Best Home Wall AC Travel Charger + Rapid Vehicle Car Plug in Power Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $44.99
Sale Price: $6.05
Today's Bonus: 87% Off

Had been looking for extra "stuff" for my phone. This fit the bill to a T! Product was just what I needed for the additional plugs, etc. for my android phone.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Gomadic TipExchange Tip Number A4 Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $7.95
Sale Price: $5.79
Today's Bonus: 27% Off

Gomadic charging tips work great. This is the fourth one I have bought, and I am very pleased with it and the charging station itself.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

The godamadic TipExchange tip numbre A4 is a excelent quality, and very fine, I recomend by nokia recharger cell phone, the phone is protect very well

Review of Odyssey PC1200MJT Sealed Drycell/Deep Cycle Battery And CTEK Multi

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $347.99
Sale Price: $308.64
Today's Bonus: 11% Off

I have several collector and muscle cars which spend most of their lives in storage. The Odyssey PC1200MJT Sealed Drycell/Deep Cycle Battery And CTEK Multi US 3300 Battery Charger are perfect solutions for the problem of keeping the cars ready for use any time I want to get one out for a show or cruise. I also purchased the CTEK 56-263 Comfort Connect Cig Plug to make the whole proposition much easier. No need to open the hood or worry about underhood clearance, shorting out terminals, etc.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Cheap Spectronics Corp/Tracer TP8690 Optimax 3000 Cordless Leak Detection

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $153.06
Sale Price: $103.49
Today's Bonus: 32% Off

Very bright, turns the tracer dye yellow looking instead of green. Have had other uv lights that were battery powered but not very bright and batteries did not last very long. I find this flash light is brighter than our 120v uv light and brighter than our 12v vehicle powered uv light. You can buy cheaper----but this is definitely best bang for the buck!!!! Great price!!! Great product!!!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

We use UV light in the automotive shop environment regularly for leak diagnosis. This is the brightest UV light I have seen. Useful tool even without glasses, but amazing with glasses. Would recommend to other mechanics.

Best Deals for Spectronics Corp/Tracer TP8690 Optimax 3000 Cordless Leak Detection

Great light that is super bright

I bought a cheap no name brand before this one ( That was a waste of $35 ! ) So if you are in market for a U.V. light just get this one you will not be disappointed .

Honest reviews on Spectronics Corp/Tracer TP8690 Optimax 3000 Cordless Leak Detection

Very bright light, the dye "pops" a lot more using this light than my old 12v UV dye light. You must use the glasses included with the kit to see dye. Rugged aluminum construction, I expect this light to last for several years.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Spectronics Corp/Tracer TP8690 Optimax 3000 Cordless Leak Detection

This light is bright. It for hunting scorpions and head lice as well. It holds a good charge. Needs a case

Discount Bosch C3 Fully Automatic 4-Mode 6/12V Smart Battery Charger

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $59.31
Today's Bonus: 15% Off

I've had this charger for almost 2 years. At first I was quite impressed with the design and seemingly high quality. It did a good job charging a riding mower battery and car batteries. However, I quickly began to miss my old analog battery charger that was over 30 years old and had a quick charge function.

The "smart" functions interfere with some of the things I needed to do--charge a really drained 12V battery (it couldn't accurately determine whether it was a 6V or 12V), or charge a battery pack that was neither 6V nor 12V. Yes, I realize this a safety feature but I'm smart enough to know how to charge a battery correctly manually.

I've grumbled and put up with it (especially when it would go off when the power was cut and then not come on automatically), but I recently discovered it is no longer responding to the push button. I have to spend 5 minutes squishing or rubbing it in every direction before it apparently makes contact inside and changes the mode. Very very frustrating.

Here's the kicker: Although it has a 2-warranty, Bosch states, "The limited warranty further excludes normal wear and tear on parts and damage to fragile components (e.g. switches)." Seriously??? The ONLY moving part on this unit and it's fragile? Not worth the money if it's going to fail before 2 years.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

As inteligent as this units charging features are there is a basic flaw in its logic when it comes to being a battery maintainer. You need to push a button before it will do anything! So, if you have you battery being maintained and the power is interupted for a split second, it will just sit there and do nothing until you notice and push the button again. Just imagine coming out to your garage to start your lawn tractor after a long winter to find your battery dead because the power flikered one evening during the winter.

Pretty dumb design for a smart maintainer.

If you want it for a charger, it is VERY well built as you would expect from Bosch.

Best Deals for Bosch C3 Fully Automatic 4-Mode 6/12V Smart Battery Charger

The Bosch C3 battery charger is a "smart" charger, which detects the voltage of your battery and decides if it is 6V or 12V, and then charges accordingly. However, there is a very serious flaw here. What if your 12V car battery is heavily discharged to a voltage less than 6V?

Answer: the charger fails, it will NOT recharge your battery back to 12 Volts.

If your battery currently is discharged to less than 6 volts the C3 "smart" chip presumes that your battery is therefore only a 6V battery, and will charge it only to 6 Volts, not the 12 Volts which you need. There is NOTHING you can do to get it to charge to 12V if the charge has drained briefly to less than 6V, regardless of the age or quality of your battery. You are out of luck.

So, a great battery charger if you only need to "top it off", but it will fail you completly if you left your dome light on while away on vacation and then need to recharge back to 12V. That is what happened to me, and I had to go out and buy a different brand battery charger to recover the 12V charge in my perfectly good car battery.

