Automotive Reviews

I bought this unit because it was the only one I could find that had the 6 volt option. DON'T be mislead. Add says 12/2/75... NOT SO for the 6 volt side. It has only two options... 12 amp & Start. Also charger does not have an amp gauge instead it has some funky idiot type gauge that tells you when your battery is LOW, HALF, and FULL. Not what you want for a Manual type charger. I use a hydrometer to tell me when it's fully charged. I want to know how many amps I am using. Thus allow me to keep the battery from getting to hot. Also allowing me to trickle charge and bring up a low cell without frying the others. My use is a golf cart 36 Volts, (Six, 6 Volt Batteries). I am using the unit now, ran it all night on a battery with one low cell. Battery is boiling a little (12 amps!) so far so good. But I would sleep a lot better knowing that I am pushing no more than 2 AMPS.
My advice... Keep looking if a true manual 2/12/75 6 volt is your need.

If you are looking for a battery charger that you can plug in ,set it and forget it, you will need a full automatic charger not a Manually set type of charger like this one.Unfortunately, it does not describe this feature in the summary given for this product. Schumacher charger is the best charger out there.

After my fourth one of these that I bought stopped working, I've given up on them. It works great for about ten or twenty hours use, then seems to get clogged. I used quality fuel, but the tiny screens and jets seem to clog with parifin or something. I just found that I was paying way too much for them thru Matco, and just found the Solderit.com web-site, and am hoping to find replacement jets or cleaning instructions when they e-mail me back. Hopefully I'll be able to upgrade my 3 star recommendation.

I have had two of these compressors and both of them have sheared off the motor shaft at the compressor end. They seem to operate just fine at lower pressures and have thermal protection. The volume is high and fill even the bigger SUV tires in just a few minutes. I believe they suffer from a design flaw in that when you use them at higher pressures (80-100psi) the starting torque of the motor is quite high and on the compressor end the manufacturer has machined a groove in the motor shaft for an "E" clip. This reduces the shaft diameter from 5/16" to 1/4" and this is the point where the shaft shears off.

If you are working at lower pressures you should have no problems but if you intend to use this compressor above 60 psi, Beware!

I don't like hunting around for service stations with free, working air pumps to keep my tires at proper inflation...so I decided to invest in a portable compressor. I wanted one that had a built-in gauge to avoid having to switch back to a separate gauge. The TyphoonMax 300 fit the bill. However, the chuck threads onto the tire stem, rather than quick-fastening. This results in a loss of anywhere from 2-4 pounds of pressure when you remove the chuck, no matter how quickly you unscrew it. You then have to doublecheck your pressure with a separate gauge once you've removed the Typhoonmax chuck. This defeats the purpose of a built-in gauge! This device may be appropriate for vehicles with really large tires, but if you only are trying to maintain proper inflation of standard car tires, there is no need for a screw-on chuck that you can leave for a few minutes.
Also - another annoyance - the power and chuck cables come shipped neatly stored in the back of the device, but the power cord is impossible to "re-store" in the same position, forcing you to leave it hanging or wrapped around the device when not in use.

The unit does have an on-offswitch, inflates fairly rapidly, and is not too noisy. But the product design oversights above are making me consider returning it and purchasing a more convenient alternative.

I bought this from The Sportsman's Guide for about $35. I decided to try it out for the first time the other day. I was only on the road for about 2 hours, so I am not sure if this is long enough to make a determination.

The cooler does have a small set of cooling fins inside of the unit that does get cold. The small fan that draws in the air does not draw at a very high speed, but it does good enough for what it is supposed to do. I have seen other reviews elsewhere that people were complaining that it didn't keep items 40 degrees cooler than stated, when they had it in their 74-degree home. Read the instructions. It says that it will keep it 40 degrees below the outside temperature, down to 40 degrees (lowest). That means if it is 50 degrees, it is still only going to cool to 40 degrees. It is only a small compact portable cooler. If you want something that is going to keep it colder, buy a refrigerator.

