the hole and plug it in, without moving my phone at all.

3. I had a suction cup mount before, which seemed fine when the weather was warm. I live in NY, and this winter has been cold enough that every time I tried to use the mount, as soon as I touched it, the suction cup fell of my windshield. I couldn't rely on it. It also left suction cup rings on my windshield. This mount is sturdy and firm it's not going anywhere unless I take it off!

4. I love that it mounts to the radio the way it does. I don't need to play CDs since I have an iPhone, so I don't feel bad blocking the CD slot. The mount blocks the CD controls... but who cares? It is positioned perfectly (at least in my Chrysler Town & Country) right above the radio, where I can easily control my iPod functions, and also use my GPS functions. It turns sideways, tilts back and forth and up and down. Incredibly adaptable. My only concern is how long it will continue to stay tight if I turn it horizontally often (which I don't), so I will update this review if it ever gets loose. It doesn't feel like it will, though.

5. Great price! I've seen fancier, more "advanced" mounts for much more. Don't bother. This mount is perfect, and the price is more than reasonable.

I did lots of research, and almost bought several mounts dashboard-mounted, cup holder-mounted... thank goodness I found this one before I spent any money. If you have a radio with a CD slot, and your other controls won't be blocked by putting this in, get it. You'll love it!

Buy Mountek nGroove Universal CD Slot Mount (Black) Now

This is a quality product from a company with superior customer support. For the price you cannot beat the build and materials of this mount. I was very impressed with it's quality compared to the one my girlfriend has from Verizon (we are never buying the Verizon one again, its useless).

You notice I mentioned superior customer support. Right out of the box I did have an issue. My 08 VW Rabbit has a very very thin CD slot. The blades would not fit into my deck. I emailed Mountek and got a reponse from a person in

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AeroVironment Residential EV Charger, 25' cable (Level 2 EVSE-RS: 7.2kW, 30A)

• The original UL-listed electric car "fueling" station for the home; charges your Electric Vehicle or Plug-in Hybrid in 2-8 hours
• The choice of thousands of drivers and the preferred charging partner of the Nissan LEAF, BMW Active-E and Mitsubishi iMiev
• 25-foot cable lets you refuel multiple cars and install close to your power source, minimizing installation costs
• Rated safe for indoor/outdoor use and compatible with all major EV models
• 3-year warranty provided; industry-leading installation warranty also available

I would avoid AeroVironment's charging station. I have one and my charging station is 11 months old now; it fails about once a week, sometimes more often. By "fails" I mean vehicle charging stops and the trouble light illuminates. The charging station trouble light can only be reset manually by cutting off the circuit breaker to the unit (hopefully you've installed one near the charging station, otherwise you'll have to go to the panel box). This is annoying when this happens during overnight charging cycles and the vehicle doesn't get charged. Big unpleasant surprise in the morning. Despite repeated calls to AV and promises from them, nothing has been resolved to date.

I know others have had good luck...that hasn't been my experience. And, my charging station was professionally installed through the vehicle manufacturer's ordering website.

PROS:

same unit used by vehicle manufacturer dealerships, at least in Central Ohio

AV was recommended by vehicle manufacturer's ordering website as preferred supplier

CONS:

unreliable, in my experience, as I described above

expensive vs. alternatives

serial number (necessary for warranty work) is located on a label affixed to the bottom of the unit, and is printed in a font requiring a scanning electron microscope to read.

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I've had this product installed in my garage for 14 months and have had no problem with it. It interfaces perfectly with the timer on my Leaf to insure that I charge during off-off-peak hours without fail. I'm confident every morning that I will be on my way with a full charge.