Not worth it.

Honest reviews on Bosch C3 Fully Automatic 4-Mode 6/12V Smart Battery Charger

I bought this because of the built-in desulfator feature. The issue is it does not allow you to enable the feature manually. I'm pretty sure my SLA battery needs to be reconditioned since the charge does not last long. But this charge never goes into desulfator mode.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Bosch C3 Fully Automatic 4-Mode 6/12V Smart Battery Charger

I would have liked a meter on it but other than that this is a very good, easy to use battery charger that is as close to fool proof as you can get. Bosch makes high quality products and the price through Amazon was very good.

Cheap iShoppingdeals - for Sony Walkman NWZ S544 S545 MP3: Car Charger

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $35.99
Sale Price: $21.99
Today's Bonus: 39% Off

This bundle came with so many great things. I haven't used them all yet. It is nice to have a cover for my MP3 player for protection and there is an extra one as well. It also came w/ 2 screen protecters but I found they did not fit which is not a big deal because it comes with a little stretchy black bad to keep my MP3 player in . And the speakers are awesome and I use them on my bedside tabble. I would buy this again or for a present.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

The product package was very nice, but it was not what I was looking for. I returned the product.

Reviews of SUNFORCE PRODUCTS 58050 55-watt Solar Charging Kit

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $488.19
Sale Price: $285.12
Today's Bonus: 42% Off

It was easy enough to put together after a few logical tries, since the instructions were not great. There are just a few ways to do it wrong and one way to do it right. So it only took a half hour. I somehow felt mislead, that this would charge my auto jump starters (500 amp, 12 v) that I use for light and USB ports when the power goes down. All I got it to do was run its own inverter. That hummed, but didn't power anything, not even a teeny electric clock, but then again maybe you are supposed to do that from a charged battery, to be fair to the manufacturer. They could have given a lot more info considering this is not a cheap system. It was not a dark day, but not the brightest either. I tried it over two days. I later dug up on the web, (not their site!) that it may charge some small batteries in a reasonable time, but not these Stanley or Duracell type battery backups/jump starter/power stations, via the 12V attachment they provide, unless they had weeks and weeks of direct ideal sunlight. So if you want it to charge small things, go for it, it was kind of fun putting it together I have to say, but it went back. It was a good intro though, I think I just need many more watts, maybe 300+ to do what I wanted it to do. The problem is those are very pricey. I was disappointed. I wish before you buy, they would have a list stating how long in good sunlight it takes to charge various different type batteries. It would save a lot of returns. None of them seem to do that, they just show pictures of them hooked to batteries, leading you to think maybe a day or so would do it. I am sure this is good for small batteries or ipods, cell phones, etc. so didn't give one star, but gave just two due to lack of real time charging information before ordering. Like approximately how long for a rechargeable AA battery, how long for a cell phone, how long for a marine battery or backup battery.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I bought this "kit" thinking that it would be complete and easy to set up. Turns out neither was true. It has no battery although I was led to believe from the package it did, as it has a drawing illustrating use with a battery. There are no specifications as to what type of battery you must now purchase.

The kit appears to just lump together various pieces as the individual connectors do not match.

I probably would have been better off buying individual pieces.But as a homeowner novice I assumed this was designed for people like me. But really it dupes people like me.

Also, the support for the panels is very insecure.

To use this I now have to find out what battery I need and purchase this then pay someone to connect the electricals as the instructions are so vague.

I really am disappointed with a brand name like Coleman, which made me purchase this trusting in the brand name.

Best Deals for SUNFORCE PRODUCTS 58050 55-watt Solar Charging Kit

Great setup for battery charging. I am constantly amazed at the level of knowledge some of the purchasers display.

This is a very small solar array with about 4 amps output @ 12 volts. If you are lucky you will get at most 5 hours of full output per day which translates to about 20 amp hours per day. Do your math that is a 2 amp draw for 10 hours.

This will take 5 days to charge a 100 amp hour battery if you do not run anything else at the same time. There is no free lunch in the solar world. This might work to power small led lights or simple communications equipment with very low amp draw. Quality is good and the voltage regulator has adequate high voltage settings for agm batteries.

Honest reviews on SUNFORCE PRODUCTS 58050 55-watt Solar Charging Kit

I purchased two of these units to recharge the batteries for my travel trailer when we are in remote areas so I do not have to run the generator all the time. They provide about 3 1/2 amps charge to each battery. I have them on a longer cable so I can park the trailer in the shade and place the collectors in the full sun. They will not run the microwave, but they are not designed to. We still need the generator for 120VAC items, like the microwave, etc. but have to run it much less than before. It would be nice if they came with a storage box, but i just built one out of plywood and it keeps it all together and safe. I would like to get more when we can swing it. The quiet is nice.

Buy Cellet Cradle Charger for HTC Evo Shift 4G - Black

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $34.99
Sale Price: $15.51
Today's Bonus: 56% Off

Too many other chargers were listed as Evo/Evo Shift chargers. Which cannot be true. My phones charging port seems to function intermittently. I needed to be able to charge the spare battery outside of the phone. This base does that well and also when my phone is repaired will make an excellent charger stand.

Included with the base was a 110v wall adapter to usb and a USB/Mini-B? cable.

Nice to know I should be able to take the base unit with me in the truck and keep a spare battery charging through out the day using the base and cable provided and one of my 12volt lighter usb ports...

