Powerlet SAE to Cigarette Socket Cable - 3"

• SAE To Cigarette Socket Cables
• Adapter cable
• Convert a SAE Luggage Electrix lead (Battery Tender harness) to a Cigarette socket. Good for cell phones, radar detectors & GPS units. Carry this in case of an emergency, plugs into any Battery Tender lead! Available in 3" 12" and 18" lengths.

I have SAE port on my motorcycle for a battery tender. This will be used to power a GPS while riding. A little simpler than installing a permanent power outlet.

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This is a great product from Powerlet Products. I have a battery tender installed on my bike and I wanted to be able to charge my electronics while on the road such as my GPS and ipod. This here saved me some extra wiring. I only wish I bought the 12 inch or 18 inch cable as the 3 inch is a little short for my needs.

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This works great to plug into my battery charger connection on my bike. Easy recharge of phone or GPS and is a great way to recharge without all the fuss of additional wiring for occasional use.

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Great little device for connecting GPS, cell phone and other accessories to your motorcycle if it doesn't have an accessory outlet. Also can be used as a battery charger outlet pigtail. It is small enough to carry in your pocket or windshield bag.

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I use a 12v deep cycle battery to provide power to my telescope mount. In the past I've used a cigarette socket with spring clips to attach to the battery, but the connection proved unreliable. My solution was to screw a SAE pigtail to the screw terminals on the battery, and then connect this SAE to cigarette socket to the pigtail. The result is a much more secure power connection. It also simplifies recharging the battery, now I just disconnect this socket and attach a Battery Tender.

Gus

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Schumacher IP-1875C Instant Power with Air Compressor

• 12 volt DC power source with hi-pressure air compressor
• Adjustable high-intensity beam spotlight
• Safety features includes jump start power on/off switch and reverse hookup protection with audible alarm
• Built-in charger for automatic charging of internal battery
• Easy-to-read battery status LEDs display full power, 75 percent charged or 50 percent or less

I had this jumper battery for a few months and I didn't use it until now that my friend's Saturn Vue V6 engine was not starting. I connected the clamps to his battery and the car started immediately. The battery status on this unit has 3 lights (red-yellow-green) and is very useful to know when to recharge it. It was on yellow status but it still could start several cars with ease. The air compressor and the flash light on the unit are also very useful. A very handy equipment for the price (when I bought it, it was $80)

I would recommend it.

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This combination air compressor/12vdc battery back-up has been in my possession for about one month and has not only successfully pumped up two half-flat auto tires, but seems to have accepted a fairly deep charge via a 120vac extension cord after each use. (I haven't tried recharging the internal battery from an auto battery yet.) Since this doesn't represent a very long-term or comprehensive review, I can only add that the air compressor seems robust if slow; a 10psi increase in tire pressure requiring about 2 minutes. The indicator lights, utility light, and psi guage all seem well-made, and the latter shows the actual pressure while operating, unlike cheaper gauges that only stabilize after shutting off the compressor. My only other concern/comment is that the battery cable clamps are always exposed, one on each side of the unit, and it would be possible to complete the circuit inadvertently if the unit fell into a puddle or was stored haphazardly around wire, since the cable/battery disconnect switch doesn't seem to work and the cables are, therefore, always "live". I'm not sure if this is a serious health hazard, but it certainly increases the chance for a destructive short-circuit and I'd recommend checking the function of your disconnect switch before leaving the unit exposed around children.

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I choose the Schumacher compressor package for it's price and features. I've been really surprised how much I have used it. It so handy that it allows me to better keep up with the tire pressure on my cars and I have used the jump start feature to get my neighbors car going and a car that was on a bridge where we couldn't turn around to use regular jumper cables. The compressor is a bit slow but it doesn't give up, even on SUV tires. One thing to note, the on board pressure gauge is not accurate at all (almost gave 4 stars for that but it has been to handy not to give it 5 stars).

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Very reliable and convenient charger. We kept this baby in the back of our SUV for months. About a month ago, we finally had a reason to put it to good use when the truck battery went dead. The unit was all set and fully charged when we first took it out of the box and was still fully charged when we needed it. We hooked the cables up to the battery, went to start up the truck and it instantly started up. We have also used the air compressor for our tires many times and it works well. It takes about 2-3 minutes to pump a tire up from 24-36psi. Not too bad for a compact charger. Very happy with this purchase.

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Worked one time. Second time I went to use it, the built in light had accidentally come on and drained the battery. I will accept responsibility for that (even though it was stowed in the trunk). When I went to charge it today, both the expose 110/120V charging "prongs" broke and got pushed into the unit. (To charge this device, you essentially plug an extension cord into it, then plug it into a wall outlet.) Now there is no way to charge the device. So, to void the warranty (!) I opened it up to find this piece of crap Chinese transformer unit. I'm surprised I was able to even charge it the first time. Very poor design. Avoid.

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AmazonBasics Universal Travel Case for Small Electronics and Accessories -Black

• Interior offers secure storage space and prevents scratches
• Universal travel case stores and protects small electronics, power adapters and memory cards
• Molded EVA-plastic exterior; interior stretch-mesh pockets. Outer dimensions 9.5 x 5.25 x 1.88 inches (241.30mm x 133.35mm x 47.75mm)
• Distributed by Amazon.com; backed by one-year Amazon Basics warranty
• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

I normally tote around a backpack between home and work with different gadgets, components and accessories spread across different pockets in my jeans, backpack or just carrying lose in my hand. This travel container helps put it all in one place with enough variety of sized spots to meet most needs.

Hopefully you find this video review (my 2nd, ack!) helpful.

UPDATE: I remembered after the video I could have thrown in my GPS, my fLIP and a 5inch camera/video tripod. Very cool case!

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The case is a semi-hard shell case with multiple dividers and pockets inside for every variety of add-ons and accoutrements you need for your electronic gear. Think, rubber pull tabs make opening and closing extremely easy. The width may be a bit thick for some briefcases, but it fits fine in my Booq EXO XL case.

I'm an IT professional and occasional writer, so no matter what I am doing that day to make a living, I have to carry a variety of electronics with me. My standard load includes: iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro 13", card readers, a variety of SD cards, flash drives and two 2.5" portable hard drives. That means I have a lot of stuff to plug in and charge, be it at a client's office or at a cafe. And this travel case holds the power chargers for the MacBook Pro, the iPad, the iPhone, all the variety of cables for the hard drives, all the SD cards and readers and a stack of business cards. I can fit one of the 2.5" hard drives in it as well if I need to, but usually I leave those in pockets in my briefcase.

After years of electonica ruling or at least enabling the world, it's like someone finally put some thought into the cases those devices need. I'm surprised it took so long. The pockets and layers and pouches inside are all well thought out, solid but not intractable so they can adapt to any device, be it the huge ugly brick of a Toshiba laptop or the rounded compact Apple wall chargers. The zipper pickets perfectly fit everything from memory cards to iPod cables. And you can see though the mesh so there is no fumbling around.

I have only had this about 10 days but it's standing up to pretty rigorous use. It's MUCH studier and better-made than any Case Logic or other brand cases. Those usually last me about three months each, cost the same, but those seem outright primitive in details and product design compared to this case.

I have been impressed with the whole AmazonBasic line they are exclusively the cabling and blank media I buy now. For a line Amazon seems to be paralleling with "generic" goods, AmazonBasic as a line is superior to to the "name" brands. I can only wonder what and hope for what a "AmazonAdvanced" line will give us.

