Powerline 140-watt DC to AC Power Inverter (0900-78) 140-Watt Power Supply Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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bkovacs
Annandale, VA

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Satisfies my need for power

a techie, a gadget geek, thrifty

Pros

powerful, reasonably priced, compact

Cons

fan is a little noisy, not very stylish

APR

2008

I need to occasionally run my laptop computer in the car and thought it would also be a good idea to be able to charge gizmos such as cell phones, MP3 players and a GPS unit. The obvious answer was to get a power inverter, which is a device that converts the car's 12-Volt DC power into standard household 120-Volt AC power. I tried a small inverter sold by Wal-Mart, but it was rated at 60 Watts and that just wasn't enough power to run my laptop computer.

I therefore went back to Wal-Mart and found the Powerline 140-Watt power inverter, and it works much better. The unit costs about $32.50, which I think is a fair price for this device.

What it is

The Powerline 140-Watt inverter is a compact unit with a standard car power plug at one end and a three-prong household-style power receptacle at the other. The unit can pivot at the point where the slim power plug meets the bulk of the unit's body -- the pictures above show how this device is built. The body of the unit has a USB connector as well as the standard three-prong socket. This USB connector can be used to charge things like an iPod and/or certain kinds of cell phones. (I believe a Blackberry can be charged using a USB cable, for example.) Anything that can be charged from a USB connector on a computer can just as well be charged from the USB port on this Powerline 140-Watt inverter.

This inverter is just a little bigger than the 60-Watt inverter I previously tried, but it is much more powerful. Rated at 140-Watts (continuous), it is easily enough to run my laptop. It won't be able to power kitchen appliances, but it can easily handle a small TV, radio, stereo and other such necessities. The unit has a built-in fan to keep itself cool.

Using it

The Powerline 140-Watt inverter is very easy to use. Just stick it into the cigarette lighter jack in a car and plug whatever electrical device you want to run into the standard receptacle. This unit had no trouble running my computer in the car. I drove while my wife surfed the Web, using our high-speed EVDO card. (It's pretty cool to look up an address for something as you're cruising down the road, get a phone number and make a call!) The unit did not complain at all while powering my laptop.

The only downside was that the built-in fan made a little noise as it worked to keep the unit cool. It wasn't really loud but it was noticable. It wouldn't interfere with listening to the car's stereo, however.

I haven't used this device's USB port to charge anything, but it's good to know the capability is there.

Summary

At nearly $33, the Powerline 140-Watt inverter is more than twice the price of the last inverter I tried. However, the big difference is that the Powerline unit works -- it can actually power my laptop computer without breaking a sweat. In addition, it can charge any of the gizmos I'm likely to want to charge, such as a cell phone and my digital camera's battery.

I recommend the Powerline 140-Watt power inverter.

Last edited on Apr 07, 2008