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284 of 297 found the following review helpful:
 Good for my intended purpose Mar 29, 2008
By G. M. Dudley
Bought this for extended camping trips. We frequently find ourselves at events that require camping out, and with limited or no electrical. I wanted something that could supply power to our wide variety of gadgets that we typically need as a modern family.
Put the Powerpack to the test on a full week trip recently. Through the whole week, it was used for a number of purposes. Including, recharging cell phones, camera batteries, various media devices. It also was used to power a compressor to air up 3 different air mattress (including a queen), and refill them as needed. It also ran a hair straightener and blow dryer a few times. And it was used to run a breathing treatment machine for a friends asthma at least once a day. Might have been used for other things.
The results. The Powerpack lasted through day 5 of a 7 day trip, but we had brought along a lawn battery to attach as a backup. It was simple to setup, and the provided the power we needed for the last 2 days. The main battery lasted about as long as I thought it would, so I was satisified throughout.
The reasons why it didn't get 5 stars. Two reasons, and both kinda minor. One, no way to turn off the clock. I know its not much of a drain on a battery this size, but I would prefer to maximize my usuage. And two, the power meter is no super accurate. It showed 90% power on Day 4, 70% power on day 5, only to be out of power come the morning of day 6.
To be fair though, a few things where plugged into it overnight from day 5 to 6. Those items where low power or turned off. So its hard to say if they caused the drain. Maybe if they hadn't been plugged in, the main battery would have lasted all week.
Overall, very happy with the purchase.
104 of 106 found the following review helpful:
 super power supply Jul 08, 2008
By Douglas Schifter
"food maestro"
I got stuck last week with my car's alternator and battery being dead. This unit started my car 4 times that night and I actually used the supply to power the car so I could drive it an extra block to avoid paying a tow charge. It powers my hungry laptop for up to 4 hours between charges. I can't recommend this power supply more....all aces.
Update:
My unit failed to take a charge finally. I did have another unit that failed and a note of caution here. These devices are not perfected yet. True when they function they are unbeatable but they still can fail prematurely. When they work there is nothing better. The key here is price i think. I paid well under 100 and they have been recently priced at 149. I would not pay anywhere near that for the power supply as they do not last. If i had paid the 149 and it failed after three years that comes to a cost of 50 per years usage and that is not worth the cost. This power supply with a combined power inverter is a great idea, they just need to improve the quality of the battery within or make it so you can merely swap out the battery inside when it dies. Again, my experience has been awesome as to performance but it isnt a device which provides durability with certainty. If they made it so one could go to a battery dealer and get a replacement battery to insert then it is worth what they are asking.
Conclusion:
If you have a need for a solid unit and you luck out with a good one then you will not be disappointed until it eventually fails. It will provide you with stellar results until it dies. The question is this... Is it worth the price for the time it lasts? Only you can answer that.
Better alternative:
i have a commercial lincoln used as a limo. I am very hard on batteries with all the electrical demand i place on them. I purchased a sears platinum diehard for 179 5 years ago. It is the best battery i have ever used. I used to sell batteries for a living so i know them well. The only time i had a problem with this battery was the aforementioned alternator failure and that was not the fault of the battery. If i remember right there is a 100 or 120 month warranty on the diehard. Since the price of the duracell has been jacked up so high, i think you are better off buying a platinum diehard with a carry strap and cables. If you need the power inverter function buy a power inverter and merely clip on the inverter with the inclosed hookup cables and you will be far better off. The diehard has 900 cold cranking amps vs the duracells 280. With an 8 or ten year warranty on the diehard you will get value for your dollar and you can replace it anytime. The diehard takes a mean beating and keeps on going vs the duracell which can suddenly die anytime and you are out of luck. You will need a trickle charger too but it is better to spend a little more at this price to get ten years of service guaranteed vs two or three maybe. If you need to replace the battery in the first six years the replacement is free after that it is prorated. I would not buy the duracell at 169. The other setup with the diehard platinum is not as neatly packaged or pretty but on the functionality for price it blows away the duracell is a solid value in the long run.