Ordered Item Wednesday Night ~11pm, was shipped on Thursday and arrived on Friday.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

This is one of the easiest cradles for the HTC Evo Shift that I have used. Sometimes cradles are hard to line up with the charging port, and you really feel like your breaking your phone trying to get a connection. NONE of that with this cradle! Set the phone in, add a tiny bit of pressure, check for the light on the phone and done! Couldn't be happier with it.

Monster Cable iCharger Auto Charger for iPod with Firewire Reviews

Customer Ratings:

It works just fine with the original, Firewire iPod, but not at all on the newer iPods.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I just love this charger for my 20G origional Ipod. It looks great, and is super compact which I love. It is intended for the origional Ipod, but there is also an adaptor avalable from another company to use it with the new style. The cord is great, its 10 foot length is extremly compact due to a tight coil. The intelegent charging is a good feature, and the lights on the charger to tell its state are very useful. The charger also looks GREAT compared to others. I reccommend this product 100%.

Best Deals for Monster Cable iCharger Auto Charger for iPod with Firewire

This item works wonderfully for my 2 gen ipod. This plug fits snuggly into the lighter and is very flush with the dashboard allowing me to still use the cupholders that are right in front of it.

Honest reviews on Monster Cable iCharger Auto Charger for iPod with Firewire

Nowhere in the description does it mention what iPODs are compatible with this charger. I assumed the charger would work with all iPODs but it doesn't fit the new 4G iPODs!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Monster Cable iCharger Auto Charger for iPod with Firewire

This device works great. It is very small, has lots of frequencies to choose from (important if you live in a big city with powerful broadcasts on most available frequencies), has a cool light that lets you know it is working, charges the iPod while you listen and really has no drawbacks. If I had to pick one out, it would be that the cable attaches to the lighter plug from the side so in some cars where the lighter / accessory outlet is tough to get too, you may find the plug to be a tight fit. Not really a problem though. Highly recommend.

Reviews of Sunforce 52022 5 Watt Solar Trickle Charger - Pack of 2

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $132.00
Sale Price: $80.59
Today's Bonus: 39% Off

I purchased these solar trickle chargers all winter. I park my trailer at the storage facility for the winter. My batteries always drain down to nothing. I got these so try and see if I could keep my batteries from draining down to nothing. I built a small little angled mount for them using wood so I could remove it when I was not using them. I put the unit on the roof and made sure my batteries were fully changed first. I left the solar panels on the top of the trailer. I checked the trailer twice a month I checked the trailer and the batteies stayed charged up all winter. Good little units. Will not charge your battey it will maintain a charge.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Since I have several ancillary devices connected to the car's (2007 Ford Taurus) electrical system, there is always a trickle load on the battery. There is a ham radio that uses backup power when off, a GPS that trickle charges even when fully charged, and a GPS receiver that runs 100% of the time. The load is not a lot, but I wouldn't leave this stuff connected for a week without driving the car. These devices do load the battery enough that on long cold winter nights, the battery starts drooping significantly. For this reason, I looked at the charger panel(s), and after reading the reviews decided they would work perfectly in minimizing the impact of all these extra devices sitting in standby all afternoon and overnight. The combination of using the panel all day while inside at work, and from 4 p.m. throughout the night has worked out very well.

I'm only using one panel, the other is for a gift.

A few notes to clear up some confusion that I noted while reading the reviews:

1. The maximum output of 350 ma at 14 volts (loaded) is NOT enough to damage any lead acid battery (car/motorcycle/lawn tractor). Yes, unloaded the panel will put out 22 volts. That means absolutely nothing. As long as it sees a 12 v battery as a load, its output will drop into the 14 plus range, which is EXACTLY what a 12v battery should be seeing from a charging circuit, so no regulator is required (or even desirable) when charging auto/motorcycle batteries.

2. The panel will not discharge a connected battery, period. There is a blocking diode in the panel's wiring that prevents current flowing from the battery to the panel. If your panel is discharging your battery, then the blocking diode has failed (it is shorted). One possible, and I'm afraid all too common reason for this failure is having the panel connected when you start your car. VERY BAD IDEA. The instructions clearly state that one should not have the panel connected while the car is running. If the panel is connected when the vehicle is starting, very large voltage spikes are present on the 12v line and the blocking diode in the panel sees these spikes and may not be rated to stand up to them. The result: the diode shorts, and this allows the battery to send current to the panel overnight....all night.

3. As far as charging smaller (lower capacity) 12v batteries or battery packs, some caution needs to be observed. Nickel Cadmium (NICAD) or Nickle Metal Hydride (NIMH) batteries can be safely charged on a continuous basis at a rate of 0.10 X AMP HOUR RATING of the battery. For example: a 12 volt battery pack made of 2500 maH rated batteries can be charged continually at 250 maH. An 1800 maH rated pack of cells can only be safely charged continually at 180 maH. Since these panels put out 350 ma, neither of these batteries can be safely charged on a continual basis. This is where the charge controllers come in to play.

CONSTRUCTION:

The panels are quite well constructed and arrived properly packed. The supplied wire length with cig plug pigtail was long enough to go from the back window to the front accessory plug. Since the panels were provided with 4 screws for mounting, I bought some 1/4 inch plywood (cut to 1/2 inch larger around than the panel by our local lumber yard), and screwed the panel onto the plywood with rubber grommets as spacers/shock absorbers. I also bought some "gripper" feet at the local Wally World (hardware section furniture slider area), and put them on the plywood bottom to help prevent it from sliding around. The panels are clearly labeled "this side down", so it is impossible to mount them the wrong way!