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This charger is well made of high quality component parts, but it's grossly overpriced. If the ultimate goal here is to have legions of EV's out there then critical accessories such as this charger (must have item for any EV owner) must cost much less than I had to pay here ($1,100 incl. shipping), and the unit must be professionally installed (could easily cost another grand). In my own case, I'm an electronics engineer, I installed this myself, and configured it so it is portable. Taking it with you is necessary, there are not enough stations out there yet. And as I say, it's too damn expensive, could really be had for much less (hello any capitalist business types out there especially green ones!). Ultimately, this is a very well made, quality and very EXPENSIVE product, delivered in good condition and in a timely fashion, by those good folks out there at AMAZON. A pleasure to spend my money there, as always. JEFF

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My electrician was able to install this charger very easily. The cord is quite long so accommodates my driveway with tandem parking. I use it to charge my Chevy Volt. It was a lot cheaper than the cheap GE product that Chevy referred me to after getting my own installation. If you have a washer/dryer nearby then it will be easy to access the 240V. Very happy and it also is fully sealed in the rain. Highly recommended.

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I ordered this charging station at 3pm and it arrived the following day! I did pay for 2 day shipping but would use standard the next time. This charger was easy to hook up and works amazing. My Leaf charges up in about 5 hours! It also looks pretty good in my garage. Buy it, you will be happy with the purchase.

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Advanced Gomadic Brand TomTom 740 2 in 1 Auto / Car DC Charger with Foldable Wall AC Charging plug -

• State of the art, advanced circuitry prevents the TomTom 740 from being damaged by power surges, overcharging and/or short-circuiting.
• Broad input voltage range of 12-24VDC and 100-240VAC respectively. Permits charging via vehicle and home outlets worldwide!
• Intelligent circuit tailors precise output voltage (including resistor configuration) specific to the TomTom 740. This ensures battery is safely and efficiently charged.
• Provides a unique combination of both a Rapid Car Charger and a Rapid Wall Charger in one light and compact design
• "Power Sleep" feature will cut power draw of charger by over 99% when not in use. Charger will draw less than 0.1W of power when in "ready state" (e.g. not connected).

I am very pleased with my recent purchase of the 740 model. The only drawback is that it uses a proprietary connector, instead of the miniUSB that previous units I have had. It requires that the supplied-based is always used. Other than that, it's a quality product and I am very pleased with the performance and functionality.

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RoadPro 12-Volt Portable Stove, Black

• Handy 12-volt portable stove
• Warms food to 300 degrees
• Can be used to heat most kinds of pre-cooked food
• Plugs into most 12V lighter-type sockets
• Ideal for stews, beans, chops, rice meals, hot dishes/goulash and more

It really gets old eating fast food while out on the road.I'm a trucker and thats all they have in most travel centers.On Christmas my girlfriend got me this,and its the best gift I could have gotten.This is a tackle box stove, and its mainly a food warmer.This will get pretty hot also,and after plugged in for only 10 minutes the bottom plate has plenty of heat.I can pull into a rest area,throw some hot pockets or burritos in it.Then head down the road and then pull over and have lunch in about an hour.This stove saves me a whole lot of money as well,as i really don't have a need to eat out when I'm on the road.In the morning i can put some sausage biscuits in it and in 30 min. there piping hot.As for dinner i can warm up leftover pizza,lasagna,soups, or pretty much any frozen food and it comes out great.If theres any negative thing to this stove,I'm not sure what it would be.Its prefect for a someone running solo or a team.So if you want to eat healthier on the road or just to be able to bring some real good food with you,this would be the item to have.

UPDATE 4/11I need to to let people know i am still enjoying my stove.I'm able to pull over put my food in my stove,and about an hour later its done.I was getting burned out on hotpockets,so found other great things to cook.miniature pizzas for 45 min.(butches pizza) work great in this,you might need to trim it though.Chicken wings for 60 min.(walgreens premade)work great in this too,and a nice treat for me.campbells chucky soups for 60-90 min. using loaf pans lined with foil,our great to have as well.I like the clam chowder & chicken gumbo sausage soups.BBQ sandwiches work great in this too,i buy lloyds premade pork for 45 min.,and a package of buns and i'm set for the week.Mozzarella sticks & cheddar poppers for 45 min.our a nice treat as well.This stove really saves me a whole lot of money and being a long distance trucker,it gives me a chance to have something decent when i'm gone.

