RingAutomotive 500W Power Source Compact Inverter With USB - Ideal For Charging Smartphones & Tablets

I have used inverters before and purchased this because I know Ring have good reputation,It works well but 500w is a bit optimistic although it is comfortable with 400watt load , I tested it with 300watt for an hour continuously and no problem.I have a 100watt electric kettle so this is ideal when out not to mention the laptop etc.The only criticism is the plastic case , whereas it is robust enough I do feel an Aluminium casing would be better even if a couple of pounds more and all black construction makes it difficult to locate the socket , I have painted the socket area on mine white.However it works well and I am satisfied I got value for money , as expected well packaged and prompt delivery

Bought device for camping trip, and opted for a BRAND and accepted this unit costs +60% of similar units (£49 at time of purchase) to get a reliable quality product. Opened on camping site, and found the unit to have a faulty 3 pin socket (the plastic screens covering the pin slots when not used), and rattling inside. Putting the fault aside, the unit is very light and unsubstantial, unlike other units which are heavier and rely on the mass of heat sync. This may account for the many reports of louder fan noise. I cant speak for performance , and whilst not having a cigarette lighter attachment may be deliberate to deliver higher current (not sure i fully agree with this), it really makes this unit more inconvenient. Our friends had a unit costing £30 from Amazon which was much better built and WORKED perfectly. On the flip side, as usual, Amazon were brilliant organising a return/refund.

I do not have the test kit to measure the output fully - either in power terms or in terms of whether or not this device produces a sine wave (which it probably doesn't and what some mains kit will need more than others). The badging as "500w" is something to take with a pinch of salt - with AC power there are different ways of rating output, and the number should really be qualified with a stated basis. We are used to being misled by the ridiculous over-badging of sound systems at watts that would melt a speaker, or if not, generate so much distortion as to be painful to the ear...Back to the Powersource. It is more likely to be able to cope with simple (resistive) loads than complex loads like motors, or electronics, or chargers that may have inductive effects.Driving a lightbulb - works fine; as it does with a 34w discharge tube (fluorescent) light. Driving a power drill charger - also fine. The USB output (handy, that!) charges an ipad. But with our fridge (badged as within its 500w capacity) this does not work. Open the fridge door and the light comes on - good so far. But when the thermostat in the fridge fires up the compressor to cool the thing, the light flickers off and the fridge seemingly grids to a halt. We didn't test kettles, toasters, steam irons as all the ones we have are above 500w. It is quite surprising how high the power demands of much modern kit is. None of our vacuum cleaners, power drills or coffee machines are rated below 500w.All in all a useful bit of kit in some circumstances - on a boat, say, or a car, for moderate mains loads, and for charging USB devices like tablets and smartphones. If you need to drive low voltage devices like laptops, though, you'd be better off getting a 12v adapter for them. Daft to be inverting up from 12v DC to 240 AC (inefficiently as it will be) and then transforming back down again from 240 AC to 12v DC (nominal - car batteries typically are a tad above 13v when fully charged).Last point - device has a fan that is a bit noisy....

This was bought for our mobile home, for when we need 240v but can't run the generator. It does the job admirably - the only problem being the fan. It is quiet loud and has the pitch tones of a dentists drill. I'm going to try giving the fan an oiling or maybe stick a resistor in there to slow it down.It's a shame about the fan otherwise it would have got 5 stars.

I had this for roughly 2 months and used it a few times, to run a small computer that was running at about 100w. This was fine, except on hot days, then the inverter would simply get to hot to work and unless you moved it to a cool spot and kept it cool it would not work at all.With English summer being a whole 2 weeks and maybe for 1/2 an hour on Tuesday, I figured this was something I could work around.However I hit another problem, the moment I got the small computer to do any real work and push the watts above 150w the whole system would shut down and I would have to disconnect the 500w inverter, reconnect and try again and so long I did not go over 150w it was happy.Sadly I wanted a 500w not a 150w inverter.On another note the fan is loud, it starts when you switch it on and it is very audible from a few meters away, it will need to be behind a nice wall/barrier to ensure that noise is not heard.Anyway, it is has now been returned to amazon.

Very good price and is proving very useful - have no electricity at my stables and this has allowed me to clip the horses and have a mare pregnancy scanned easily

Noisey. It does not take as Many amps as I first thought, so good performance. Retaining screws at the rear do come loose when the unit is moved and must be tightened regularly. It's a great product at a nice price.

Works wellDoes not come with 12v adapter for the car