PERFORMANCE:

Since putting the panel on, the rate of decay of the battery in the face of the loading of my devices, has decreased markedly. I have a digital voltmeter on the system and can see that in the morning the battery voltage is not as low as it had been prior to putting on the panel. It won't charge a dead battery, it won't make up for a significant current drain on your car battery. It will prevent a dramatic sag in battery voltage as a result of your car's microprocessor and alarm system running all night, as well as take care of a few auxiliary devices in the battery backup mode (maintaining memory of channels, for example). If your vehicle needs to sit long periods of time without running, these panels are a perfect solution, as long as you have access to sunlight. I measured the panel output at 21 volts on a fully overcast, but bright skied day, sitting in the back window of my car.

CAVEAT:

I have one concern about these panels. On a 30 degree day in full sunlight the panel became surprisingly warm to the touch, considerably warmer than the dash I had it sitting on. I'm not sure how things are going to work or how I'm going to deal with how hot they may get in full sunlight on a 90 degree Iowa summer day. At this point, it appears I have a month or two to ponder this issue. It certainly makes no sense if you can't put a solar panel in your car, (because it might get damaaged by excessive heat), when it is sold as a car charger.

Summary:

For the price and my purpose, this panel appears to be an excellent solution. Properly used and mounted, and with certain precautions taken, I would recommend this panel to anyone needing a 12v TRICKLE charging solution, where a charge controller is not needed (lead acid car/motorcycle/lawn tractor batteries).

Best Deals for Sunforce 52022 5 Watt Solar Trickle Charger - Pack of 2

They work great, but it would be good if an LED indicator was on these so one can verify there is traveling current, or not.

Honest reviews on Sunforce 52022 5 Watt Solar Trickle Charger - Pack of 2

These panels worked great. I had a small window and these fit perfectly within. Gives a good charge of 22.5v each. Maintaining a deep cycle battery this worked great.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Sunforce 52022 5 Watt Solar Trickle Charger - Pack of 2

I am sold on these for charging batteries as well as saving energy. I have four total; one for our camper, one for my wife's "toy" BMW, one for our external generator and one for our electric, automatic gate. The one for the gate has been in continuous service for well over a year without issue or failure. I am sold on solar and looking into it to run our wood burning furnace fan to pay ZERO to heat the house this winter (after start up cost recovery of course; not long to recover at the current cost of utilities). I HIGHLY recommend these chargers.

Emergency Zone Mobile Phone Charger with 14 Adapters, No Batteries Review

Customer Ratings:

This charger works....but don't expect it to work quickly. After over 30 minutes of charging my phone only stayed on for a few minutes, enough to make an emergency call, but not enough to do anything else.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

My Motorola Cell phone is very 'finicky' when it comes to battery charging 'in the phone with a 3rd party device' but not this one. It works great. I had a new battery that I ran down and after a lot of cranking I got another bar on the battery indicator.

It's for emergency and do not expect to completely charge the battery. In use you would crank it for 5 min and have about 5 min (depends on how your phone is set up) 5 min of emergency talk time. Since you're charging the phone battery you should be able to take a break. I would have the phone 'OFF' so all the charge went to the battery. I would hate to crank this for 5 to 10 min then have a 'spammer' call me using up battery power.

I do NOT understand why the cranking LED is red. Personally I would prefer white and if really desperate have a crank flashlight to use as well as a phone charger.

It works and fits in a small palm.

The BEST safety is to have a spare charged battery but this does work.

Best Deals for Emergency Zone Mobile Phone Charger with 14 Adapters, No Batteries

I have a Verizon Thunderbolt and had been out all day. Came home to a power outage and needed to charge up the phone. Dug this out of the emergency box, plugged it in and got a warning message that if I continued it would damage the phone. So much for emergency back up.

Honest reviews on Emergency Zone Mobile Phone Charger with 14 Adapters, No Batteries

This device had many adaptors which is great, but, it did not attach well to my Sony Ericsson. My kids say it works for their Nokias so I am disappointed @2.5 stars. Works for then =2.5 but none from me.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Emergency Zone Mobile Phone Charger with 14 Adapters, No Batteries

Does exactly what it says. I have a 8 year old Nokia mobile phone for emergency use. Because I rarely use that phone, I often forget to charge it. So soon after getting this charger I had occasion to use it. And it worked great -gave the phone enough of a charge to make a short call.

If Amazon ever gets it back in stock I will buy a few more to give as "peace-of-mind" gifts to my family.

Discount Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $79.99
Sale Price: $54.15
Today's Bonus: 32% Off

First of all, all the distances advertised on any walkie talkie like this is based on mountain top to mountain top communication, where the valley increases the range, and no obstruction. That is where they based the 35 miles. For city use, in malls, house to house and areas with trees will be between .5 to 1 mile at most. Since I have been using Motorola Walkie talkies all my life so I knew what I was buying.

I experimented with 3 different models of Walkie talkies in the mall with my wife. First we tried the 5 mile Motorola. I was on one end of the mall inside Macy's and she was on the other side in Nordstrom. She could not even hear me.

We tried the 10 mile Motorola. This time she could hear me press the talk button and a few garbled words, but that was it. We could not communicate.