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I was offered the opportunity to review this new, Amazon-branded case, and I have to say that my first impression was "Wow". I was very impressed by the non-cheapness of this case, when compared to others in the

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Uniden Public Safety Receiver (Home Patrol- 1)

• Easily set service types
• Record and playback
• Quick hold allows you to tap on the channel name to lock and hold on any system, department or channel
• See agency information at a glance
• On-screen controls let you quickly access features you'll use the most

The Uniden Home Patrol-1 is an amazing piece of technology. A touch screen scanner that requires very little user input, and has the entire US frequency database in its memory. For the most part, the HP-1 make scanning as simple as can be. You hook up the scanner to your PC, and run the Uniden Sentinel Software. The software downloads the latest frequency database from RadioReference. You upload the the database to the scanner, and you're good to go. Just enter your Zip Code, City, or GPS coordinates, and the HP-1 will scan all the agencies in your area. You can even hook up an optional GPS unit to automatically follow your location. You set the range of the scanner from 0-30 miles to limit how far away the agencies are that the scanner will attempt to scan. You can also select the type of agencies you wish to listen to. I find the "location" setting to be hit or miss. It seems to think that towns that are 40 miles from me, are actually less than 1 mile from me. It also thinks agencies in my own town are more than 10 miles away. This is due to the database, not the scanner. The database has been getting updated on a daily basis, to get it more accurate and up to date. I find that setting up your own "Favorites Lists" works well in listening to what you want to.

As for the hardware itself, the HP-1 is a very solid performer. The receiver has great sensitivity and selectivity. I've listened to APCO-25 digital systems, EDACS, and Motorola analog trunking systems. All of them were configured correctly without any user input. Audio quality is good, but not great. It is about what I expected from a very small speaker. The small SMA duck antenna performs surprisingly well, especially on UHF. The touch screen is bright and easy to use. Battery life with the included 2300mAh batteries is good. I get over 8 hours on a single charge. The scanner is capable of replaying and recording transmissions. A very cool feature. The scanner also comes with a home charger/adapter, car charger/adapter, and home stand. The stand is a nice touch. The HomePatrol-1 is a nice addition to my collection of scanners. People that don't like to program their scanners, or would like to use it in different areas, will probably enjoy it also.

Update: A few months ago, Uniden introduced a new "Extreme Upgrade" firmware update for the Home Patrol-1. They are charging $100 for this upgrade, and it adds some new features to the scanner. So basically in order for you get all the features of the Home Patrol-1, you now have to spend $600, or you'll have a crippled $500 radio. In my opinion, this is a dangerous practice. Many in the Amatuer Radio Community are outraged about this, but everyone has to decide for themselves whether or not they have an issue with this. As a matter of principle, I will not be paying another $100 for a firmware upgrade, and I lowered my rating from 5 stars to 4 stars. I will also think twice about purchasing another Uniden radio since I'll never know whether or not Uniden will be charging for future upgrades.

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I'm in a small city in New Mexico and I'm sure that this scanner works perfectly in Dallas or even Albuquerque but it doesn't work where I am. The advertisements state that when you type in your zip code or city you can begin listening to fire, police, emergency transmissions etc. Unfortunately the transmissions come from a database and if your local police, fire, etc. frequencies aren't in the data base you hear nothing at all. The unit looks like you are scanning Police, railroads, etc. but it never stops.

I'd advise contacting Uniden before investing in this expensive unit if you are in a small town or city.

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Could I be dreaming? Is this really true for this price? All these features with a touch screen? Long and the short of it is this is an amazing breakthrough in digital scanners at this price point! I am a news videographer who has worked in many different markets for various stations and has had a number of different scanners through the years. The Home Patrol 1 beats many of them hands down from both a pro and amateur level. Yes the unit needs some work but I expected that as this is such a new product.

The Pros: Right out of the box you can set it up to work via zipcode, city, GPS(need the proper connection), or area (the HP1 automatically picks up what signals are in the area). These methods work extremely well right out of the box but do have some issues which I'll get to in the Cons section.

For this price it comes with everything, home AND car charger, preloaded frequencies, stand and software all in a touch screen package. Hands down this can't be beat.

The touch screen is brilliant and relatively easy to navigate. Set brightness, auto dim, contrast and power save to your liking and your off.

Having all the frequencies preloaded on a 2gig micro SD card is great also Plus the fact that Uniden updates the list on a regular basis which is taken care of just by plugging the unit into the computer and hitting update in the software.

Squelch, attenuation, range, inputting frequencies, favorites, gps connection and yes even recording are all here.

The In Between: My understanding is that Uniden knows about these problems and are working on fixing them.

While having the ability to set zipcode, range, area etc. is fantastic the unit gets a bit confused and leads to excessive work out of the box. I put my zipcode in and it loaded states that were over two hours away. Same thing with entering range, I set it for 15 miles and it loads frequencies from over forty miles away. So then you have to work on locking out channels left and right.

You can set up what you want to listen to such as fire, police, transportation, rail, etc. but the problem is even with certain departments chosen it will just load everything up. For example all I wanted was police, fire and ems yet it loaded up rail, airports and transportation anyway.

Again Uniden knows about these problems and is working on them.

The Bad or Nitpicky: Being able to save favorites in the unit is a good thing to have but to make an entire list is a giant time consuming pain and your much better off making a list in the software which leads me to the next problem. The software is easy to navigate but has little to no instruction on creating and saving your lists to the unit. I figured it out and once figured out it is a snap but a little instruction would go a long way. In fact entering and saving frequencies in the software is easier than entering them in the unit itself.

The touch screen is a giant step forward but needs some tweeks. I like seeing County, Department, Frequency etc. and be able to one touch lock but to skip a channel requires a three touch process on the tiny bar on the right which while driving can be a pain. This needs to be a one button step like on other handhelds.

The squelch feature is great to have but on the other handheld units you have more finite control with a turn type knob.

Overall a fantastic scanner for the money, it really can't be beat. Yes there are some nitpicky issues but Uniden is working on addressing them and once addressed will make the Home Patrol 1 THE unit to have. Uniden needs to come out with the car mount like they said they were going to three months ago.

Any questions on the software or unit feel free to ask.

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I've owned all types of scanners over my life having to jump to new technologies as radio systems have evolved across this land.

This particular uniden isn't geared towards the advanced user, you know who your are,the ones who are at ease with programming in trunked radio systems,modes,attenuations and the like. This scanner is geared toward general novice scanner users.....and it's a breeze to use for the most part...I really like it's ability to record audio unattended...and replay it displaying the agency and talkgroup just like as if it were capturing the transmission in real time. It's fun to use while sleeping in a hotel, then replaying what happened overnight in a town you're unfamiliar with... You tend to get a feeling of the more crime ridden parts of a community, (Ooh better stay off so in so street on my way to that meeting etc.)

Even though it really is intended for Home use...you can use it while mobile and even attach hockey puck style GPS devices(with a whole lot of wiring) so you can tool down our nations roadways listening where legal as you drive, it will track systems as you move from area to area... Please remember it's unlawful to use and even have a scanner in your car in a few states (MN,IN,KY,FL,SD,NY) ..So those of you who intend on tossing the unit on your dashboard like a GPS, while trucking cross country might run afowl of the folks you're listening to, so play nice..and follow the laws. Just cuz it's lawful to scan in your home, doesn't mean it's lawful nationwide to scan while mobile.

The audio of the unit at home is fine, while mobile it's not as loud as it should be...and an external speaker should be considered...and there's no easy way to mount the unit in many cars simply because of where Uniden chose to place the SMA style antenna. (it's a very poor location).

It has some advanced features buried in the advanced menu portion of the unit , if you want to manually program a frequency, or tell it to avoid specific systems or departments with in 20 miles or so of you...and as discussed in other reviews...the manual is just plainly poorly written and the software isn't the best either. But it's uniden's first real attempt at a scanner for the masses, living with advanced radio systems in their midst, using data from Radio reference to find it's way from city to city , department to department.

All in all a 4 out of 5 , NOT too highly recommended for folks who are used to the technological side of scanning, but rather those who live in a city with advanced public service communications systems and really just wish to listen to what's happening when a siren races past your home. Just pop in the zip, block out (avoid) the systems and agencies you don't want the unit to receive and you're off and running.