One thing that I did notice, and I should have been smart enough to realize this, is don't leave it plugged into an energized outlet while you are not in the car (HUGE battery drain). My wife, kids and myself went to my grandmother's house for Mother's Day this past weekend for lunch. I decided to take the cooler along with us, so that the girls would have something to drink, and maybe keep it a little cool. I have a FoodSaver, so I put a good amount of ice cubes into one of the bags, and vacuum sealed it so that I could have an ice pack in there (Yes, I went to the store and bought those blue liquid ice things the next day). Overall, using some sort of extra coldness (i.e. ice, icepack) seemed to help a little, but not much. The cooler does not seem to be very well insulated, or insulated at all, so it does lose a little of the temperature after it sits (probably putting a small towel down inside of the cooler would help). I didn't pack it full, so that probably didn't help either. As with any cooler, refrigerator or freezer, the more food/drinks you have in it, it will retain that temperature for much longer. We had 4 kid's juice boxes, a 1-liter soda and a 20-ounce soda along with the icepack I made up. I could have probably fit another 2 20 ounce drinks in there, but didn't need them. We left to go to our Mother's Day lunch at about 12:30 PM. We arrived at about 1:00 PM. After we pulled into the drive, I decided to leave the cooler plugged in, thinking that it wouldn't be too bad of a drain, since we were only going to be there for a couple of hours (plus, I wanted to see how well the unit kept the items cool/cold). We decided to leave around 3:00 PM. After only sitting there for about 2 hours, the cooler had drained the battery in our car just enough to where it would not turn over. It is possible that it may be time for a new battery, as it is original for a 1996 Ford Windstar, but we have never had problems with it yet. We have a TV and DVD player in the vehicle, and I have watched a movie with the ignition on, and the car not running, and after about 2 hours the vehicle still cranked. This leads me to believe that the cooler was the culprit. When we left the house, I reached in to get my drink out. The drink was cool to the touch, but not cold by any means. The kids did not complain, as they were hot from running around. I could have probably given them warm maple syrup, and they would have been happy!!!

Something else to add: Our vehicle has dark tinted windows (factory with aftermarket tint over them), so that helps keep the temperature down inside of the vehicle. For those of you who do not have tinted windows, or have larger windows, you may want to re-think before you purchase. If the inside of your vehicle gets really hot, this may not be worth spending the money on. Once your drinks get hot, it is going to take a long time to get it cool (this is even true for a refrigerator).

Overall, I think that this is a decent cooler. You get what you pay for. Don't expect to buy one and have your drinks ice cold. If you are looking for that, I would probably just purchase a regular cooler and stock it with ice. I didn't go that route because I didn't want to have to buy or pack it with ice, then reach down into the cooler and grab a wet drink, or have to worry about cleaning it out later. Knowing what I know now, I probably would not purchase this, but that is not saying that someone else may find this sufficient for their needs. I will not return the unit, as I think it does a decent job, especially for what I need it for. I don't drink ice cold drinks anyway (hurts my teeth)!!!

Thought I'd just confirm what I've learned too. I bought it, realized after research it could be picked in seconds with a pen and returned it.

"Advanced Security" is all a lie. These locks can be easily opened without a key. I have written to the Masterlock company and they replaced the lock free of charge to a one that uses a regular key.

The dual grips are kind of handy - it fits securely into place.

I rated this software, "MapSend TOPO in the U.S." at 1 star, only because there is no "0 Star" rating. I would rate Magellan itself lower than that, if that were possible.
I spent more than $100 for this product. On the box it says "Now Supports Meridian series of GPS receivers". So I went and bought a larger "SD" memory card for my Meridian Gold, thinking I would be able to load a large area map, that would include several states, and therefore not have to change maps or memory cards when I was travelling.
What Magellan doesn't tell you on the outside of the box, is all written clearly on the inside in the skimpy instruction manual (located inside the sealed CD jewel case) - this software contains "bugs" (their own description), that limit map sizes to 4 maps for a total of 32MB, and no single map should be larger than 16MB on the Meridian Series. Apparently, if you try to use larger size maps the Meridian GPS receiver can quit working. Here I am with a 256MB SD card that cost me another $50, and can load a maximum of 32MB in maps. The state of Colorado takes almost 30MB by itself.
The manual also says that a software "update" that would fix this mess would be posted on their website soon as a download, so I was encouraged. I emailed Magellan to ask how I could obtain the bug fixes as an update, since it's been more than a couple of years since this software has been out.
Magellan's response was that the update was called MapSend Topo 3D, retail price $149, but I would be allowed a special price as a MapSend TOPO in the U.S. customer for ONLY $99! I was furious.
After several more exchanges, and Magellans' support person less than friendly or accommodating, I was told he could neither refund my purchase price for the software I bought, nor could he give me any break on the $99 upgrade. I told him that I would spend my next $100 towards a competitors' GPS receiver with fully supported software, and customer support.
My experience was with the Meridian Gold, but the bugs affect all the Meridian series receivers. Since Magellan is completely aware of the bugs in this program, and still advertises that it supports the Meridian series, my advice would be to stay clear of this software as a minimum. In my opinion this is "bait and switch", or sharp practice at least, and Magellan doesn't seem to care. For me, this $100 software was a total waste of my hard-earned money. But, of course, YMMV.
Still want MapSend Topo in the U.S.? Buy mine at half price! I'll be glad to get rid of this kluge.