We tried these 35 mile ones last. We were able to hear each other just fine. Not bad considering the distance and the number of obstructions.

I have also tried this on the open road for car to car communication and it can reach the horizon. If you want more power, you will need to get a license and buy a 5 watt radio.

This Radio has many nice features you would normally find in Professional Radios 5 times the price of this.

UPDATE SEPT 25, 2009-

This radio has a really nice feature I just discovered. It has the hands free iVOX capability. It will broadcast when it hears a sound. There are 3 levels of sensitivity. I tried it as a baby monitor. I left my wife and baby while they were asleep and turned on the radio to High power on one of the GMRS channels(I have an FCC license by the way, so I can use this channel). I drove about 1 mile to my brother-in-laws house. The Radio worked as a long range baby monitor! It was impressive considering that the radio was indoors and I was not line-of-site, and it reached a mile. Very amusing.

I would advice getting an FCC license so that you can use the High power GMRS channels legally. With these radios, it is about 1.5 to 2 watts. If you use the FRS channels 8 to 14, all walkie talkies including this will only use 0.5 watts. Channels 1 to 7 are GMRS/FRS channels. You cannot legally use the high power PTT button if you do not have an FCC license. Channels 15 to 22 are GMRS channels where you can use the High power mode exclusive to GMRS radios. Go to the FCC website and pay the fee for a GMRS radio license, it is good for your immediate family for 5 years. It is worth it if you use it all the time.

****Update October 26, 2009****

I will now detail what I have found out about my Motorola:

Pros:

1. In door range This is the mall slayer. Go to any mall and give your kids one and you will be able to talke to them pretty much anywhere they are.

2. Audio Quality Very clear and very loud.

3. Outdoor Range It has almost the same range as my Icom professional radio which has 3 times the power. That is basically because outdoor range is more about antenna height rather than power.

4. Flashlight Very useful when you go camping. You dont have to bring an extra flashlight. It is bright. Excellent for emergencies.

5. iVox Hands free operation. Very useful as a 1 mile baby monitor.

6. Call button I can call the other radio so that they know I am trying to call them so they can pick up the radio.

7. Emergency button It will send an alert so that the other person knows you are in trouble.

8. Weather channels I use it to find out the weather, specially before going Kayaking.

9. Privacy Codes it has so many Privacy codes so you will never be disturbed by other radios.

10. QT You can restrict the radios that you hear to only Motorolas.

11. Scan well most other radios have this too.

12. 2 power settings You can either transmit on .5 watts or 1.5 watts, depending on the button you press. Unless you are using FRS channels 8 to 14 which are hardcoded to use .5 watts.

13. Vibrate feature In case you are in a noisy place, this is useful.

14. Ease of use It does not get easier. Instructions are clear and it is intuitive.

CONS:

1. I am still trying to find one.

********UPDATE December 27,2009*********

I conducted another Distance and clarity test:

Equipment:

1. My Icom F21 UHF 4 watt Professional Handheld Radio(same one Police/Sheriff use. $380 for a pair)

2. My Motorola MR350($59 a pair)

Parameters of the Test:

I have a 40 Watt GMRS Base Station at home. My Home is by the Beach Blvd. I will drive North on beach Blvd and at every quarter mile, I will get down from the car, and transmit. I will transmit first with the Icom, then the Motorola. I will also note down if I can hear a reply back and how clear the reply was.

Result of the test:

Distance

1. Icomwas able to transmit and receive clearly up till 3 1/4 miles. It then started to become choppy from that point.

2. Motorola was able to transmit and receive clearly till 2 3/4 miles. It then started to become choppy from that point.

Clarity

1. Icom There were times I had to ask my wife to repeat herself because it sounded a little muffled.

2. Motorola Just like listening to an FM radio. Loud and crystal clear.

Conclusion

Although the extra power of the Icom gave it a slight advantage in range, about 20%, you can buy 8 pairs of these Motorolas for the price of the Icom. Let the result speak for itself.

Note: This test was meant to show that the Professional Radios only have a slight advantage over the Motorola. The distances were that far because I have a base station with a 10 foot mast and an external J-pole GMRS tuned antenna. Hand held to hand held still follows the laws of physics so it is the same as I mentioned at the beginning of the review, .5 to 1 mile in the city. Completely different story if you are on an elevated position. Distance in miles = Square root of the Height(in feet) x 1.4.

*****UPDATE FEB. 04,2010******

I would like to now discuss the Cost savings of this MR350 over Professional Radios.

My Motorola MR350 is still going strong. I have since bought more Professional Icoms and have had to go through the hassle of tweaking them and programming them manually to get them to function the way this Motorola does when you first take it out of the packaging. I had to buy these Icoms because I am a member of a GMRS Radio Group here in Orange County and Los Angeles and I need the repeater functionality and external antenna.

If you buy a professional radio, you will have to pay to have it programmed. It can cost from between $20 to $80 each time you need to have something programmed. I bought the software and equipment to program my Icoms and they were very expensive. Again, this is something you will never have to do with the MR350.

Batteries on my Icoms cost about $60. That is even more than the cost of this MOTOROLA!!! Not to mention that I had to buy an external battery pack for my Icoms costing $45 so that I can use Energizer AA batteries. The Motorola can use the included rechargeable battery, or you can use Energizer.

I have my Motorolas fully charged all the time so if ever the big earthquake hits LA, this will be my primary survival gear together with my Swiss Army Knife.

