 "Very handy. Just what I was hoping for." | 2009-10-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A20JDDOCJLK8G1 |
I really like this product. I originally got it so that I could recharge my video camera while I'm on one of my offroad adventures. Instead of wasting money to buy new camera batteries, I just got the Power Line Coffee Cup Inverter and it does the job well. I especially like the USB outlet. I've used it to charge my mp3 player while on my way to the gym and it worked fine.
It can't be used for any heavy-duty devices, like an air pump for a camping mattress, but I've used it with my laptop and a few other low wattage devices and it's been very reliable. I bought an 800 watt inverter that I bring with me for other higher power needs, but this one is great to keep in the vehicle for charging phones, cameras, mp3 players, laptops and similar devices.
I agree with another review that the design really isn't going to fool anybody looking into your vehicle. It's obvious from the outlets that it isn't a coffee cup. But the novelty of the design is more of a functional thing that a security thing. It fits well into a cup holder and that keeps it steady and close to my Jeep's power outlets.
The "lid" on mine didn't seem like it was completely attached when I took it out of the package. But I just pressed down on it and it snapped shut and I haven't had a problem with it since. |
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| "Great for long haul road trips with computer and mp3" | 2009-07-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2SFY2JVS69FZB |
| My family used this for over 8 hours to and from our vacation with great success. The cord was long enough for it to be plugged in the front and used in the back seat. I used it to power the laptop while my wife drove then later to recharge the MP3 while she slept. The unit does make some noise when the internal fan is on to cool the device however that sound is only noticeable when the car it off and then barely. I highly recommend the product. |
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| "Genius product." | 2009-07-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: AENLI8GG1DK06 |
| I read other people's reviews of this and they led me to buy this. I love that you put it in your cup holder and it's not sliding on the floor all over. The cord is a bit on the short side, it is 18 inchs long which I hope this helps you in your decision. It reached my lighter from the cup holder just fine. No problems with this and it works great. My wife really thought it was a coffee cup. I feel it's a better alternative than buying car chargers for all of your electronics. I've only used this for charging my laptop, camara, bluetooth earpeice ect... I have not tried to run anything that would require much power and I wouldn't recomend it. An inverter might be able to run your power needs but you cars wiring and fuses might not. Use care. |
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 "Don't buy a separate car charger, ever!" | 2009-07-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QC1WPN6LII5B |
This cute little coffee cup inverter is actually just as useful as advertised. I heard about it while watching a podcast. I had to have it and immediately bought it. Eventhough anyone I told about it thought it was a ridiculous idea. Well, its not. This a very practical, handy device for all your other little devices.
First of all, it works. My gadgets (& I have a few) work fine & charge just as well as if I had plugged them up at home. The AC outlets are handy, very handy. But it cannot be understated how wonderful it is to have that USB port on the inverter. It is much preferred to whipping out a normally large & bulky AC adapter for your phone. I wish the device had another USB port.
I hardly ever listen to my CD player or radio when my Archos 605 & Blackberry carry so much music & video on them. Not too mention that if my wife wants to use her netbook (while not driving) &/or keep the phone charged everything can be handled with minimal mess. That might be my only gripe about the device. Depending how much you're using with the device it can get pretty messy around the cup holder with all those cords. But that's something that can't be helped if you're using multiple devices. Plus you lose one of those valuable drink slots, but you're the driver. Just tell the passenger to hold their own drink.
Overall, this is a wonderful, useful device that I would recommend to anyone who has items they need to keep charged away from home. DON'T BUY A SEPARATE CAR CHARGER FOR YOUR DEVICES. Just buy this one item and save yourself a lot of money. |
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 "How long will it last?" | 2009-07-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2CPNMTQNBM6YO |
| The Powercup inverter does a good job keeping my laptop charged and running. From day one - when first powered on, the fan makes a loud noise like the bushing is worn or damaged. With a few taps to the side, the fan quiets to a normal hum and runs all day. I don't know how long it will last doing that, but so far it's working. |
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| "Great product, though the cupholder issues must be addressed" | 2009-05-16 |
| - Reviewed By mrschimpf |
I bought this product for a recent trip from my hometown to visit my sister near Ft. Knox, just south of Louisville. Since my mom was driving I decided that it would be prudent to buy GPS software for my computer to provide navigation from here to there. But of course I couldn't exactly run on the battery for ten hours, thus I needed a good solution to plug the computer into the lighter port that neither required me to buy an expensive adapter or risk my warranty for using a third-party product.
I went with this product based on the cup shape, and combined it with an extension cord so I could use a back cupholder and keep mine free for...well, cups. I thought this would be perfect.
Well, it did a great job, but not in the way I expected. First, it seemed to actually do better, as others have touched on, if the inverter was not in a cup. I set it behind my seat and it still worked perfectly and even stayed much cooler than it did in the 15 minutes I put in the cupholder, though I blame a humid day and high noon sunshine more for that than a product failure. It never died, only struggling in the first few minutes the car was turned on while it distributed and settled it's power where it had to go.
Meanwhile, the product kept not only the computer on a full charge, but an iPod and a couple of accessories (digital camera and iPhone) plugged into the laptop via USB to charge. Everything ran smoothly and although there were some power rundowns here and there, once the product was being used at highway speeds, it kept distributing the power and purring on. I used this for twenty hours in four days and enjoyed using it, although the cup fan issue is still vexing to me a bit. I'm guessing a 2.0 product would better address this in the future.
Definitely buy this if you have a car trip and you need multiple outlets. This may not be an everyday product, but for using power on laptops, cell phones, small radios and other items, you can keep everything charged and humming with this. |
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