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I want o start by saying the image shown doesn't really look like the Roadpro I got, the one pictured looks cheaply made and flimsy. The one I got looks much better built. Also there are no tins, not a big deal as I had some already (and I recommend getting some they will be handy)

That said this thing is awesome! I pre-made a few breakfast burritos to heat up while we were out in the Mts on a day trip. I got out my little stove to give it a try, grabbed my burrito out of the ice chest and about 10mins later had a hot meal and I do mean hot! This thing definitely lives up to the 300 degrees.

Two things to note:

1. The bottom of the stove gets fairly warm. I only had it on for 15-20mins at a time so I can't say how hot it would get but it was hot enough I took notice.

2. I felt the need to flip my burritos as it heated more on the bottom than the top. Stacking two to three didn't work well either. There was plenty of room but the ones on top didn't get hot, they might have got a little warmer but not much.

Read Best Reviews of RoadPro 12-Volt Portable Stove, Black Here

I work for the Fire Department Emergency Medical Services and always find it very difficult to have lunch since we are not given a lunch break. So, now I can just heat up my food while working and have a nice hot home made meal as soon as I have a chance instead of waiting for take out fast food. Trust me that now in this difficult times 911 is very busy and sometimes we dont even make it to a fast food restaurant. So its also a very smart way to save money for those of us working on the road.

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It was so nice to have a hot meal on the outing. Beware, it draws a little over 12 amps and most car accessories are fused at 6 or 8 amps (at least the ones I've seen). I custom built my Accessory line and made it heavy duty for a 20 amp service so I was OK from the start. The unit says it runs at 144 Watts, and my ammeter agreed (12V X 12A =144W). Definately use the foil trays and consider using extra foil in those trays to cover whatever you have in them to keep it from spilling if the stove gets knocked around at all.

The items in the bottom of the tray were scorched (hot dogs) the first time I used the stove, and they were really hot after about 1/2 hour or so. The second day I added some water into the bottom of the stove (under the tray) and it was perfect...no scorching, and still really hot. I can hardly wait to try it again and come up with different things to heat up.

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I bought this for my husband for christmas, He was'nt sure about it at first, but now he loves it. he works outside and is tired of sandwiches and fast food now he can take left overs or heat different soups. he said in 20-25 min it heats up to 300 degrees and his food is hot! thiss product is well worth the money.

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Power Bright PW1100-12 Power Inverter 1100 Watt 12 Volt DC To 110 Volt AC

I bought this to handle several AC devices at one time and it has never let me down.

PROS:

durable construction

quiet = fan only comes on when unit gets warm after initial power up

LED display of watts being used or battery volts remaining. Very cool.

CONS:

power cables from battery clamps to unit are stiff and brittle. You can buy upgraded "ultra flexible" ones but IMHO they should ship with that.

Get this...you won't be sorry :-)

We use this inverter in a storm shelter here in West Texas. It is connected to a automotive battery. Have a Battery Tender on the battery to keep it charged. In a tornado the inverter will provide power to the shelter for TV, radio, lights and a fan. Tests of the system have been perfect. The inverter has good connections for plugging it in and for clamping it to the battery. Like the front display showing stats.

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I really shouldn't complain. I mean with the cost of this thing its hard to be unhappy. The product works. I am sucking 1100w peak at startup and 880-900w @ 10.8-11v continuous. My big issue is @ 75f the inverter shuts down after 6 1/2 minutes. I thought maybe the batteries i have may be faulty, but no, they still pass load tests after shutdown. Problem is, if the inverter is used anywhere near continuous rating, it gets super hot and shuts down. I can let it cool a few minutes and it works again,but only after flipping the switch on and off. The green light comes back on and the thing stops beeping and flashing its red light but wont power the load until the unit is turned off, then back on. This will be annoying at best. I have 350Ah of battery capacity because i need to use my vacuum for 30-45 minutes, @ 80A draw. Now i will have to periodically wait for the inverter to shut down every 6-7 minutes and find something productive to do. Also, the inverter is VERY light. I knew i had a problem as soon as i took it out of the box.

