PowerlinePowerCup 200/400 Watt Mobile Inverter with USB Power Port 90309

I have had this Powercup for 9 full years of active service. It’s been so good it even outlasted my first car. Only now has it started to have problems but after almost 10 years that’s expected. This has probably been my best purchase ever.

I've gone through my fair share of power inverters and this is by far the best one I've tried. It does have a few annoying flaws, but overall, this is the power inverter I pack for traveling every time. I'm usually on the road with my job a few days a week, so this gets a pretty regular workout.Design: The power cup is nice because unlike others that jut out of the 12 volt outlet, this has a short cord that allows you to place the cup in the cupholder for easy access while driving. Depending on your vehicle this may not be long enough, but in most vehicles I've found it works well. For the most part, I use this to charge devices while on the road (and the occasional laptop) and it works quite well for that purpose. I have not tried using other devices that might pull more watts than a laptop, so I can not speak for performance closer to its maximum output.Unfortunately, because the outlets are placed so close together, it is nearly impossible to plug in two phone chargers at once if they are not super slimline style, and some chargers slightly block the USB outlet so that it's not useable. This is annoying, so I usually am only able to charge two devices at once. I may try an extension cord at some point, but I worry that it might blow a fuse somewhere. I wish that the design of the outlets were changed to better accommodate using all three outlets at once, or remove one power outlet and put in more USB ports.Another thing to note is that this device uses a fan to prevent overheating. It is loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that I need to turn up the radio or talk louder to compensate.In some vehicles, I have noticed interference with the radio. This is not present in every vehicle I've used the power cup in. In my personal vehicle and most work vehicles I do not notice any interference, but it has caused problems in a few vehicles I've used it in.Something else that I really love about this inverter is that it's cute, without being ridiculous. I've had a few people ask where I bought this. It also looks like a cup of coffee (duh) and sits nicely in a cupholder, so it's not quite as much of a theft target since it blends in a little.Durability: This is why my frustrations with the outlet placement are overall less of an annoyance. Most inverters I've used have died swift deaths, either due to mishandling because the outlet stuck out or cheap builds unable to handle more than six months of use a few times a week. The power cup, however, has lasted well over a year at this point and is still going strong.Price: Comparable to the cheap (in quality) inverters I bought at big box stores. Definitely worth the price I paid.Overall: Despite its flaws, I find this to be one of the best inverters I've used in terms of price and durability.

I used to have a 150 W inverter with 2 AC three-prong sockets. It worked great for several road trips with a 13" mid-2009 MacBook Pro.Then I got a new 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro. Its power brick draws 1.5 A. At 120 V, that's 180 W. The 150 W inverter tried its hardest, but couldn't charge my new laptop. Time for a beefier inverter!I debated this 200 W cup versus a 400 W brick-shaped Cobra inverter. I ultimately settled on the PowerCup because:- The PowerCup was smaller.- Its cup shape keeps it in the cupholder and away from the limited space in front of my seat. More leg room is good.- Its 200 W should be enough.- Its packaging didn't try to scare me into running a direct tap off the car battery to power it. Apparently drawing more than 150 or 200 W can fry the wiring to your cigarette lighter, or at least trip a fuse - not a good thing on a road trip.When this arrived, I immediately headed out to the car to test it. I was worried that 180 W might be too close to 200 W, and the PowerCup might still not provide enough power.I turned the key to Accessory and plugged everything in. The PowerCup's indicator LED glowed green, my laptop power plug glowed green then amber to indicate it was charging. The inverter cooling fan whirred up. And then it cut out as, the laptop plug stopped glowing, and the PowerCup flashed blinking red to indicate that the laptop was drawing too much power. Then the whole cycle started over again.I didn't want to go on a long trip with a fan cutting in and out the entire time. It's distracting. I also doubted it would charge my laptop at all.But before returning it, I decided to try it in a more realistic situation. I turned the key all the way to where the car would start. The vehicle's blowers started running, and all systems, not just "accessories", were powered.And then the PowerCup worked! The inverter's fan seemed to spin faster, as well. All I can assume is the Accessory mode feeds less power to the cigarette lighter than when the entire car is running.The lesson: Test the inverter with the car fully running, not in Accessory mode.Now, if only the instructions would explain what the weird slidey button on the lighter plug is for…

I was skeptical that this was going to work. We were traveling from one coast to the other with two small kids and this was primarily to charge their tablets. It did the job extremely well. So many reviews before i purchased I read complaints about the fan noise... I honestly don't get what their problem is... its not excessively loud at all and when you're driving you would have to strain to hear the fan noise im not sure how extremely fussy someone has to be in order to isolate that as a 'drawback', but its entirely not an issue. The only thing that stands out for me as an issue in our particular situation is that the two plugs are too close together sideways so the average tablet or phone charger plug cannot fit in at the same time as another one. I ended up having to use other cords and usb ports to partially charge one device and thats significantly slower. However, it was still a good investment overall because it still charged one device at a time twice as fast as any usb/car phone charger could. If i were to suggest an improvement... have the plugs stack one on top of the other rather than side by side.

Great for long trips and to plug in computers,ipods and phones.I would recommend this to anyone.Also nice to have 2-3 prong plug ins if you have kids and gadgets in the vehicule!!!

Bought this primarily because i somehow lost my motomaster one i had bought years ago. Absolutely love it! I love how its shaped like a coffee cup! This thing has plenty of power! I will definatley be buying another one for the girlfriend in her car!

Does not work very well.

Perfect little gadget for traveling. We take it camping in our RV and often don't get electrical sites, we just plug PowerCup in and use our Serius Radio and other electric items.