Enjoy and remember watch those mobile scanner laws....you don't want a Kentucky State Patrol person rolling a Crown Vic rear tire over your $500.00 HP 1 at the side of the road during a traffic stop.

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I read about this product in the latest issue of my ham radio magazine and decided to purchase a unit. It's really simple to program this device just enter your Zipcode. Upon entering my Zipcode, The unit indicated that there were something like 900 available frequencies in my location.

I set the squelch to the lowest setting that didn't provide constant static, which was 2 bars. I made sure that the attenuator was off and that the audio was not muted and that the display board was unlocked. The unit then dutifully scanned the programmed frequencies but,

unfortunately, never stopped at any frequency. I should point out that I live just outside a city of a half million people so I am not in the boondocks. It apparently is deaf to all scanned frequencies. I even tried to receive my local weather radio station which my ham handitalkie, that was situated next to the Homepatrol, easily received. But once again, the Homepatrol couldn't even detect the weather radio station. I sent the first unit back to Amazon and Amazon was nice enough to send me

a replacement unit overnight. Unfortunately, this second unit was just as deaf as the original unit. I contacted Uniden customer service concerning both the original unit as well as the replacement unit and described this problem to them. I was told that each unit was bad. The representative that I spoke to mentioned that there were other complaints about this same problem with the Homepatrol.

I would really like to have a functioning Homepatrol so maybe I'll wait a several months until such time as the bugs are ironed out

and order another one. Maybe I'll finally get one that works.

February 2013 update: I did wait several additional months to purchase another unit through Amazon and this one has worked flawlessly in the almost two years since it was acquired. I would now rate this product with 5 stars!

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HD Portable DVR with 2.5" TFT LCD Screen Vehicle Backup Car Cameras LCD 270° LSRotator - 6 IR LED C

• Real 720 HD video recording; Rotatable 120 Wide angle len; IR day and night vision for recording; Records automatically after the car's power up
• Audio Recording, Real-Time Recording; With the camera holder, you can fix it on the car dashboard or car windshield very easily
• Video format: AVI; Repeat storage by section:2/5/15 minutes; Still JPEG Image Storage Format ; Record Resolution:1280 x 960 pixels/ 720 X 480 pixels/ 640 X 480 pixels
• Support SD/MCC Cards up to 32 GB (SD Card Not Included); 6 LED's 120 degrees viewing angle; Battery source Built-in rechargeable Battery or 12/24V Car Charge
• 2.5 inch TFT LCD Colorful Screen and USB Interface; Support Real Time & Date display on video; Light Frequency Set: 50HZ/60HZ

The day time recording is very good but night time recording is not good. The image does not rotate with camera so if you mount it atop your dashboard like I did with the screen on the top everything records upside down so when you put it on your computer you will have to use a video editing software to rotate the video right side up. I did not use the supplied windshield mount because I did not want to create a blind spot in my windshield.

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This was a disappointment. Upon arrival I immediately noticed the LCD was cracked. While it was still view-able I wanted to see if it lived up to other expectations. It didn't. By now everyone should know the manual is a joke. Hardest part of the setup was learning that the "OK" button is actually the red record button. After that it was easy to set up all remaining options. Two big disappointments on the unit was that, when recording, the red record button is blinking red. While some may find it comforting to know it is actually recording, I want this to be invisible to me and my passengers until its needed. Second is the video quality. Perhaps this unit was bad due to the LCD damage but it was horribly out of focus. And it is most certainly not HD even if it was. I set the resolution to 720 and the picture was grainy. Amazon is awesome as well on the return.

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This product comes with a sloppy packing, broken parts. You can tell it was opened before. Would not recommend to buy!

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FOR THE PRICE YOU CAN,T BEAT IT! Nice little camera. The motion detector works great also.... The picture is very good. Very happy with this camera.

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Schumacher SEM-1562A 1.5 Amp Speed Charge Maintainer

• 6-volt and 12-volt battery charger; automatically changes from full-charge to float-mode monitoring to prevent overcharging
• Ideal for keeping batteries charged while in storage
• Rugged plastic housing
• Includes charger, jump cables, ring connectors
• 7.1 by 10.5 by 5.9 inches; 5 pounds; 1-year limited warranty

After having the battery on my "summer only" convertible go

flat last winter I decided to invest in a battery maintainer.

The Schumacher SEM-1652A was the best compromise of price (around

$40 with shipping), features (a normal charging rate, and a

lower maintaining rate, with overcharge protection and indicator

lights), and small size (fits easily under the hood by the

master cylinder, battery wiring adaptor with quick connect makes installation and removal a snap.

I'd add a few extra crimp-on terminals of various ring sizes to the kit,

so different power connections with the wiring adaptor could be made

(my car has the battery mounted in the front fender well, I had to get

larger ring terminals to go on the remote jump starting terminals

under the hood.

Update: I bought a wattmeter to measure the power use of a fridge ( seemed to be running more than

normal, we replaced it with an energy star rated model ) so I hooked up the Schumacher maintainer

to the meter to see what it drew when it was trickle charging / maintaining. Charging was .25 amps or about

30 watts per hour, and maintaining was .11 amps or about 13 watts per hour. Pretty low energy use in my book.

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This is a great charger but the same company (schumacher's battery maintainer), makes an identical product for sears, branded as diehard.

It costs the same as on amazon but comes with a 3 year warranty, not the standard 1 yr. warranty found here. Plus you don't have to deal with shipping hassles when you can just go to your local sears and pick one up or exchange if you have problems.

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Bought this charger to charge/maintain my deep cycle battery used for emergency power outages. The manual included with this charger even describes it charging deep cycle batteries and gives a charging estimate of ~36hrs. Fine for what I'm looking for. The charger repeatedly aborted the charge on my brand-new battery. Their customer service tech said it wasn't meant to charge deep cycle batteries due to the higher internal resistance. This should have been made more clear in the packaging, labelling and product description. I've lost time and money. Now I have to go buy a 'real' charger...

Update The charger was actually DOA. I returned it and replaced the charger with a new one on an auto-shop recommendation. It is working fine. Schumacher didn't want to own up to a bum charger when I called them earlier.

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Schumacher SEM-1562A 1.5 Amp Speed Charge Maintainer

Well worth the price...does exactly what it is suppose to do.

(Update) After using this charger less than 5 mos. to maintain my R.V., which is seldom driven, I have found that, because of the charger failing to cycle back to the charge mode properly, the battery that it was hooked to was stone dead. Now, I'll do some research to find out the annoying process of returning the charger for warranty.

(Update) I have contacted the manufacturer, Schumacher, concerning the failure of this charger but after 3 weeks, have received no response and it doesn't look like I am going to. So, I guess I'll just take the loss of making a bad choice and trash it. BTW, I am using two Chicago Electric on Board chargers, one on my Jeep and the other on my Mercury Sable. Both are giving very good service and are less expensive than the Schumacher or the Battery Tender.

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Very good item for charging and maintaining batteries. Have used on my motorcycle and car batteries, as well as my lawn mower battery. Works well and actually tells you when the battery is fully charged, which is one of the best features of this charger

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Rapid Car Kit Auto Plug-in Power Charger for T-Mobile Samsung T249 - T259 - T369 - Sidekick 4G - Sam

It charges your phone well in the car. No problems so far, just the charger is really tight and needs to be pushed in all the way to work which also makes it tight when pulling it out but it definitly works and you save money by buying this as opposed to ordering one from Samsung itself. I would recommend it.

I bought this for my husband and it never did work, I did send back because I did not want to spend more money on shipping cost. I jus threw away. I am considering buying him one from T-mobile and paying the higher cost because at least I know it will work.

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this thing saves my butt every time i forget to charge my phone and im on the go i really love it

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This litter charger works just as good as the more expensive ones. Suited our needs just fine. Don't waste your time with the more expensive ones.

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My phone loves you and so does my car. It works fone and I can use my phone while it is charging and not wasting the phone battery.

