APC Travel Power PnoteAC75 mobile auto / air power inverter 75w of "clean" power! Was $89.99 now less than $29.99 AR, PM

[CZroe]

Last month, I bought the open-box item at Best Buy. It said "Open-Box Value: 81.99 was 89.99" but the product had just dropped to $79.99 new. I got my 10% discount and walked out the door with it for $71.99. I paid more for this 75w unit because the 80+ watt units were no-name brand and never mentioned anything about being a surge suppressor or power conditioner, which APC specializes in (My last laptop's auto adaptor was fried from a faulty lighter plug that flickered on and off with the engine's vibrations.). Also it was very small and light.

My laptop has been in Compaq's incapable hands for a repair ever since, so it wasn't opened. When I saw Best Buy's Sunday flyer, I thought I'd better exchange it because the new price was once again lower than the open-box price ($59.99 after two $10 rebates). Then I opened Circuit City's flyer and it's $49 with no rebates!

I went back to Best Buy, got my $110% price-match and $20 in rebates bringing it to less than $29.99!

So, if anyone else is doing a little "hunting" you might be interested

EDIT:
PnoteAC75 Air/Auto DC to AC Adapter

This may be low-wattage, but it's HIGH END. With only 75w, it's primarily for laptops (Which it's perfect for), not color TV's with attached Playstation 2s (I'm sure PSone / LCD combos would be perfect though).

Automatically shuts off when your car battery gets low (So you don't need a jump-start)
Auto "Lighter plug" head doubles as Airline power adapter (Detaches)
Small unit, weighs less than 1lb
Dual-color LED lets you know if power is safe, attached rubber cap dongle protects plug when not in use
Protects from surges, brownouts and spikes (My other power invertes do not do this!)
From APC, the number 1 name in computer power products (Industrial UPS, surge protection, line-conditioning, etc)

The Status Indicator changes color from green to red when the battery voltage in
the host vehicle drops below 11.5 volts. This feature provides the user with adequate time to safely shutdown
connected equipment and the Travel Power 75 before recharging the vehicle?s battery. If the input voltage
drops below 10.8 volts, the inverter will automatically shut down.

Also, when you draw over 75w and blow a fuse, they will replace the fuses for free while it's still in warantee.

I still need to call and find out why all the ones on eBay have a sticker over the "Airplane Combatible" feature saying "Not for use with airplanes." Their website (Linked above) clearly isn't refering to those and promotes the feature and NONE of the retail units I've seen have the sticker.
/EDIT

 

[rocadelpunk]

so what is this exactly? a surge protector/ac adapter for laptops?...or just general...pic? : P

 

[nnnyyy]

It is a power inverter so you can use an AC adapter in your car.

 

[FPSguy]

I am sure this is a good deal for this particular unit. However, if you are in the market you should be aware that you can get better units cheaper through PriceGrabber or eBay.

 

[CZroe]

This particular unit consistantly goes for over $40 new on eBay before shipping, and most of those explicitly state "Not for use with airplanes." The only one on PriceGrabber is $54.XX (Those others are higher-wattage and no longer in production).

Remember, this is NOT simply an inverter. This is a SurgeArrest APC Travel Power Auto/Airplane compatable (None of the retail one's have the sticker covering the Airplane Compatible message) surge/spike protector with automatic shutdown to prevent it from fully draining your car's battery (So you don't need a jump start after using it, like I did with my Compaq auto adapter). This is HIGH END even though it's low wattage. The high-wattage ones on eBay connect straight to your battery terminals! As if you could use THAT to power your laptop! How's that for "mobility?!"

It's like comparing a power strip to a high-end APC surge/brown-protection line-conditioner... Or UPS

In fact, if my Compaq auto adapter had the red=bad green=good indicator that the APC has, perhaps I wouldn't have fried it and would have known my lighter jack was messed up while the car was still under warrantee!

Plus, it's like, super tiny

 

[Startide Rising]

If you are looking for inverters, then you might as well spend $28.99 at Sam's Club for the 400W model that is good for a lot of general purpose usage.

If you are looking for a mobile auto power supply, then I recommend the Port brand "Empower" series. I use one with my Dell laptop. It plugs into the 12 volt utility socket of your car or will partially disassemble so that it can plug into the power jack aboard various airplanes officially and legally. The power supply standard jack on airlines is the "Empower" standard.

As for efficiency, the dedicated mobile power devices are the most efficient. What I like is that they are also very small and need no cooling fan. The Port Empower that I use is more like a cable with a "bulge" in the middle where the electronic switching supply is located.

A caution: Not all vehicles are made with their utility sockets and power systems friendly to devices left plugged in. In my GM car, the power is more or less okay with only a short power droop when starting the car. There is no apparent surge that blasts the Empower device. In one Chrysler minivan I used it, when starting the car, there were surges up and down the scale and it blew out the ultrafast fuse in the Empower. Ultrafast fuses are expensive - ugh. Evidently, when the starter is being cranked in my GM car, the voltage regulator seems to be doing its job whereas in the Chrysler it was not yet online. So, don't leave your devices plugged in when turning off the ignition (or turning it on for that matter).

FOLLOWUP: Hmm, looking for the Port Empower is futile it seems. Ever since Port was bought up by the Targus brand, the Port line of laptop accessories was reduced drastically.

 

[FPSguy]

My $30 (shipped) 300W Sima has two plugs and will shut off before it does any damage to your battery. Like many that you see on eBay and PriceGrabber, it has terminals to connect directly to a car battery, but it also comes with a cigarette lighter adapter (as do most of the others). Mine does not do airplanes, though. If you need one that connects to an airplane power outlet here is a used one for the same price (after shipping) with no rebates.

No question this is a good deal if you are looking for something to give you power on an airplane. I didn't notice that in the title or the original post, but I agree that makes it a good deal.

 

[CZroe]

Edited to comply Thnx for the suggestion! I believe APC's product is targetted to laptops users (Those who don't need high-wattage for multiple pieces of equipment), so it excells in pretending to be a full-featured "universal" laptop plug (Compaq replaced my old laptop with one that has no compatable DC-to-DC auto adapter from any manufacturer).

I believe the value is in APC's protection-oriented features and the small lightweight "laptop accessory" footprint. It is much less "wieldy/bulky" than my old laptop's DC-to-DC auto-adapter (The long cable with a "bulge") and has many more features, it's far cheaper AND it provides more functions.

 

[Johnniewalker]

Nice! Fits in my laptop case too!

 

[Ichinisan]

You wouldn't happen to be the Johnnywalker from the XBOXHACKER.net forums would you?!