Conclusion:

In a cost perspective, the Motorola MR350 wins hands down. You will easily spend about $650-700(hardware and software) to equip a pair(2) of Professional Radios to have some(not all) of the features of this Motorola MR350. At the end of the day, cost will always be a factor when we purchase anything.

Hope to talk to you on the air.

******UPDATE APRIL 19,2010*******

I just bought another set of Motorola MR350 radios. I leave a pair in my car for emergencies where I cannot use my car mounted Mobile UHF radio. I still think these are the best deal on any UHF radio.

******UPDATE OCTOBER 26,2010*******

I just wanted to update all of you since it has been 1 year since my original post. The 4 Radios and the batteries are still working great. That being said, one of the nice people to comment, mentioned that one or both of his new units were defective. Unfortunately, that is not unique with Consumer radios. Once you receive your radio, whatever you buy, please test it right away. If you find that something is not right, tell Amazon that the unit is defective, then exchange it for a new set. That is the nice thing about Amazon. And if you have more issues, drop me a comment, and I can point you to other radios that you may like. I collect radios and I have tried most of them already so I can save you the trouble of deciding.

Also, he mentioned that there is a site that you can get a free replacement faceplate for the MR355 which has the Repeater capability and all of the features of the MR350. The catch is the original faceplate of the MR355 is camo. The free replacement faceplate will make the MR355 look much more discreet. Look into that radio as well. From what I hear, they are almost the same price. Oh, and I also have that MR355 radio, but never take it out because I have not replaced the faceplate yet. I will eventually.

******UPDATE FEBRUARY 2, 2012*******

I am so happy to announce that all 4 Motorola MR350 radios are still working. I still take them with me everywhere and have not had any problems with them. I have accidentally dropped them a couple of times so they have some scratches here and there, but they still work fine. I am really happy all 4 radios have lasted this long, almost 3 years for the original pair.

If there are any situations you would like me to test, please let me know and I will do my best to document a proper test for it. Let me know.

******UPDATE AUGUST 27, 2012*******

Again, I am happy to report all 4 radios still work. Now I would like to talk about the best new radio I have seen from Motorola, the MT352R. It is basically very similar to the MR350 except that it has a better rechargeable NiMH battery. It has double the battery life of the MR350. It also has a new method of charging. It does not use a charging station anymore. You just plug a mini USB cable to the bottom.

That is great, except that it is a much larger radio, so you have to consider the bulk of this before buying it. I have only seen it but I am about to buy a pair and see if this provides. I was really hesitant to buy it because it did not look as sleek as the MR350 which has served me well.

Once I get it, I will let you know if it is even worth paying the extra money, for what appears to be the same radio.

Another thing I wanted to discuss is the repair of these consumer radios. If the radio is still under warranty and Motorola will replace your radio as long as it was not due to user error. Once the warranty is over and your radios break, you have to buy a new radio as they do not repair radios out of warranty. Motorola used to do repairs, but no one really availed of it because it costs $50 or more to repair a radio. People just bought new ones. That goes for all handhelds available. So, the moral of the story is, if your radio is still under warranty, bring it to Motorola(or whatever radio you buy) and they will give you a new radio. Do not wait as the warranty could lapse.

I hope that helps you guys.

********UPDATE December 3, 2012*******

All 4 MR350 radios are still ticking. I am happy to report though that I have purchased a pair of Motorola MT352R radios. It will be arriving soon, and I will do a very comprehensive side by side test between my favorite, the MR350 vs the contender, the MT352R. Please give me about a week to get the radios, perform the tests and analyze the results. I should be able to post the findings by December 14, 2012. It should give you enough time to decide whether to buy this for xmas.

********IMPORTANT UPDATE December 4,2012*********

I received the Motorola MT352R this morning and proceeded to perform the comparison testing between the MR350 and the MT352R. Please go to my review of the MT352R so you will be able to see the results of my testing. Motorola MT352R Giant FRS Weatherproof Two-Way 35 Mile Radio Pack Silver

In a nutshell, they have the same features except for the IP-54 weather resistance. The main difference between them is size, distance, battery life and most important of all, price. Is 20-30% more distance worth paying 40-50% more(depending how much the current price is of course)? That is your choice. I still prefer the MR350 because of the very slim form and proven reliability. The MT352R is as big as an ICOM handheld. The MT352R has a better battery, but the MR350 has great battery life to begin with.

Please read my review of the MT352R so you have a better idea. I hope that helps.

********UPDATE April 29, 2013*********

I have had these radios for 4 years now and they still work just fine. I still highly recommend them.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Motorola MR350R vs Midland GXT1050--both products received good reviews on Amazon and I had a hard time initially deciding which one to buy since I could not find detailed comparison between the two. So, I will try to be more comprehensive in comparison here hoping to help you make a decision suitable for your purpose.

I bought MR350R two months ago from Costco at $55 (tax included) to monitor my baby sleeping upstairs and to use during road trips. A month later I also bought Midland GXT1050 from Amazon upon good reviews and my dissatisfaction with some silly design issue associated with the MR350 VOX feature (which is critical for monitoring purpose).

Size and weight: MR350 is lighter (6.2oz vs 7.3oz for each handset including rechargeable battery pack and belt clips) and has a noticeably more agronomical grip, especially for kids or someone with smaller hands.