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Panasonic LC-R127R2P1 Black Large 12V 7.2Ah VRLA Battery with F2 Terminal

• High quality and reliability
• Exceptional deep discharge recovery
• Long service life
• Quick chargeability
• Maintenance free operation

I purchased this battery to replace the 12 year old one in my APC Back-UPS 650 surge protector/battery backup unit. It is a direct (right to the brand name and specs) replacement. The only thing I had to do was bend the terminals up just a bit more for the connectors to fit and transfer the clear tab from the positive terminal of my old battery to the new one, not a problem at all just a note for others. The clear plastic tab is held on by 2-faced tape and probably is just an extra safety device from APC. I've seen many other `unknown' name replacement batteries but didn't want to gamble the safety of my computers and other electronics for the sake of a few dollars. This battery is the one you need as a -directreplacement for any APC unit's requiring a replacement battery with a part number of either `RBC3' or `Battery Cartridge #3. This is the -SAMEmanufactured battery you will get from the backup unit manufacturer except you will get it on Amazon.com for less than half the manufacturers price delivered.

I made sure my order screen said `Ships from and sold by Amazon.com' and even with the free shipping option, I had no problem receiving the correct battery.

A point of interest: These batteries are pretty much automotive batteries and are suppose to last 3-6 years under typical situations. How my original one lasted 12 years is anyone's guess but I do *NOT* recommend you try to get that much time from one. Mine was so badly expanded it was difficult to remove from the unit for replacement. Also, I have viewed a few photos of ones that expanded to the point of rupture beyond that recommended time frame. Get your battery replacement from Amazon.com and you'll save enough over buying from the manufacturer that you'll be able to replace them on time. Enjoy!

As far as recycling the old battery, you should be able to do so for free. I searched for `battery recycling' and found that most of the auto-parts stores in and around my town take these at no cost for proper recycling. Please, do the right thing.

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I used this in my Verizon FiOS battery backup system. Fit properly and after an easy five minute install, it's up and running again. Unplugged the FiOS unit to test it and it seems to work fine.

Definitely recommended when you get that "Replace Battery" light on your FiOS battery backup unit.

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I bought this for my APC backup and it's exactly what I needed. This is my second purchase. The first battery lasted about 5 years, which I think is pretty good.

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Ordered this on 1/29/13 and it is already dead! Pathetic and I can't even return it since you can't ship such items due to safety. I am not happy at all.

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The battery was a perfect fit for a replacement of the one in our dead UPS. Most people pitch their UPS when they fail when all they need is an inexpensive battery to bring it back to life.

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AmazonBasics 175-Watt Pocket Power Inverter with 2.1 Amp USB Port to Charge iPad, Kindle, and Other

• Converts 12-volt DC power from your vehicle battery into 120-volt AC electricity
• Fast 2.1 Amp USB charge port charges iPads and other power hungry USB products
• Includes battery clips to power and charge devices requiring more than 120 Watts
• Three-prong AC outlet accommodates most chargers and adapters for mobile electronics
• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

I really love this inverter. I've used other inverters that claim to provide 150 Watts or 175 Watts, but their claims are bogus (explained below). And to find an inverter that offers this much payload at this low price is sweet!

First of all, what's an inverter?

The electrical system in your car, boat, or RV runs on a 12 volt DC system. Your cigarette lighter outlet provides power at 12 volts DC. This is fine for things like a phone charger that have a 12 volt DC plug, but what about items that you normally plug into the wall in your home or office? Those devices run on 110 AC power. The role of the inverter is to change (or "invert") the output from your car's electrical system from 12 volt DC to 110 volt AC.

This AmazonBasics inverter provides a grounded 110 outlet for plugging in those household devices as well as a USB outlet for things like iPhones, iPads, etc. (which is a nice bonus).

So what makes this inverter different? First it's important to know that your vehicle's electric wiring isn't intended to run your toaster or hair dryer. Even though an inverter might be designed to provide a high output for larger devices (like a TV or satellite receiver), your vehicle's poor little cigarette outlet can't handle the load. I've used inverters that claim to support a higher load, and they either blow their own internal fuse, blow a fuse on the vehicle, or (worst case) don't blow any fuses and just burn out the wiring to that outlet. That's bad.

So the difference with this inverter is that it supports loads up to 130 watt through the cigarette lighter outlet. For loads from 131 watts to 175 watts, there is a set of alligator style clips to connect directly to the vehicle's battery.

There are plenty of other inverters out there that connect directly to the battery, but I've never seen one this compact and this inexpensive.

Warning: Only use the direct connection to the battery while your vehicle is parked. Don't try to prop open your hood and drive down the road watching TV.

Here's a little tip. Before you purchase any inverter, look at your devices and see what their loads actually are. Sometimes those specs are written in gobbledygook and are hard to decipher. And some devices have two loads: the initial startup load and the actual running load. The startup load for this inverter cannot exceed 175 watts. To be absolutely certain of the draw from your device or appliance, consider using something like this Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor. You plug the monitor into a wall outlet and then plug your device into the monitor. The readout shows you the peak usage and the running usage. If the peak draw is under 175 watts, then this inverter is OK for you.

Bottom line, I'm very happy with this inverter. It's the first one that I've ever had any success with at this wattage. Just make sure not to overload the 12 volt DC outlet with more than 130 watts. And don't use your toaster while you're driving down the road.

Buy AmazonBasics 175-Watt Pocket Power Inverter with 2.1 Amp USB Port to Charge iPad, Kindle, and Other Now

The Amazon basics 175W pocket power inverter is the lightest I've seen, weighing in at only 6.1 oz. with the cigarette lighter plug attached. It is also quite small at 4" x 8" x 0.8", perfect for packing in your computer bag. Besides powering your laptop, it also includes a USB port capable of supplying 2.1A, which plenty for charging a phone, iPad or just about any USB accessory. I tested the little unit on my Dell laptop. It powered it easily. Next, I plugged in a 100W light bulb. Again, no problem. The unit has a fan that comes on as necessary to keep the unit cool. With a 100W load (the light bulb) the fan ran continuously. I found the fan to be rather loud and high pitched. In a car, you may not care but the noise level is significant at 58dB at 1 foot (measured with my audio meter). What I found odd is that the fan ran much faster when the load was reduced or removed. For some reason, the voltage to the fan must drop significantly once a load is placed on the inverter. While the inverter is rated at 130W continuous, you can't (or at least shouldn't) do that from a cigarette lighter socket.

The manual is a little confusing. It says you can run the inverter from the cigarette lighter for loads under 130W but also says for 120W-130W to use battery clamps (included) to hook it directly to the car's battery. Personally, I wouldn't advise running it over 90W from a cigarette lighter socket. At 90W output, the unit draws 10A from the socket. That's okay, since most laptop power adapters require no more than 90W. At 100W, it drew 11Amps, which is over the maximum continuous power most lighter sockets are rated (and fused). I didn't test the unit it past 100W.

If the unit was quieter, I would have given it 5 stars but for using in the car, you may be very happy and you will be hard pressed to find a more compact and light inverter.

Read Best Reviews of AmazonBasics 175-Watt Pocket Power Inverter with 2.1 Amp USB Port to Charge iPad, Kindle, and Other Here

The concept is simple: turn 12 V DC from your car into 120 V AC to power things you would normally plug in at home. Useful in an emergency or on road trips.

You plug this into the 12 V socket in your car (what used to be called the cigarette lighter, but most cars today don't even come with the lighter part). A little blue light comes on, and you are ready to plug something into it. I tried a radio, a shop light, and even a handheld jigsaw, and all ran fine.

It also has a USB charger port, which is nice is you don't already have an adapter for that.

I have an old, clunky-looking one piece inverter. The Amazon one looks cooler, but once you add the size of the cord it's not that much smaller. The old one is rated 150 W continuous, this one 130 W. The big difference I noted was in surge capacity. This device is rated to 175 W, while my old one is rated 450 W. It won't make a difference with most small appliances, but something with a big start-up surge or that surges for other reasons may overload this device.

