Xantrex Technologies 851-0400 XPower Plus 400-Watt Inverter

The Xantrex Technologies XPower Plus 400-watt inverter provides portable power for trucks, RVs, boats, and minivans. By plugging the inverter directly into your vehicle's 12-volt cigarette lighter, you can turn your vehicle into a mobile office and operate devices such as a 27-inch TV or 20-inch TV/DVD combo, a camcorder, and a laptop computer. This compact, lightweight unit automatically senses low battery voltage so you never have to worry about a depleted battery. It's a quiet alternative to noisy, gas-powered generators; it will provide hours of emergency power during snowstorms or blackouts. The high-efficiency design transfers 90-percent of the battery's power to your equipment, providing 400 watts for 5 minutes, 600 watts surge for easy startups, and 300 watts continuous power for operating appliances. An automatic shutdown mechanism protects against overload, over-temperature and low battery conditions. The inverter is equipped with two 3-prong grounded AC outlets, a DC outlet and hardwire applications. The durable plastic unit is 5.9-by-4.1-by-2.2 inches in size and just 2.4 pounds in weight. It is covered by a 1-year warranty.

STATPOWER 300 WATT

Several of the Xantrex inverters including this one have much looser frequency specs compared to the last generation of inverters which were typically 60 Hz +/- 0.01%. Many of the current crop of these inverters have 60 +/-4 Hz which is 60 Hz +/- 7%. To be fair, I've noticed a number of inverters made by other companies also have relaxed this spec. I measured the output frequency of several models and found their outputs to range from 58 Hz to 64 Hz. I didn't test to see if the frequency changed with temperature, input voltage, load, or other other factors. I suppose the reason for this change in specs is that these manufacturers are now cost cutting to the extent of eliminating a 30 cent quartz crystal. The frequency variation is most likely to cause problems (speed changes and overheating) in devices with AC motors, but it will also cause inaccuracies in devices that use the AC line frequency for timing purposes.

HAve no problems with this, 2 outlets comes in handy when someone MUST charge their phone while you are using power for something else.

Purchased unit with intend of running a portable DVD player for the kids, and a peaceful trip for me. Instead I got the opposite, as soon as I plugged the unit into Power Port I blew two 20 AMP fuses (on 2004 F-150) so I did the dumbest thing I wired it to the battery and short the battery out. So I'm out a battery and inverter at this point. Take my warning DO NOT BUY this piece of junk, you'll feel better giving a homeless person $32.19 instead of dealing with disappointed kids.

So far so good. Bought it to use in our camper on a 9 inch TV that has a TV box hooked up to it. Doesn't make noise, takes up minimal space and the picture is great. We haven't had the occasion to hook two things in to it yet but so far so good. Working as it should. Thanks

I got the Xantrex for a family trip to Virginia, and it worked exactly as advertised. The kids ran two laptops off of it for the entire trip, and never had a problem. The cooling fan did come on once for a few minutes, and, as others have noted, the fan is audible if you listen for it, but no louder than the road noise and far from problematic. Besides, it only happened once in about 36 hours of use, and then only for about three minutes. The unit is really well made and well worth the money.