Setup and Change Settings: MR350 has more intuitive LCD display and signs/symbols whereas GXT1050 took me a couple of hours to set up and memorize what each symbol/letter means (It would be tremendously helpful if Midland can add a full list of all symbols/letters and their meanings in a simple table instead of diving this information into chunks and burying it into each individual function/feature section). I think a 10 year old can be taught to change settings on MR350 without a manual but that most likely won't happen with GXT1050 (with or without the manual).

Features: These two share many useful key features like Weather Scan and Alert. GXT1050 has more channels (50 vs 22 for MR350R) which may be useful for using in populated areas although I never run into issues with MR350 on this one. MR350 has a built-in LED light for emergency use, which is nice. GXT1050 can produce a loud SOS siren which maybe useful in certain situations (although I never used it for any real purposes). Overall GXT1050 seems a bit more versatile with features such as direct call.

Range: GXT claimed 36 miles range and MR350 claimed 35 miles--both claims are meaningless since nobody would ever achieve the advertised range unless standing on two mountain peaks with perfect conditions. In actual use, the effective range is more like 1-2 miles in a flat suburban environment and a bit more in open field. Some reviewers here found a slightly better range with GXT1050 although my test twice showed MR350R lasted a slightly longer range while me driving away from home with each model broadcasting from my living room.

PPT Button is the one needing to be pressed down when transmitting. MR350R has the button designed in such way you can press the upper part for high power and lower part for low power--made switch power a much easier task. Using GXT1050's mechanism you will have to pre-configure power level in the settings and is not very easy to change in a hurry. The shape of MR350 PPT button is made in such a way though, you would end up using the high power most of the time since the upper part of the button protrudes further out. Nonetheless, I like the MR350R design on this one.

VOX: This is one of the most critical features if you want to monitor baby sleeping in a different room or just want to talk hand-free. I agree with C. Hayes' review here that MR350R's three sensitivity levels are not sensitive enough (Hayes's wording made me smile, though a bit exaggerated.). GXT1050 has 9 level of sensitivities and the most sensitive setting (level 1) is indeed more sensitive than that of MR350R (level 3), however, the difference it is not day and night--both detected my baby crying after waking up when placed about 1-2 feet away and both failed to detect my normal talk volume from 1-2 feet away unless I yell loudly or put the radio within 2-3 inches to my mouth. When put in front of a PC speaker, I did notice that GXT1050 started getting into the transmitting mode a bit earlier than MR305R as I turned up the volume knob of my speaker. However, if you want to talk to you handset placed on your shoulder (like policeman does) with your normal voice volume without bending your head to get close to the ratio--good luck no matter which set you use. I really think both companies should increase the sensitive level here.

The biggest turn-off of MR350R is that its VOX feature would be automatically cancelled if you press PPT button, intentionally or accidentally, even if when all settings are "locked"--my baby likes to play with radio and sometime the VOX setting is accidentally cancelled because he squeezed the PPT button. I found this a ridiculous under-thinking (or over-thinking) by Motorola's engineers--I understand the need to preserve power if pressing PPT means VOX may no longer be necessary, but auto-cancel even though settings are locked? Does the word "lock" mean anything? GXT has no problem on this one--kudos to their engineers. I would have returned MR350R for this reason alone (thanks to the great Costco return policy.) if not because my GXT1050 set had a quality issue.

The Wishper feature of GXT1050 does give much loud volume which is very useful for baby monitoring if you don't carry your ratio set on you or right next to you.

Battery life: Both are pretty good (for the good unit I have). I followed exact instructions to do the initial charge (important to battery life) and subsequent charges. However, one of my MR350R unit would run out juicy twice faster than the other handset would--this may be due to difference in batteries or the radio circuit parts. Even worse luck with GXT1050 I had-sometimes one unit would lose power during use even though it was newly charged and it would not even charge after being placed on the charger. Swapping batteries solves the problem temporarily but this issue reappears later. This caused me to return the GXT1050 to Amazon (thanks to Amazon's 30 day return policy) after on two occasions my baby woke up and fell off bed but GXT1050 failed to give me any warning in advance because of this very issue.. I don't know whether this was caused by a faulty battery or circuit component but I do think this is probably an isolated quality issue since most reviewers here seems to be quite happy with their purchase. One small thing to comment on the rechargeable battery installation and removal--MR350 got this one right with a ribbon under the battery to help you remove the pack easily. The GXT1050 rechargeable battery pack fit in so tightly and there is no ribbon there to help--it would take a few minutes and possibly a fingernail or two (and believe me, I am not exaggerating here) to remove it, especially if you are in a hurry to put in some alkaline batteries in the field. Midland--please spend a nickel or a dime and put in a removal ribbon here.

Charger: Both models do NOT have smart charger--which means the charge light is still red even when fully charged. IBoth companies should make an improvement on this for better battery power and life.

Compatibility: I checked their frequency charts and found that first 22 channels are on exact frequencies so they are compatible. However, I found this to be true only when privacy code is not used. When both models are set on the same channel using the same privacy code--they were able to scan and found each other SOMETIMES, but not always. What a bummer since I would be happy to have both sets (if without quality issues mentioned earlier) and use them in a group to suit different needs.

Waterproof: GXT1050 is splash-proof (JIS4 as the fine print specified), not really waterproof in the sense you can submerge it in water but this is still better than MR350R.

Price: GXT1050 package costs about $20 more but it also includes two headsets and a car charger adaptor--I would call a tie on this one.