It includes clips to attach it directly to the battery, which will save some loses through the electrical system, and doesn't require having any other parts of the car running to use it. Do use caution when attaching anything directly to the battery.

While not the ultimate in inverter technology, this is a useful thing to have in your car in an emergency.

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I took the new unit out of the box and it blew a fuse in first vehicle, tried a second vehicle and it blew that one as well. I had no accessories plugged in at the time. Unit failed right out of the box.

Save 21% Off

Disclaimer: I used this inverter in extreme conditions not normally encountered by most users. Please take this into account when reading the review.

**********

General Overview

I recently took part in a meteorite search expedition in the desert of Oman that was organized by the local university and natural history museum. The expedition consisted of 18 days in the desert with only the supplies of food, fuel, water, etc. that we brought with us. Temperatures ranged between 6C (42F) to 35C (95F), humidity ranged from below the detection limit of our equipment up to around 90%, though it never rained. In many cases, winds were strong and drove substantial amounts of dust (often sheeting off of the vehicle windows like water). After a matter of hours the interiors of the vehicles were liberally coated with a thick layer of dust, which remained and grew thicker during the entire expedition. Dust and heat are the mortal enemy of electronics, and it's not uncommon for otherwise-robust devices to die horribly in the desert.

I purchased the inverter to run certain basic electronics like battery chargers for AA-size batteries, computers, mobile phones (no service in the desert, but it's good to keep them topped up), two-way radios, and scientific equipment, and other similar uses. Due to the hostility of the environment, I was expecting that this inverter would be "disposable" and didn't expect it to survive the trip.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only did the inverter survive the trip but it did remarkably well. While I can't explicitly recommend using the inverter in extreme environments as it's not rated for such purposes, it performed well and would likely serve the average person very well in more ordinary conditions.

**********

Tech Details

Like most inverters produced for the North American market, this one produces 120V 60Hz AC power with a "modified sine wave" waveform that differs from the ordinary "true sine wave" waveform produced by mains power available from your wall socket.

In general, modern electronics that have "worldwide" power supplies (that is, they accept ~100-240V AC power) will have no problems at all using the power produced by the inverter. Laptop computers often have such power supplies and should work fine. Incandescent light bulbs and other simple resistive loads will have no problems at all, though you should make sure they don't have a startup surge current that exceeds the ability of the inverter or the car's electrical system to supply. Electric motors are unlikely to work as effectively with inverter power (if they run, they'll run less efficiently, hotter, etc.) and shouldn't be used with inverters. Many motors often have very high surge current when starting, which may overload the inverter. Certain devices like compact fluorescent light bulbs may or may not work well. You should test them beforehand. Your mileage may vary.

When in doubt it's often more efficient and a better idea to use electronics designed for 12V power directly (such as 12V CFL light bulbs, as often used by RVers, or air pumps that clamp directly to the car battery) rather than using an inverter to power household-voltage devices. You can often find a DC-to-DC converter for things like laptops, mobile phones (particularly those that charge using 5V DC, such as those using a USB plug), etc. that allows you to use or charge them using the 12V power socket in a car (or using battery clamps) directly rather than using an inverter, though not everything (like chargers for a $70,000 x-ray fluorescence analysis scanner) has such converters and an inverter is a necessity.

I experienced no problems with the "modified sine wave" produced by the inverter.

There is a small fan on the side of the inverter to aid in cooling. It will come on automatically when needed, so ensure it's not blocked. I found that the inverter starts with the fan off, then switches it to 100% when the internal temperature reaches a set point. After a minute or so, the fan turns off again. This repeats for a few minutes until the inverter gets a sense of how effective the fan is and then adjusts it as needed to maintain a good working temperature. When operating at full power the fan has a distinctly high-pitched whine that some may find slightly annoying, though it can often be masked by turning on the car radio and/or putting it in the rear of the car.

If you listen very closely you can hear a rapid clicking sound (though it's quite faint and you need to have your head very close to the inverter to hear it -it's not the least bit disturbing or annoying beyond a few centimeters from the inverter) as the internal electronics do their work.

The lighter socket plug and battery clamps are both of good quality and connect firmly and securely.

**********

Safety

It appears that the inverter does not have inrush current limiting on the 12V DC side, so you may experience some sparking when connecting the included battery clamps to the battery as it needs to charge its internal capacitors. This is evidently normal and doesn't pose a problem insofar as the electronics are concerned, but you should ensure that the battery is well-ventilated (as car batteries produce explosive hydrogen gas when charging though not when being used) when connecting or disconnecting the battery clamps. You should use the same safety precautions as when jump-starting a battery.

It's probably a good idea to connect the inverter to the 12V power source first, ensure the blue "on" light is on, and then connect the turned-off load to the inverter, and then turn on the load. It's probably a bad idea to have the turned-on load plugged into the inverter when you connect it, as this would require a substantial rush of current to power.

Additionally, the inverter is not rated for outdoor use, so don't expose it to rain, moisture, etc. In my case, the major threat was dust. After using the inverter for a few hours (regardless of whether it was used inside the car with the power socket or when used outdoors and clamped directly to the car battery) I would unplug it and blow sharply into the vents to clear out accumulated dust. While this worked fine, it's probably not a good idea to expose it (or other electronics) to dust for extended periods of time as it would have a harmful effect on the electronics and the moving fan.

It's not clear if the inverter has an internal fuse -the supplied lighter socket plug and battery clamps are unfused. There does not appear to be any sort of user-accessible fuse on the device.

**********

Possible Improvements

The only three improvements I'd propose for such a device would be to eschew the fan in favor of an aluminum body that passively dissipates heat, to have inrush current limiting on the input side to minimize sparking, and a user-serviceable fuse. The former would eliminate the one moving part and increase durability a bit, though likely at increased cost. The second should be relatively cheap and easy to implement but isn't a major issue. The third helps prevent potentially unsafe conditions and allows the user to replace the fuse if it burns out.

**********

Conclusion

The inverter performed really well in the Omani desert in extreme conditions and is likely to perform well in less-extreme conditions. The price is quite good, it's backed by Amazon, and includes both the 12V lighter socket plug and battery clamps. It's comparable in terms of output power and quality to other similarly-priced inverters.

It's a good general-purpose inverter and I strongly recommend it.

If you need higher output power or pure sine wave output, you'd do well to look at other, more suitable products.

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BATTERY,12V,7AH,RAZOR SCOOTER,POCKET ROCKET,SPORT MOD - 2 Pack

• UB1270, 12V 7AH, SLA BATTERY
• WHEELCHAIR BATTERY
• VERIZON FIOS BATTERY, ALARM BATTERY
• SCOOTER BATTERY

When I went to install I found out I would have to replace the battery cables and connectors as well. Batteries sold on the razorama site come with the cable. I have yet to find the cables alone to order.

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Purchased for my daughter's purple Razor Pocket Mod Betty electic scooter. My husband had to pick up a few new connectors at our local Lowe's store to hook up the batteries (very cheap). Once installed, working like a charm! Recommend you pull your scooters into a warm location for cold winter areas or at least pull the batteries out and store them in the warm. Your batteries will last longer and won't blow out.

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The battery was almost a perfect replacement to a battery found in the electric moped by Razor. If you're handy, purchase 1/4" Fully Insulated Quick Disconnects. You'll have to clipped the soldered red/black wires from the original batteries and crimp the new connectors so it can attach to the new batteries. It took 5 minutes once I had the connectors. Charged batteries completely and it seems to be a better battery than the orginal Razor battery.

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These batteries work great with my sons razor scooter. It was easy to switch out the old batteries with the new ones. Runs great & is just what we needed...

no problems encountered batteries fit perfect all charged up rated a a a a a a a a a a

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Car Kit Vehicle Charger + Home Wall Travel Battery Charger for ATT Samsung Flight 1 A797 - Samsung F

The chargers both work well and seem to be of good quality. The shipment came quickly.