Agree with reviewers that first gen Topo leaves much to be desired wrt Meridian receivers.

I can confirm, however, that I have a 62 meg region loaded on my 64 meg card. Ignore the warnings. Just create the file and manually (this is what's really broken) download to the card. I strongly recommend using a reader/writer - serial just doesn't cut it. It would take hours.

What's ironic is that the "upgrade" costs $99, but Amazon sells it for $70.

I just purchased the new topo. The "CD in drive" requirement may force me to return it. This is just bogus.

I have a meridian platinum and this software is awesome. Especially compared to other topo software I have seen. It is very friendly with many useful shortcut keys (such as + and - keys can be used for zoom, etc). It gives a greater detail and geological features since most topo software tries to use scanned-in actual topo maps. You get all features with this software. I am very impressed. As for the other reviews, why would you attempt to download detail maps for a greater area than you were going to visit? Why would you want to download almost an entire region (4 whole states) topo to a receiver? Base maps on most receivers give you fairly good detail until you get to where you need topo detail. 64 m memory card can handle all you need, maybe download it in separate segments and you are set. I downloaded all of North Georgia, East Tennessee, and western North Carolina and it took less than 8 mb on my gps. It has excellent detail and even tells me where coves, GP's and road barricades exist.

I had been waiting for 2 months for this item. And was kept telling the shipment would be delayed.

I have been trying to order this since December and still have not had it shipped by March. I have found a newer model on here the av1210 in the Tools section. This one actually seems to be stocked, so I have ordered that one.

The Black & Decker AV1200 Car Vac is convenient and makes cleaning out the car easy and fast without having to put quarters in a machine, having a battery run dead, or running a long cord out to reach. This vac plugs directly into your cigarette lighter outlet and it has a long cord to reach throughout the smallest and largest vehicles. The crevice tool allows you to reach down in between seats and around doors. The upholstery attachment brings dirt to the surface to be vacuumed up and to empty the vac just detach canister and dump contents into trash, very simple. The Double action filter (VF20) is washable but should be replaced over time to improve vacuum performance. This handy vac is a must have for car owners and those wishing to make car cleanup easier and quicker.

The Design Tech Deluxe Remote Car Starter comes with excellent features and a compact remote. The problem is, the item I received did not work.

All wires were hooked up appropriately and double check with a test kit. Once hooked up, there was no response from the unit. After hours of attempting to troubleshoot, I looked online at Design Tech's website for local authorized installers in the hopes that they might be able to answer my question.

Unfortunately the three "authorized" installers in my area REFUSED to touch Design Tech's equipment because, and I quote "they're too difficult to work with. We haven't had much success."

A little alarmed by this response, I attempted to contact the company using their 800 number during their live tech support hours. After waiting 1/2 on hold with no approximate wait time and no end in sight, I hung up and decided instead to return the defective unit back.

EASY AND CLEAR STEPS TO FOLLOW IN INSTALLATION, ALTHOUGH THE UNIVERSAL REMOTE IS REALLY BAD, FEELS VERY CHEAP...TACHLESS MODE WORKS GREAT, BUT FINDING SERVICE AND TECH SUPPORT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE...GOOD LUCK CONTACTING THEM!

I have a 2005 Ford Ranger. I bought this unit and fully read the instructions before starting the install. After that I began searching for the right connecitons on the steering column and connected up the unit. I went online to find the correct placement of the wires and downloaded a printout.
The unit installed well, worked fine after initialization. Came with a video that really helped in the installation. I find the range on this unit to be super.
I have no complaints.