So, case in point; If you need this to run high wattage load for very short periods of time it appears to be the best value inverter in this wattage range. But, if you need to use it to make money like me, it will more then likely lead to some embarrassing outbursts and wasted productivity. I will be re purposing this inverter for another project and replacing it with a commercial unit like i should have purchased in the first place. "You get what you pay for" -once again my grandmothers infinite wisdom lives on.

Read Best Reviews of Power Bright PW1100-12 Power Inverter 1100 Watt 12 Volt DC To 110 Volt AC Here

It works all right for what it is. Based on the claim that it is great for electronics/etc. and all of the reviews that say it is quiet, I was thinking this is a pure sine wave inverter. Electronics need pure sine waves for reliable performance, correct time keeping, etc. and I assumed (yeah, I know the saying) that being advertised as "perfect" for electronics, that it would be pure.

It is not a pure sine wave inverter; the box (not pictured) says modified sine wave and the description did not say either way. The inverter itself does not say if it is pure or modified sine wave anywhere that I noticed.

I should have known it was modified sine wave by the $80 price tag for such a high wattage rating. Pure sine wave inverters are 2-3 times as expensive.

I tried it anyway, installing it in a camper travel trailer with proper grounding and it does supply power and the inverter itself runs quietly.

I hooked the trailer's external power cord into the inverter (running off of a Trojan battery bank) and it does send enough electricity to run the refrigerator and lights and objects plugged into outlets all at the same time. My battery monitor said it was pulling about 25 amps or so, and the Inverter showed roughly 300 watts being used.

The problem is that the modified sine waves cause my electrical system and items I plug in to buzz. The lights buzz quietly, the fridge a little bit louder, and a fan I plugged in started buzzing loudly and the reciprocating motor started twitching the fan so it moved a little even when turned off. None of these behaviors happen when plugged into a power cord coming from a house's external power outlet.

There are two causes for buzzing electricity that I have found in my Internet searches: improper grounding, or if it's properly grounded, the modified sine wave. I haven't tried hooking a TV and an XBox 360 up to it just in case.

It's big enough to look sturdy and capable, but small enough that I installed it in a 19" toolbox from Wal-Mart to make it portable, running the wires out holes I cut in the side of the box.

I did get the big 4 Gauge Inverter wire kit Cobra CPI-A4000BC 4-AWG Heavy-Duty AC Power Inverter Cable Kit Amazon recommended. (Red and black 4 gauge power wires, green 6 gauge grounding wire, and a couple of ring terminals for customizing the length of the 4 gauge wires.) You really do need those specialized wires to make this work for a permanent/semi-permanent installation. The kit is cheaper than buying the same wires and ends at Home Depot.

The wires that come with the Inverter are 2 Feet long, about 8 gaugish, and have alligator clamps on one end. You can quickly hook it to a battery and get some juice for a short term job with those, but the instructions say the ground wire (included in Cobra's kit, but not with the inverter) is required for installation.

I haven't tried it with power tools yet, but that might be a place where I wouldn't notice buzzing if there is any.

Based on the fact that it makes every 110 AC item in my trailer buzz when I use it, I'm going to have to spring for a pure sine wave inverter and either sell this one or find something it doesn't cause to buzz to work with.