I am pleased with this purchase.

The item was delivered timely and came as advertised. Added bonus of being able to plug other USBs (cell phone, etc.) into the cord. Good deal.

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GTMax Green USB Mini Car Charger Vehicle Power Adapter for Barnes & Noble NookColor Ebook Tablet

I took a chance and tried this with my NookColor, using the NookColor cable. This gadget does 'work,' but what the NookColor indicates, under 'About This Device,' is 'not charging.'

So, it didn't actually DIScharge it, but... didn't charge it. I tried it in two different vehicles.

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Amico Black 2 Dual Socket Car Cigarette Charger w/ USB Port

What a great price for a priceless little gadget. I only have one plug and too many devices that need plugging in! This certainly solves that problem!

Purchased and only used 1 month before it died. Plugged in a charger and fuse inside must have blown and it didn't work again. Great idea to have multiple sockets but not worth the money if it doesn't work longer than a month.

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Using all 3 ports. Fits into an almost hidden socket in the dash (Subaru Outback). Using it for a Garmin GPS, iPhone holder/charger and an extra USB charger for my kids iPhone.

Read Best Reviews of Amico Black 2 Dual Socket Car Cigarette Charger w/ USB Port Here

It works ! I liked the way it can be turned Then it does not block my cup holder. I got 2 one for my husband.

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I ordered this last minute to use for a trip. when it arrived it looked good. but the actual product is a fake. or more like a toy. you can tell by the time you get it out of the packaging there is no weight to it at all. just cheap plain plastic and some shiny stuff on the inside. obviously it won't work since it doesn't eve have the right attachments. you can plug it in nothing will happen. its a waste of money. not that it cost a lot but still a complete waste.

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VX 50 - Light Duty Compact Step Up / Step Down Worldwide Travel Voltage Converter - Max 50 Watts. Id

• 50 Watt Maximum Step UP/Down Voltage Converter
• Converts 220/240 V to 110/120 V - OR - 110/120 V to 220/240 V
• Euro to Us and US to Euro adapter plugs included
• Fuse protected. Do not exceed over 30 watts
• NOT TO BE USED FOR CURLING IRONS, STRAIGHTNERS, HAIR DRYERS AND KITCHEN APPLIANCES.

I travel to Europe at least once a year. Last year in Spain I took four of them and only one failed me. The fuse blew out. My only complain is that due to new security regulations in Spain the electical sockets are not flat anymore, so I had to buy an attatchment so I could plug it into the wall.

It was around five dollars a unit when I bought them, and if it goes back down to that I'll buy more. Not worth ten bucks.

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Peak PKC0BF-01 300 Amp Jump Starter

• High impact resistant rubberized housing
• Jumpstart system power switch
• Reverse polarity indicator
• Battery status check button
• Battery status indicator

Worked perfectly, and priced right.

Would recommend to anyone who travels.

Does not take up much space.

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I bought this for my 80 year old Mother. It is light weight and easy to pick up and use. Easy enough for a little old lady to use to jump start a bad battery. Recommended for anyone wishing to have a standby battery.

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Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair)

• VibraCall vibration alert or 20 different call tones
• 11 weather channels (7 NOAA) with alert features
• 22 channels each with 121 privacy codes for superior interference protection
• Pair of two-way radios with up to 35 mile range
• iVOX hands-free communication without the need for an audio accessory

First of all, all the distances advertised on any walkie talkie like this is based on mountain top to mountain top communication, where the valley increases the range, and no obstruction. That is where they based the 35 miles. For city use, in malls, house to house and areas with trees will be between .5 to 1 mile at most. Since I have been using Motorola Walkie talkies all my life so I knew what I was buying.

I experimented with 3 different models of Walkie talkies in the mall with my wife. First we tried the 5 mile Motorola. I was on one end of the mall inside Macy's and she was on the other side in Nordstrom. She could not even hear me.

We tried the 10 mile Motorola. This time she could hear me press the talk button and a few garbled words, but that was it. We could not communicate.

We tried these 35 mile ones last. We were able to hear each other just fine. Not bad considering the distance and the number of obstructions.

I have also tried this on the open road for car to car communication and it can reach the horizon. If you want more power, you will need to get a license and buy a 5 watt radio.

This Radio has many nice features you would normally find in Professional Radios 5 times the price of this.

UPDATE SEPT 25, 2009-

This radio has a really nice feature I just discovered. It has the hands free iVOX capability. It will broadcast when it hears a sound. There are 3 levels of sensitivity. I tried it as a baby monitor. I left my wife and baby while they were asleep and turned on the radio to High power on one of the GMRS channels(I have an FCC license by the way, so I can use this channel). I drove about 1 mile to my brother-in-laws house. The Radio worked as a long range baby monitor! It was impressive considering that the radio was indoors and I was not line-of-site, and it reached a mile. Very amusing.

I would advice getting an FCC license so that you can use the High power GMRS channels legally. With these radios, it is about 1.5 to 2 watts. If you use the FRS channels 8 to 14, all walkie talkies including this will only use 0.5 watts. Channels 1 to 7 are GMRS/FRS channels. You cannot legally use the high power PTT button if you do not have an FCC license. Channels 15 to 22 are GMRS channels where you can use the High power mode exclusive to GMRS radios. Go to the FCC website and pay the fee for a GMRS radio license, it is good for your immediate family for 5 years. It is worth it if you use it all the time.

****Update October 26, 2009****

I will now detail what I have found out about my Motorola:

Pros:

1. In door range This is the mall slayer. Go to any mall and give your kids one and you will be able to talke to them pretty much anywhere they are.

2. Audio Quality Very clear and very loud.

3. Outdoor Range It has almost the same range as my Icom professional radio which has 3 times the power. That is basically because outdoor range is more about antenna height rather than power.

4. Flashlight Very useful when you go camping. You dont have to bring an extra flashlight. It is bright. Excellent for emergencies.

5. iVox Hands free operation. Very useful as a 1 mile baby monitor.

6. Call button I can call the other radio so that they know I am trying to call them so they can pick up the radio.

7. Emergency button It will send an alert so that the other person knows you are in trouble.

8. Weather channels I use it to find out the weather, specially before going Kayaking.

9. Privacy Codes it has so many Privacy codes so you will never be disturbed by other radios.

10. QT You can restrict the radios that you hear to only Motorolas.

11. Scan well most other radios have this too.

12. 2 power settings You can either transmit on .5 watts or 1.5 watts, depending on the button you press. Unless you are using FRS channels 8 to 14 which are hardcoded to use .5 watts.

13. Vibrate feature In case you are in a noisy place, this is useful.

14. Ease of use It does not get easier. Instructions are clear and it is intuitive.

CONS:

1. I am still trying to find one.

********UPDATE December 27,2009*********

I conducted another Distance and clarity test:

Equipment:

1. My Icom F21 UHF 4 watt Professional Handheld Radio(same one Police/Sheriff use. $380 for a pair)

2. My Motorola MR350($59 a pair)

Parameters of the Test:

I have a 40 Watt GMRS Base Station at home. My Home is by the Beach Blvd. I will drive North on beach Blvd and at every quarter mile, I will get down from the car, and transmit. I will transmit first with the Icom, then the Motorola. I will also note down if I can hear a reply back and how clear the reply was.

Result of the test:

Distance

1. Icomwas able to transmit and receive clearly up till 3 1/4 miles. It then started to become choppy from that point.

2. Motorola was able to transmit and receive clearly till 2 3/4 miles. It then started to become choppy from that point.

Clarity

1. Icom There were times I had to ask my wife to repeat herself because it sounded a little muffled.

2. Motorola Just like listening to an FM radio. Loud and crystal clear.

Conclusion

Although the extra power of the Icom gave it a slight advantage in range, about 20%, you can buy 8 pairs of these Motorolas for the price of the Icom. Let the result speak for itself.