286 of 309 found the following review helpful:
 Didn't work for me. Jun 20, 2009
By lens
I'm afraid this box didn't do the job. After charging for 3 days (1 day more than instructed by the manual), I ran a 65 Watt light bulb from one of the outlets. After only 13 minutes I got the low battery alarm. I tried charging for 2 more days and got the same result. I then called Xantrex tech support (Though the box is sold as Duracell, the tech support number in the manual is for Xantrex - BTW, kudos to them for having a real person answer the phone). They said I should try first charging from a car for 2 hours (I was using the AC adapter previously). I plugged it into my car lighter socket, but the charge light did not come on. It did light when AC charging, so I checked the battery voltage with a meter. The problem was that the battery read over 13V, so it was already higher than my car battery. That was enough trouble-shooting for me, so I returned the Powerpack today, before my return window with Amazon closed. Amazon paid for return shipping, so I'm still happy with them. I got free shipping with the purchase, so I'm out zero dollars.
Here's what I think is wrong with this product. Gel cells (the battery inside the Powerpack) can't sit for a long time in storage without charging because their internal resistance goes up (something called sulfation). When that happens the battery can seem fully charged, but it isn't because the resistance prevents it from really charging. I don't think these Powerpack products move out the door rapidly enough, so many sit in storage too long before being sold. If you are lucky, you'll get one that hasn't been stored too long and won't have a problem. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't lucky and I'm unwilling to spin the wheel again.
To Duracell/Xantrex: You need to fix this problem by switching to a battery type that doesn't have these basic weakness. Lithium batteries would be ideal. It would raise the price of the box, but it would be worth it because you could get more power in the same size with less weight. Also consider that far fewer Powerpacks would be returned. That's got to save you some cash, yes? I'm ready to buy a Lithium powered one, even at $200, but don't make me wait too long.
33 of 33 found the following review helpful:
Sulfated Batteries Dec 23, 2009
By azdog1
I ordered one of these and the battery was sulfated so it would not take a charge. Amazon exchanged it for another one, but the replacement had the same problem of sulfated battery. The tech support guy at Xantrex, the company that makes these, told me that when the units sit in a warehouse for so long without charge to the battery, sulfation occurs and the battery will never take a charge then. It is interesting that on the Xantrex site, they do not even link to Amazon as one of their sellers for this unit. There must have been too many returned units from Amazon.
In all fairness to Amazon, I have two friends who bought the Duracell Powerpack 600 from Amazon and they are totaly pleased with their units. I just got two bad lots on the draw and decided to wait to purchase another one.
28 of 28 found the following review helpful:
Flawless Performance! Nov 14, 2009
By J. Harmon
"Upstatetraildude"
Went shopping for an affordable solution to allow me to use my CPAP machine while car-camping. A secondary use would be to power the CPAP during infrequent power outages. After doing extensive shopping on Amazon, internet searches and local "brick and mortar" stores, I choose the Duracell DPP-600HD Powerpack.
Since the unit was delivered, I fully charged it (per instructions) and have taken it on two outings. I am very happy to report that it has performed flawlessly! Both outings were for two nights each. On the first outing, I had no opportunity to recharge the unit during the day, so I operated my CPAP without the optional humidifier. After the first night, the charge was down to 40%; so I expected the unit to die during the second night. Surprisingly, it didn't and operated my CPAP throughout the second night.
On the second outing, I had the ability to recharge it during the day and used the humidifier. Based on the rated watts/hour of the CPAP with humidifier, the Duracell 600 should not have powered the unit all night. However, it did!
I used the built in light just to make sure it worked (it did). May use it during a power outage, but will probably save the charge for the CPAP. Tried out the radio and it worked fine (even in camp). Good reception, but, as fully expected, lousy sound... AC/DC outlets both functioned well.
This unit scores high on price and functionality. I'm checking in to solar charges to take with me camping - this will let me take on a week-long scout camp next summer.
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