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I installed this in my travel trailer to run a tv/dvd, small microwave and computers. it works great, it dont get hot or make any weird noises and its pretty well built. I was a little worried about a converter because I've heard horror stories about them catching fire, but after having this one run for a while with no issues, no worries. i recommend this converter

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eForCity USB Charger+Sync Cable Compatible with Microsoft Zune 80GB 4GB 30G

• Update your Zune at high speed with the latest music and data.
• The USB Cable offers 400 mbs throughput for quick transfer of your music and data to Microsoft Zune.
• USB cable also has charging capability, in addition to hotsync.
• Color: White.
• Cord Length: 36 inches / 0.91 m. Weight: 2.5 oz.

It says it requires some kind of hook up. Doesnt make any sense to me but I guess it happens. Not the best but thats because it wont connect. Im going to look for a different one. I know its the cord because my ipod works just fine connecting and my zune did with the one I lost before ordering this one.

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Purchased this to replace my daughter's worn out Zune sync cable. It was promoted as working the same as the original sync cord, but it is NOT compatible. It does charge the unit, however it DOES NOT sync with the Zune software so it cannot download new music. I have since ordered her another one from another site.

It did arrive promptly and it was cheap, but save your money unless all you're looking for is a new charger for your MP3.

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This cable gets the job done. I have a 80gb Zune and this cable lets me charge and sync music into my Zune. It works great and you'll save money.

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EZOPower "Apple Certified" White Rapid Car Charger w/ IC Chip - No Overcharging for Verizon Sprint A

• EZOPower Car Charger in retail packaging
• Made for iPod iPhone / Licensed by Apple.
• Keep your phone charged while on the road!
• Stable current with built-in short-circuit and over-current protection.
• Plugs into car cigarette lighter socket to charge iPod or iPhone. A convenient, travel-ready solution for keeping your iPod or iPhone charged when you are on the road.

Item arrived quickly and works w/my otterbox cover. It sometimes feels like it will pop out but doesn't....It works fine, and for the price...worth it!

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The first one I received would not fit in my phone so they sent me another one. Five stars for customer service. I don't use the unit very often but for your information, it will not plug into an iPhone that has a case.

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The car charger works great, I got it at a great price. There's not much else to say about it.

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Decent inexpensive Apple iPhone/iPod charger. One flaw is that the "dock" connector is larger than the standard Apple connector, so it doesn't work with all protective cases (especially the thicker ones). I have to take the case off my phone to use this charger. That's worthy of a 3-star rating because they could easily have made it the standard Apple size without any new engineering.

So far the charger works just fine and for ten bucks it's hard to complain too much.

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I had ordered a generic (cheap) "Apple Approved" car charger previously for my Iphone 4S and it didn't work out of the box. Apple logo lit up, but phone would not charge.

I was skeptical this one would work, but phone charges just fine. The only thing I don't like is the cord is a bit short and isn't particularly "springy".

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12 Volt Power Pulse Battery Charger

• Increase battery life upto 5x
• Provides greater charge acceptance
• Batteries charge faster and last longer
• No assembly required
• 10 in. L x 8 in. W x 2 in. H (1 lbs.) PowerPulse is not a charger. Charging does not eliminate the main cause of premature battery failures energy-robbing sulfate deposits on battery plates. During this process, the plates gradually become more and more clogged with microscopic lead sulfate deposits. These deposits eventually limit the surface area available for energy transfer and cut back the battery's ability to accept, store and release energy. PowerPulse generates an intermittent, o

Easy hook up and is working as advertised. I got this for $35 and see now what a good price that was. It still seems a little pricey but when you consider what you pay for a couple of 6 volt batteries and replacing them every year to year and a half this may be a really good investment, I hope. Before you say it, I know all of the procedures for batteries sitting idle for long periods of time, but all you have to do is to forget one time and let you batteries either boil out, or let time stay off line too long and guess what? You either have one or two dead batteries. Also, I was depending on an ohm/vlt meter to check the charge and guess what? The meter said the batteries were good so I headed for the tall woods and nearly froze to death when the furnace in my MH stop working because the batteries were dead. The only reliable way to check the condition of you batteries is with a Hydrometer. You can pick one of these up at Auto Zone for about $5 and it will tell the truth about each individual cell condition of you batteries. The volt meter says 12 volts even if two of the cells are dead. This Plusetech is supposed to keep the batteries conditioned at all times -two new batteries -we will see?

