12v to 230v Inverter - Argos

Simon201

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7402711.htm

There only seem to be a few of these left, plus when I picked one up today they told me that there could be a 'substitution'. They gave an 800w one!

Oh yeah it uses clips for the battery as opposed to the cigarette lighter plug.

cormie

I find these quite confusing, I've had one before that was nowhere near powerful enough to use my laptop with, even though it sounded like it would from the description, now a laptop isn't the most power hungry thing you could plug into one of these. Anyway, I got another one then in Aldi I think that was rated 300/600w, but I'm not sure if the one you linked to is as good or better? The one I got from Aldi can easily power my laptop. It's the same one as this:
http://www.octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=14993

Just wondering is the one in your link better at all and how did you go about getting the higher capacity one? I need one or two more so would be great to get it clarified before they sell out

Edit: Can this not plug into the cigarette plug at all? The one I have has both clips, and also a cigarette plug? Would be a bit of a pain having to hook it up to the battery to use?

Simon201

Yeah, I previously had one from Aldi it says 150w I think but it would still do some strange things when I used my laptop charger on it which is rated at 85w so that's going in the bin now I think. This new one is more like the one in your link and I reserved the 500w (800w peak) but they gave me the 800w (1200w peak) version which they don't even seem to advertise on the website. At this stage I haven't tried it out on anything tho.
I have a van that has the battery underneath the passenger seat so using it with the clips should be handy enough i.e. being able to use it if I was driving, but yeah the lighter plug would be handy. I might have to rig some wires together to use the lighter plug if wattage being used is not going to cause any problems.

Pete67

Just picked one up in Dundrum, also got the 800w one. Great spot OP!

cormie

Thanks for the info. Hmm, Sounds like power wise, it would be fine, but the lack of a cigarette plug is a real dampener. Even for something as simple as letting a laptop charge up while driving won't be possible now if you have to open the bonnet to get this working.

So neither one comes with the cigarette plug?

Davy

cormie wrote: »

Thanks for the info. Hmm, Sounds like power wise, it would be fine, but the lack of a cigarette plug is a real dampener. Even for something as simple as letting a laptop charge up while driving won't be possible now if you have to open the bonnet to get this working.

So neither one comes with the cigarette plug?

Do a hard wire, put the inverter under the seat, and put a fused switch on the feed

cormie

Thanks for the tip but I'd really prefer it not to be bound to the vehicle and the chances of DIY going wrong too :P

Perhaps these are better alternatives?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/651-536-300W-Power-INVERTER-12V/dp/B000MMWDZ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=diy&qid=1279487576&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Bright-ERP400-Inverter/dp/B0016L2UHS/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1279487576&sr=8-12

http://www.amazon.co.uk/500W-Power-Inverter-800w-Adapter/dp/B003CEY3NG/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ce_7

cormie

Just a little bump, does anyone know if any of the inverters I've linked to from Amazon would be as good or better than the Aldi one? I think the aldi one I linked to, the 300/600 would be fine for what it's needed for, just not sure how to tell the quality/power myself from the details. Is 300/600 the only thing I need to know or is there more to it than that with ampage etc?

cormie

Dealextreme didn't stock these before but now they do, at great prices can you tell, is this: http://goo.gl/NzPVy the same as this: http://goo.gl/v3KVP (the one I already have) and is this one: http://goo.gl/cntT3 even better still than the two of them and will deliver more power if required? The only thing about the 1000w one is that it may be over the allowed value before import duties whereas the 600w one will come in under the allowed value so won't be charged any import duties if ordered on its own I think?

Also, am I right in thinking the two dealextreme ones CAN be plugged into the cigarette adapter?

Any feedback appreciated

Shiny

cormie wrote: »

Dealextreme didn't stock these before but now they do, at great prices can you tell, is this: http://goo.gl/NzPVy the same as this: http://goo.gl/v3KVP (the one I already have) and is this one: http://goo.gl/cntT3 even better still than the two of them and will deliver more power if required? The only thing about the 1000w one is that it may be over the allowed value before import duties whereas the 600w one will come in under the allowed value so won't be charged any import duties if ordered on its own I think?

Also, am I right in thinking the two dealextreme ones CAN be plugged into the cigarette adapter?

Any feedback appreciated

Looking at the pictures it looks like they do include a cigarette adapter but you need to have an idea of the rating of your cigarette adapter. Sometimes
the rating is on the socket itself but mostly I have seen them to be rated for
10A. This would give you around 120W of power before you blow the fuse.

If you are only powering a laptop or something similar it would be fine.

cormie

Thanks for that, yep a laptop would be amongst the most I'd be powering but are you saying I may aswell just go for the 600w one (and avoid possible import duties because the 1000w one will pass the import 22euro {I think} allowance) as 120w would be all I could manage from them anyway? Or how would I make it possible to get the full 600/1000w from it?

Owen

You'd need to connect it directly to the battery to get the full power from it IMHO.

cormie

Cool, well I think they provide the prongs for that if ever needed but I guess the 120 from a 10a cigarette adapter is still enough to just get a laptop or similar going

Now just have to decide to get the 600 or 1000w