Note: This test was meant to show that the Professional Radios only have a slight advantage over the Motorola. The distances were that far because I have a base station with a 10 foot mast and an external J-pole GMRS tuned antenna. Hand held to hand held still follows the laws of physics so it is the same as I mentioned at the beginning of the review, .5 to 1 mile in the city. Completely different story if you are on an elevated position. Distance in miles = Square root of the Height(in feet) x 1.4.

*****UPDATE FEB. 04,2010******

I would like to now discuss the Cost savings of this MR350 over Professional Radios.

My Motorola MR350 is still going strong. I have since bought more Professional Icoms and have had to go through the hassle of tweaking them and programming them manually to get them to function the way this Motorola does when you first take it out of the packaging. I had to buy these Icoms because I am a member of a GMRS Radio Group here in Orange County and Los Angeles and I need the repeater functionality and external antenna.

If you buy a professional radio, you will have to pay to have it programmed. It can cost from between $20 to $80 each time you need to have something programmed. I bought the software and equipment to program my Icoms and they were very expensive. Again, this is something you will never have to do with the MR350.

Batteries on my Icoms cost about $60. That is even more than the cost of this MOTOROLA!!! Not to mention that I had to buy an external battery pack for my Icoms costing $45 so that I can use Energizer AA batteries. The Motorola can use the included rechargeable battery, or you can use Energizer.

I have my Motorolas fully charged all the time so if ever the big earthquake hits LA, this will be my primary survival gear together with my Swiss Army Knife.

Conclusion:

In a cost perspective, the Motorola MR350 wins hands down. You will easily spend about $650-700(hardware and software) to equip a pair(2) of Professional Radios to have some(not all) of the features of this Motorola MR350. At the end of the day, cost will always be a factor when we purchase anything.

Hope to talk to you on the air.

******UPDATE APRIL 19,2010*******

I just bought another set of Motorola MR350 radios. I leave a pair in my car for emergencies where I cannot use my car mounted Mobile UHF radio. I still think these are the best deal on any UHF radio.

******UPDATE OCTOBER 26,2010*******

I just wanted to update all of you since it has been 1 year since my original post. The 4 Radios and the batteries are still working great. That being said, one of the nice people to comment, mentioned that one or both of his new units were defective. Unfortunately, that is not unique with Consumer radios. Once you receive your radio, whatever you buy, please test it right away. If you find that something is not right, tell Amazon that the unit is defective, then exchange it for a new set. That is the nice thing about Amazon. And if you have more issues, drop me a comment, and I can point you to other radios that you may like. I collect radios and I have tried most of them already so I can save you the trouble of deciding.

Also, he mentioned that there is a site that you can get a free replacement faceplate for the MR355 which has the Repeater capability and all of the features of the MR350. The catch is the original faceplate of the MR355 is camo. The free replacement faceplate will make the MR355 look much more discreet. Look into that radio as well. From what I hear, they are almost the same price. Oh, and I also have that MR355 radio, but never take it out because I have not replaced the faceplate yet. I will eventually.

******UPDATE FEBRUARY 2, 2012*******

I am so happy to announce that all 4 Motorola MR350 radios are still working. I still take them with me everywhere and have not had any problems with them. I have accidentally dropped them a couple of times so they have some scratches here and there, but they still work fine. I am really happy all 4 radios have lasted this long, almost 3 years for the original pair.

If there are any situations you would like me to test, please let me know and I will do my best to document a proper test for it. Let me know.

******UPDATE AUGUST 27, 2012*******

Again, I am happy to report all 4 radios still work. Now I would like to talk about the best new radio I have seen from Motorola, the MT352R. It is basically very similar to the MR350 except that it has a better rechargeable NiMH battery. It has double the battery life of the MR350. It also has a new method of charging. It does not use a charging station anymore. You just plug a mini USB cable to the bottom.

That is great, except that it is a much larger radio, so you have to consider the bulk of this before buying it. I have only seen it but I am about to buy a pair and see if this provides. I was really hesitant to buy it because it did not look as sleek as the MR350 which has served me well.

Once I get it, I will let you know if it is even worth paying the extra money, for what appears to be the same radio.

Another thing I wanted to discuss is the repair of these consumer radios. If the radio is still under warranty and Motorola will replace your radio as long as it was not due to user error. Once the warranty is over and your radios break, you have to buy a new radio as they do not repair radios out of warranty. Motorola used to do repairs, but no one really availed of it because it costs $50 or more to repair a radio. People just bought new ones. That goes for all handhelds available. So, the moral of the story is, if your radio is still under warranty, bring it to Motorola(or whatever radio you buy) and they will give you a new radio. Do not wait as the warranty could lapse.

I hope that helps you guys.

********UPDATE December 3, 2012*******

All 4 MR350 radios are still ticking. I am happy to report though that I have purchased a pair of Motorola MT352R radios. It will be arriving soon, and I will do a very comprehensive side by side test between my favorite, the MR350 vs the contender, the MT352R. Please give me about a week to get the radios, perform the tests and analyze the results. I should be able to post the findings by December 14, 2012. It should give you enough time to decide whether to buy this for xmas.

********IMPORTANT UPDATE December 4,2012*********

I received the Motorola MT352R this morning and proceeded to perform the comparison testing between the MR350 and the MT352R. Please go to my review of the MT352R so you will be able to see the results of my testing. Motorola MT352R Giant FRS Weatherproof Two-Way 35 Mile Radio Pack Silver

In a nutshell, they have the same features except for the IP-54 weather resistance. The main difference between them is size, distance, battery life and most important of all, price. Is 20-30% more distance worth paying 40-50% more(depending how much the current price is of course)? That is your choice. I still prefer the MR350 because of the very slim form and proven reliability. The MT352R is as big as an ICOM handheld. The MT352R has a better battery, but the MR350 has great battery life to begin with.

Please read my review of the MT352R so you have a better idea. I hope that helps.

Buy Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair) Now

Motorola MR350R vs Midland GXT1050--both products received good reviews on Amazon and I had a hard time initially deciding which one to buy since I could not find detailed comparison between the two. So, I will try to be more comprehensive in comparison here hoping to help you make a decision suitable for your purpose.

I bought MR350R two months ago from Costco at $55 (tax included) to monitor my baby sleeping upstairs and to use during road trips. A month later I also bought Midland GXT1050 from Amazon upon good reviews and my dissatisfaction with some silly design issue associated with the MR350 VOX feature (which is critical for monitoring purpose).

Size and weight: MR350 is lighter (6.2oz vs 7.3oz for each handset including rechargeable battery pack and belt clips) and has a noticeably more agronomical grip, especially for kids or someone with smaller hands.

Setup and Change Settings: MR350 has more intuitive LCD display and signs/symbols whereas GXT1050 took me a couple of hours to set up and memorize what each symbol/letter means (It would be tremendously helpful if Midland can add a full list of all symbols/letters and their meanings in a simple table instead of diving this information into chunks and burying it into each individual function/feature section). I think a 10 year old can be taught to change settings on MR350 without a manual but that most likely won't happen with GXT1050 (with or without the manual).

Features: These two share many useful key features like Weather Scan and Alert. GXT1050 has more channels (50 vs 22 for MR350R) which may be useful for using in populated areas although I never run into issues with MR350 on this one. MR350 has a built-in LED light for emergency use, which is nice. GXT1050 can produce a loud SOS siren which maybe useful in certain situations (although I never used it for any real purposes). Overall GXT1050 seems a bit more versatile with features such as direct call.

Range: GXT claimed 36 miles range and MR350 claimed 35 miles--both claims are meaningless since nobody would ever achieve the advertised range unless standing on two mountain peaks with perfect conditions. In actual use, the effective range is more like 1-2 miles in a flat suburban environment and a bit more in open field. Some reviewers here found a slightly better range with GXT1050 although my test twice showed MR350R lasted a slightly longer range while me driving away from home with each model broadcasting from my living room.