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I put this on a battery that was most likely sulfated and that didn't start my engine and now it will start the engine. It a good tool to have for batteries that were left partly discharged longer than they should have been. The price is right.

Read Best Reviews of 12 Volt Power Pulse Battery Charger Here

I must say all the PulseTech products work as designed and Customer Service is great at the factory... Fantastic answers and will help with what you need to purchase for your applications...

I put it on in Feb of 2012 and as of Nov 2012 my battery operates like new. It took me about 3 weeks to see the difference in my 3-1/2 year Exide battery in my van when traveling at night... The Battery was failing as the lights were dimming on headlights and on interior etc prior to the 3 weeks of installation. I said to my partner as we were coming home from NC, wow, I can see at night again since my lights were much brighter and "were on low beam". What really tells me how much brighter my lights are is when on coming folks at night blink their lights at mine and my lights are only on low beam...

By the way, I have 3 of PulseTechs Solargizers for Harley, trolling motor batteries and barn light battery.

" GO GREEN "

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I installed a hybrid solar system on our home about three years ago. Hybrid because it has a battery back up and grid-tie function. I installed the the power pulse on my battery bank less that a week ago -that's six Trojan L-16's. I am already seeing more capacity and faster charging. I'm excited to see what my capacity will be after a couple of months. The power pulse

seem to be living up to all of the written claims -I am very pleased with this product.

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I researched these devices, and the science sounds logical. I being Master Auto Certified, and was Engineer on Space Shuttle at KSC, Fla. I have multiple deep-cycle batteries in my motorhome, and would like to get a few more yrs use from them. I'll try to remember to come back then to give you better feedback.

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Goal Zero Extreme 350 Power Pack

• 350 watt hours of power pack storage capacity
• LCD status monitor keeps track of power storage in 20 per cent increments
• Ergonomic rubberized handle for greater comfort and grip; UV treated and weather-resistant
• Built-in temperature control and fuse systems to ensure safety and long-term performance
• This item is not for sale in Catalina Island

The 350 batteries are chainable to up to 4 GOAL0 batteries, but don't add the wattage of each battery thinking that you will get that much total output wattage. That's right: there is not enough output wattage to power a sump pump, or a small stove burner, or a small microwave oven when the electricity goes out.

At the time of this review, the maximum output wattage you can receive from the chained 350 wattage is totally dependent on the INVERTER used (the Goal0 33001 Extreme Universal Inverter). This fact is not promoted enough by vendors or the manufacturer Goal0 (Goal Zero).

You can only get UP TO 400 watts output power based on the existing Goal0 Universal Inverter.

After speaking to the manufacturer (Goal0), they said their engineers are working on an inverter that will allow more output wattage on chained batteries. They expect to have it on the market sometime in 2012.

Meanwhile, the Goal0 350 Battery (chained batteries) and Universal Inverter is GREAT for running anything that does not consume over 400 watts of power. By the way, the general rule of thumb for calculating wattage is: Electrical Voltage X Amps = Watts. For example, if your device (or combined devices connected to a power extension cord) runs on a typical American residental electric circuit (115 volts) and the label on the device says 3 amps (or total 3 amps for all devices on the extension cord), then you could use the equation: 115 volts X 3 amps = 345 watts.

Using this product, you can power several things. If the electricity goes out as a result of a storm, it is amazing how this device enables you to utilize the small things in life that will help establish some normalcy in your household during a minor or major critical incident.

For example, as a result of Hurricane Irene, our electicity went out for three days. While I had a gas powered electric generator running our sump pumps, deep freezer, security system and refrigerators, we were watching the news and movies on our backup 12" screen CRT-type monitor hooked up to our dish sattelite receiver. Both were on an extension cord and plugged into ONE GOAL0 Ranger 350 Kit with Ranger Universal Inverter.