Overall, each model has its own strengths--buy what suits your purpose. I had experience in building electronics and know for a fact that individual difference in parts/components sometime impact significantly in power consumption and transmit/receiving sensitivity. So, each unit may vary somewhat from one another --your mileage may vary when coming down to range, sensitivity, etc. So, celebrate if you get a good pair but don't get too hung up if someone else claims a bit better range or clarity or whatsoever.

I would have given 4 stars to both models given their solid performance before noticing quality issues mentioned above but 3 stars here due to quality/reliability issues happened to the set I received in addition to some much desired improvement in design--I hope the manufacturers read my reviews and take some actions--those are not expensive changes at all but would be much more user friendly. I would buy the improved version of either brand in a heartbeat.

Best Deals for Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio

After purchasisng the Motorola MR-350 via Amazon, radios were tested in a residential area in my city.

To my surprise and amazement the MR-350 units were able to clearly communicate over a distance of one and one half miles, having to punch the signal clearly through homes, trees, steel, wood and many line of site obstructions.

Clearly, this is an amazing pair of radios, and the claim of an unobstructed range of many miles is highly likely.

Delighted with the Amazon purchase and this is an excellent value, demonstrating a lot of radio muscle power in a tiny package.

Richard Denver.

Honest reviews on Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio

I would URGE you to read WILFREDO M VIRAY'S ("Wally") EXCELLENT, THOROUGH and THOUGHTFUL review. There's not much more I can say.

However, a few friends have asked "why would anyone use a two-way radio when cell phones do the 'same' thing?" I live direcly under a bluff in the midwest. Cross country ski, walking and bike trails, and one of our country clubs are there as well. Cell phones don't work very well in these areas.

This can also be true when you're traveling. A two-way radio can put you in touch with a LOT of sources you cannot reach with a cell phone... truckers, for example. Forget the stereotype these guys can be lifesavers on the open road. Two way radios are free of roaming charges, and they'll work ANYWHERE NO cell phone network can make that claim.

We also use these radios (and their "predecessor," the Motorola T9500XLR) EXTENSIVELY at work. (We now have TEN pair.) The building is concrete and steel, and no matter where you are, you can communicate CLEARLY with these radios. (Incidentally, we're talking about a 200,000+ square foot... that's a fairly large building.) Using two-way radios is a VAST time saver compared to paging someone on the intercom, then waiting for the "callee" to find a phone and get back to you!

Another NICE feature: Although these radios are supplied with a comparatively expensive 3.6 volt rechargeable battery, YOU CAN USE (3) AA's INSTEAD.

Again, I refer you to Wilfredo "Wally" Viray's excellent review for some non-biased technical data.

Good job, Motorola!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Motorola MR350R 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio

We bought these because of the detailed reviews. I read almost all the pages of reviews because we really wanted well working walkie talkies for a cruise. Only one review mentioned a cruise and didn't report back if they really worked on a ship or not. Well I want to report that we were on one of the larger ships that Norwegian Cruise Line has and they worked incredibly. With all that metal we didn't know how they would work from floor to floor and front to back. We had two sets (went with the whole family) and we were completely satisfied that they worked anywhere on the ship. We also used the monitor function with sleeping babies in our cabins at night. That worked well too. There was about a 10 second laps in the time the babies starting fussing, but at home they fuss for that long too so we didn't find a problem with that. Hope this helps someone else that is looking for some good walkie talkies for a cruise.

Discount Avoi BTC550 Bluetooth In-Car Wireless Speakerphone-Black- works

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $89.95
Sale Price: $29.99
Today's Bonus: 67% Off

It is a good idea to have a hands free calling device in your vehicle.... in some states it is required. The Avoi Bluetooth Wireless Speakerphone provides a solid hands free option for you in your vehicle. It pairs easily and sounds very clear to you and the person you are talking to.

Notes-

Can be clipped to your vehicles sun visor

The speaker is pretty loud I have not had any issue in hearing the people that I have talked to. In addition, if you want the speaker can be used to stream music from your smartphone.

The microphone seems to be pretty good. People can tell that I am on a speakerphone, but they say that it sounds clear.

Comes with a adapter for charging in your vehicle

It is the size and shape of a garage door opener.

The directions are not exactly clear.... while you can work your way through them they will definitely need to be read a couple of times.

It takes about 2 hours to fully charge (Note that my unit came with 0% charge so it had to be charged out of the box).

Paired with my iPhone I held down the multifunction key (which is the button with the phone on it) for abut 5-10 seconds when the power was off in order to get it into pairing mode.

You do have to be careful, since the buttons are a bit touchy. A couple of times I accidentally pushed the button and called someone.

The buttons do have other functionality in addition to volume control they can help you select the person you are calling.

Final Verdict While it may not look fancy the Avoi Wireless Speakerphone provides a nice hands free option for your vehicle.

4 Stars

Please Note I received this product in exchange for an unbiased review

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Tektrum MPPT 20A 48V Solar Panel Charge Controller for Golf Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $350.00
Sale Price: $105.95
Today's Bonus: 70% Off

I installed the Tektrum 48V Charge controller on my new NEV "Neighborhood Electric Vehicle" to charge the batteries during the day. I installed (2) 250W Solar panels in series to have enough DC voltage to initialize the Tektrum Charge controller. Now, when the sun is out the solar panels are providing 400W of charging power.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>