PPT Button is the one needing to be pressed down when transmitting. MR350R has the button designed in such way you can press the upper part for high power and lower part for low power--made switch power a much easier task. Using GXT1050's mechanism you will have to pre-configure power level in the settings and is not very easy to change in a hurry. The shape of MR350 PPT button is made in such a way though, you would end up using the high power most of the time since the upper part of the button protrudes further out. Nonetheless, I like the MR350R design on this one.

VOX: This is one of the most critical features if you want to monitor baby sleeping in a different room or just want to talk hand-free. I agree with C. Hayes' review here that MR350R's three sensitivity levels are not sensitive enough (Hayes's wording made me smile, though a bit exaggerated.). GXT1050 has 9 level of sensitivities and the most sensitive setting (level 1) is indeed more sensitive than that of MR350R (level 3), however, the difference it is not day and night--both detected my baby crying after waking up when placed about 1-2 feet away and both failed to detect my normal talk volume from 1-2 feet away unless I yell loudly or put the radio within 2-3 inches to my mouth. When put in front of a PC speaker, I did notice that GXT1050 started getting into the transmitting mode a bit earlier than MR305R as I turned up the volume knob of my speaker. However, if you want to talk to you handset placed on your shoulder (like policeman does) with your normal voice volume without bending your head to get close to the ratio--good luck no matter which set you use. I really think both companies should increase the sensitive level here.

The biggest turn-off of MR350R is that its VOX feature would be automatically cancelled if you press PPT button, intentionally or accidentally, even if when all settings are "locked"--my baby likes to play with radio and sometime the VOX setting is accidentally cancelled because he squeezed the PPT button. I found this a ridiculous under-thinking (or over-thinking) by Motorola's engineers--I understand the need to preserve power if pressing PPT means VOX may no longer be necessary, but auto-cancel even though settings are locked? Does the word "lock" mean anything? GXT has no problem on this one--kudos to their engineers. I would have returned MR350R for this reason alone (thanks to the great Costco return policy.) if not because my GXT1050 set had a quality issue.

The Wishper feature of GXT1050 does give much loud volume which is very useful for baby monitoring if you don't carry your ratio set on you or right next to you.

Battery life: Both are pretty good (for the good unit I have). I followed exact instructions to do the initial charge (important to battery life) and subsequent charges. However, one of my MR350R unit would run out juicy twice faster than the other handset would--this may be due to difference in batteries or the radio circuit parts. Even worse luck with GXT1050 I had-sometimes one unit would lose power during use even though it was newly charged and it would not even charge after being placed on the charger. Swapping batteries solves the problem temporarily but this issue reappears later. This caused me to return the GXT1050 to Amazon (thanks to Amazon's 30 day return policy) after on two occasions my baby woke up and fell off bed but GXT1050 failed to give me any warning in advance because of this very issue.. I don't know whether this was caused by a faulty battery or circuit component but I do think this is probably an isolated quality issue since most reviewers here seems to be quite happy with their purchase. One small thing to comment on the rechargeable battery installation and removal--MR350 got this one right with a ribbon under the battery to help you remove the pack easily. The GXT1050 rechargeable battery pack fit in so tightly and there is no ribbon there to help--it would take a few minutes and possibly a fingernail or two (and believe me, I am not exaggerating here) to remove it, especially if you are in a hurry to put in some alkaline batteries in the field. Midland--please spend a nickel or a dime and put in a removal ribbon here.

Charger: Both models do NOT have smart charger--which means the charge light is still red even when fully charged. IBoth companies should make an improvement on this for better battery power and life.

Compatibility: I checked their frequency charts and found that first 22 channels are on exact frequencies so they are compatible. However, I found this to be true only when privacy code is not used. When both models are set on the same channel using the same privacy code--they were able to scan and found each other SOMETIMES, but not always. What a bummer since I would be happy to have both sets (if without quality issues mentioned earlier) and use them in a group to suit different needs.

Waterproof: GXT1050 is splash-proof (JIS4 as the fine print specified), not really waterproof in the sense you can submerge it in water but this is still better than MR350R.

Price: GXT1050 package costs about $20 more but it also includes two headsets and a car charger adaptor--I would call a tie on this one.

Overall, each model has its own strengths--buy what suits your purpose. I had experience in building electronics and know for a fact that individual difference in parts/components sometime impact significantly in power consumption and transmit/receiving sensitivity. So, each unit may vary somewhat from one another --your mileage may vary when coming down to range, sensitivity, etc. So, celebrate if you get a good pair but don't get too hung up if someone else claims a bit better range or clarity or whatsoever.

I would have given 4 stars to both models given their solid performance before noticing quality issues mentioned above but 3 stars here due to quality/reliability issues happened to the set I received in addition to some much desired improvement in design--I hope the manufacturers read my reviews and take some actions--those are not expensive changes at all but would be much more user friendly. I would buy the improved version of either brand in a heartbeat.

Read Best Reviews of Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair) Here

After purchasisng the Motorola MR-350 via Amazon, radios were tested in a residential area in my city.

To my surprise and amazement the MR-350 units were able to clearly communicate over a distance of one and one half miles, having to punch the signal clearly through homes, trees, steel, wood and many line of site obstructions.

Clearly, this is an amazing pair of radios, and the claim of an unobstructed range of many miles is highly likely.

Delighted with the Amazon purchase and this is an excellent value, demonstrating a lot of radio muscle power in a tiny package.

Richard Denver.

Want Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair) Discount?

I would URGE you to read WILFREDO M VIRAY'S ("Wally") EXCELLENT, THOROUGH and THOUGHTFUL review. There's not much more I can say.

However, a few friends have asked "why would anyone use a two-way radio when cell phones do the 'same' thing?" I live direcly under a bluff in the midwest. Cross country ski, walking and bike trails, and one of our country clubs are there as well. Cell phones don't work very well in these areas.

This can also be true when you're traveling. A two-way radio can put you in touch with a LOT of sources you cannot reach with a cell phone... truckers, for example. Forget the stereotype these guys can be lifesavers on the open road. Two way radios are free of roaming charges, and they'll work ANYWHERE NO cell phone network can make that claim.

We also use these radios (and their "predecessor," the Motorola T9500XLR) EXTENSIVELY at work. (We now have TEN pair.) The building is concrete and steel, and no matter where you are, you can communicate CLEARLY with these radios. (Incidentally, we're talking about a 200,000+ square foot... that's a fairly large building.) Using two-way radios is a VAST time saver compared to paging someone on the intercom, then waiting for the "callee" to find a phone and get back to you!

Another NICE feature: Although these radios are supplied with a comparatively expensive 3.6 volt rechargeable battery, YOU CAN USE (3) AA's INSTEAD.

Again, I refer you to Wilfredo "Wally" Viray's excellent review for some non-biased technical data.

Good job, Motorola!

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I recently bought the MR350 Two-way radios and also bought the optional Motorola Talkabout Remote Speaker Microphones. We mainly use them for snow skiing and they usually get great coverage on the entire resort. For example, Mammoth Mountain, our family can be inside our hotel room (Mammoth Mountain Main Inn) and we can clearly talk from nearly every lift on the mountain.

Of course the 35 mile range is unrealistic, but 2 miles in mountain terrain is pretty good.

The Motorola remote speaker microphones are the only way to go for skiing. You can keep the radio inside your jacket while the mic is firmly clipped on your jacket lapel. The mic is very loud and clear. Loud enough that I can clearly hear the call alert tone while wearing my helmet and ipod headphones.

Customer complaints of garbled sound quality are usually a result of talking to closely to the mic... Try holding the mic a few more inches away from your mouth while speaking. Wind noise can be a problem, but that will happen with with even the highest quality mic/radios.

Another tip that will help with reception... Try to keep the radios upright (antenna straight up) while communicating at longer distances. Holding the radio sideways causes the range to be significantly diminished.

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