(Before running the generator, I plugged our home security system (a professionally installed comprehensive system) into this product. Not only did it power the security system, it also charged the security system backup battery at the same time. This is good to know in case there is a long-term, major outage on the electrical grid and you cannot get more gasoline to power your gasoline generator.)

You can also obtain the alligator clips cable adapter so the GOAL0 battery can trickle charge other batteries, such as battery-operated back-up sump pumps, too.

There are several other peripheral GOAL0 products for the 350 Battery and Universal Inverter. Two critical items are: the Goal0 22003 Escape 30M Solar Panel Briefcase, and the Goal0 4.7mm Input to 8mm Input. The latter item is a cable adapter that will allow you to fit the output plug of the solar panels into the batteries. If you chain the batteries together you will need the GOAL0 chain cable, too.

For your convenience, I reviewed the aforementioned GOAL0 solar panels and adapter cable separately on Amazon.

By many accounts, the year 2012 will be a challenging year. This includes warnings by scientists of major solar flare activity that may produce EMP to damage the electrical grid. Getting prepared NOW is the way to go.

Stay Safe!

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I do not own this product. I researched solar off grid systems for a while and while the components of this kit look nice and are easy to connect (it seems), you are paying double for the nice packaging.

This power pack is a 30 Amp battery with a small charge controller. You can buy a standard universal sealed 12v battery, 35amp for ~$80. add a charge controller (as big or small as you need) and some cables, and you are spending no more than $140. You will have the flexibility to choose any battery from small all the way to 250 amp (3000KWH) rather than buying several units and daisy chaining. and your components will be universal and not proprietary to a company that apparently has no support and may not be around next year.

So if you are a do it your self guy, remember amp x volt = watt. We are dealing with 12V so amp (or amp/h) x 12 = watt (watt/h).

Figure out how much energy is needed to run your item(s) and how long you want to run them each day, you could then calculate the Wh or Ah you need per day, and based on that determine how many panels and batteries would be needed. If you have a laptop and a lantern using 50 watt and you will use them for 6 hours, 300 Wh or 25 Ah is all you need.

You will need these components:

Battery to store power: The ampere hour (Ah) of a battery tells how much energy can be stored inside.

Generate power to charge battery: AC adapter, DC (car) charger, Solar panels, wind turbine, etc. The number and size of solar panels will determine how fast you will charge your batteries. More panels/bigger means faster charging. Panels are usually sold by the watt. a 30 watt array will need 100 hours to charge a large 250 amp battery (at full sunlight). smaller battery will charge faster. Remember that the wattage of a panel is what it could generate under ideal conditions full sunlight, clean panels, right angle toward the sun. If you want to account for less than ideal light, you will need more panels to compensate for reduced effectiveness to get tot he same wattage. To avoid over charging you will need a:

Charge controller: between the panels and the batteries to prevent overcharging (1 amp for every 15 watts of panels to be safe).

To use the power in the battery get a good: Inverter it will convert the 12 volt power of the battery into 120 volt power to use. The size of the inverter determines how much power can be pulled from the battery at any one time. How long it will power your item(s) will depend on how much power is available in the batteries. Peak power means it could accomodate a power surge up to a peak of x watt fora few seconds useful for devices that have a wattage spike when they start but consume less while running.

Top it off with the right cables, connectors, and a multi tester (to check loads and currents) and you've got a modular, universal system you can tailor to your needs for a fraction of the price, and repair or upgrade any time with any vendor's components.

Read Best Reviews of Goal Zero Extreme 350 Power Pack Here

I bought my Goal Zero Ranger 350 kit about a year ago and used it a couple times when the power went out. It worked great powering 120v xmas lights and recharging cell phones.

