Those have been on the market at our local Costco for
a couple of years. More impressive is the 1000 Watt model
for $69.

Doug

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
Just got back from a shopping trip to Costco tonight and was
pleasantly surprised to find a Xantrex 400 watt inverter in the
automotive and tools department for $29.

It has several attractive features that I've not seen before on
small/inexpensive inverters:

1. A digital display that will read out DC volts, AC volts or AC
watts.

2. Choice of cigarette lighter adapter or leads with aligator clips
(all included).

3. Two grounded outlets instead of the usual one.

What the heck, the DC digital voltmeter alone is worth $29 so needless
to say it has joined my ever growing inverter collection and will
probably reside at the lower helm station where it will power a
laptop.

For those who really want to know, I have no business connection with
either Xantrex or Costco.

On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 19:29:01 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:

Those have been on the market at our local Costco for
a couple of years. More impressive is the 1000 Watt model
for $69.

======================

Didn't see that one. Does it have a digital voltmeter also?

1000 watts is a bit on the large side in my opinion unless you go for
the full hard wired, inverter/charger set up, although I guess it
might be handy for occasional use with tools, microwave, etc. I get a
lot of mileage out of the small inverters running laptops in the boats
and cars.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 1 Apr 2005 19:29:01 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:

Those have been on the market at our local Costco for
a couple of years. More impressive is the 1000 Watt model
for $69.

======================

Didn't see that one. Does it have a digital voltmeter also?

Not as I recall, but that is unnessary inasmuch as battery monitor should be
instlled in any setup large enough to use a 1000W inverter.

1000 watts is a bit on the large side in my opinion unless you go for
the full hard wired, inverter/charger set up,

This one was wired in. 1000W out of a cigarette lighter plug would be
a bit much.

although I guess it
might be handy for occasional use with tools, microwave, etc.

We use ours mostly for the laptop, but also for the microwave, vacuum
cleaner, etc.

I get a
lot of mileage out of the small inverters running laptops in the boats
and cars.

If that is all you need then the 300W is good. I just saw a bunch af 300W
inverters for $19 today at a hamfest/