Healthy Living Books Electronics

Rating: - Great value but noisy
For the price this inverter is extremely good value for money, it's nicely built and an ideal size for slipping under a car seat until it's needed. As well as the cigar lighter adapter it also includes clips to connect it direct to a battery. It only loses a star because of the noisy cooling fan which runs flat out all the time irrespective of the electrical load. This can get a bit intrusive when sitting in a quiet car using a laptop. Apart from that I've no complaints.

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Rating: - My one must have been made on a friday afternoon...
Somewhat let down by the quality control on the product itself.

The plug would not fit all of the way into the lighter socket of my car and thus didn't make an electrical connection. This was down to two slightly oversized plastic spacers on the side of the plug.

While this was easily dealt with, I expected more from a Belkin product.

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Rating: - Very useful, but interferes with the radio
If all you want to do is recharge a mobile phone, iPod, digital camera batteries or a laptop, this is probably more than you need - get a cheaper, less bulky inverter with a lower wattage. But if you want to run power tools or something that needs the high wattage, this is what you're looking for.

The reason I only gave it four stars is because it interferes with the car radio reception - to the point where it's not even worth having the radio on at all, because you can't really hear anything, although some frequencies seemed to be affected more than others.

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Rating: - Charge and use computers, cordless drills etc. on the move.
I'm a mobile computing enthusiast. I have been a fan of Dell laptops; a range is available from widescreen desktop replacements to ultraportables ideal for backpacking. A couple of early purchases were able to share common chargers. Within our family we now have a variety of types and I'm dissapointed that standardisation on chargers is no longer one of Dell's priorities with a variety of connectors and standards evident. My suspicion that this is at least in part a strategy to boost the computer manufacturer's profits seems to be confirmed by the fact that the latest offerings will only work when connected to the matching genuine Dell charger. If one wants a DC 12v charger in addition to a mains charger for all products, the number and cost soon add up!

THE SOLUTION IS HERE. For less than a third the price of one Dell 12v charger, this inverter supplies up to 300W of AC power through the standard UK socket on the front panel. The device seems to work perfectly. Like all Belkin products I have tried it seems well made.
I have restricted its' use to travel time, so I'm not sure how fast it will deplete the car battery without the engine running. There is a safety system to cut the inverter off when the car battery drops too much, but I don't know if this would leave adequate charge for starting without damaging the battery plates. The device is a little too hefty for regular carry, but ideal for keeping in a vehicle, we keep one in each car.
I can thoroughly recommend it as a good value means of charging or powering light mains electrical equipment.