I followed the instructions and charged the battery every couple months to maintain the charge. A few months ago, the battery stopped holding a charge. I would charge it to 100%, and after unplugging it, the charge would go to 60% in 15 minutes. I checked the manual and noted that the battery was outside the 6 month warranty period. I called Goal Zero and the rep told me that the batteries now had 12 month warranties, which was a nice surprise. The rep agreed to send me a new unit with a return shipping label. It took about 4 weeks to get the replacement, which seems to be working fine over the last couple months. I keep this unit plugged in all the time, hoping that it won't have the same issues as my first battery. The manual indicates the battery should have a 5 year life span if maintained properly. Time will tell...

As another reviewer mentioned, the inverter does seem very cheaply made and doesn't connect to the battery very securely.

I'm not sure I would recommend buying this unit, especially for the price. I think Goal Zero has some bugs it needs to workout before it can justify such a high price tag.

****Updated 10/25/12

The replacement battery will not hold a charge above 12.4 to 12.5 volts, which is roughly 70-80% discharged for most 12v batteries. I have charged the battery every week since I received it and have not abused it in any way. I have used it to charge some batteries on and off using the 12v cigarette adapter. I also let it run down to 50% and then recharged to see if it would get above 12.5 volts. No luck. There is no explanation for why such an expensive battery would perform so poorly.

I agree 100% with another reviewer who said the high price must be for the fancy packaging. You would be much better served creating your own power back-up system without relying on the Goal Zero proprietary cables & plugs.

I bought a couple Trojan 24-TMX batteries for $135/each and a NOCO genius charger. Much more bang for your buck.

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After several power failures, I was looking for something I could use to recharge phones, power my DSL modem and wireless router, and other small devices when the power next goes out. After doing some research, I came across this kit. It worked right out of the box. I charged up the battery (it arrived with an 80% charge) and tested it out by plugging in both my modem and router. After over 14 hours of continuous use, the battery still showed a 40% charge remaining. The battery itself only comes with a cigarette lighter connector. In order for it to be truly useful, you also need the inverter, which has another cigarette lighter connector, as well as a USB connector, a 6 volt connector for other Goal0 lights, and a universal AC plug. Plug in a power strip into the AC connector, and you can run a number of devices at the same time. When you charge the battery with the included charging cable, the power brick becomes quite hot my infrared thermometer measured the temperature at over 150 degrees f.

Not only will this kit power my devices during the next power failure, but I will take in with us during our next car trips.

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well i bought this product because of power outages in california, it arrived promptly, everything was fine, no damage, followed the instruction about charging it before using it. well charged it a day and a half, the power level was at 80%. ok that's great tried to charge to full strenght, never got a 100% and the power was decreasing and it's not in use, so charged it up again now not getting 80% maybe if i'm lucky i'll get 60 to 40 %. Now the power goes out and the energy is not there only has 40% power......that sucked!....well emailed goal0 about this problem hopefully they can help me, if not going to return this product and build my own kit...and i did order the boulder 30 solar panel but, it was cracked on the backside and a really really smart person tried to hide it with a touch up paint pen, naw i wasn't going to see 4in crack on the back. had no problems with the return of that product.

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Kenwood CA-SR20V Sirius Connection Cable for 2008 Video Unit

• Connects to 2008 and newer Kenwood multimedia receivers
• Great sound quality
• Convenience of using your stereo's controls to surf the many Sirius channels available
• Product weighs less than 1 lb.

Did its job for my kenwood dnx 9980hd head unit. But had to buy another cord to make it all work

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I ordered this cable to connect a Kenwood DNX6960 to a Sirius SC-C1. It came quickly and worked without incident.

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This cable works for is exact use of connecting the satellite receiver box to the head unit. Had no issues installing or using.

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This was affordable and it fit the bill. I have a dnx6140 so if u have one u must get this to hook up the sirius adapter(sold seperately) and should be less than $70 dollars for both if u buy on amazon.

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cable connects your sirius SCC1 interface cable directly from the Sirius Tuner to you 2008 and up Kenwood receiver.

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