Customer Reviews

Black & Decker VPX3101 Li-Ion VPX Inverter

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The previous reviewer missed the mark. He rated this poorly for being a bad value for all the things you have to buy to make it work. That is the wrong perspective. It is intended to be an ACCESSORY for people who own the other parts of the system (drills, drivers, chargers, batteries, saws...). With this same mindset, one could review an after-market car stereo and say it is not worth the $200 because you have to go out and buy a $20,000 car to go with it. The reviewer also missed the point that this is not a competitor for an automotive inverter. Yes, even a small car inverter has more power output (>50 watts) and runs as long as it is attached to a car. Literally, more power to you if your application permits you to be tethered to a car. I have a car inverter and use it on occasion. If you plan to walk away from the car in the wilderness and want auxiliary power for a cell phone, GPS, IPOD, or anything with <8 watts demand for a limited time, then something like this little VPX inverter is necessary. The lithium-ion battery is lightweight and has one of the highest power densities out there for any consumer device. It also retains a long "shelf life" between charges-- months better than NiMh-powered competitors. My last complaint about the previous reviewer is he critiqued something he hasn't tried and therefore couldn't address if it met its claims. (Was he just looking for an opportunity to state authority with being an engineer? I have degrees in engineering but don't see how that comes into play here.) I picked up the cordless screwdriver from this system for $30 at home depot; it came with a charger and battery that can be shared with this inverter. I found the inverter worked as advertised. Is it the best of its class? Maybe not. Is it the best of its class for <$15? Definitely, if you have the other parts of the system.

I bought the inverter to do two things: 1) allow me to run an eight watt fluorescent light (for camping, or as a utility light) 2) charge my iphone when I need a little extra runtime. The inverter did fine for the first job. I was impressed how my bulb would get nice and warm, yet the battery would still remain cool. These VPX batteries (LiFePO4 I believe) must have really low internal resistance. However I was disappointed with the USB power source as it is limited to 1.75 watts (350mA)! This is enough power to charge my iPod nano, but not enough for my iPhone (the iPhone doesn't even acknowledge that it is plugged in). I have no idea why the AC can supply 10 watts when the USB can only supply 1.75. Since USB can typically supply 2.5 watts, I suspect this inverter will fail to change many USB devices.

This is an interesting little unit as it allows you to charge USB powered items such as a music player or an AC powered item (in my case a cell phone with AC adaptor) without the need to plug into the grid. The unit's size is about 1.5"x6.5"x2" or about the size of a medium flashlight. The weight with battery is 281g or a little less than 10oz. It has an on/off switch on the side so you don't discharge it and the outlets are covered by rubber covers that flip out of the way when in use.

With its light weight and small size, I see this as a something to put in the book bag/backpack to recharge a cell phone, music player or a digital camera. I don't see why it wouldn't be airplane friendly (check all security regulations for yourself) but it would help keep a music player going on a coast to coast flight if you don't have or don't want to bother with a plug-in inverter. In testing, I was able to use the USB and AC simultaneously to charge my Sony music player (USB) and cell phone (AC). They were both pretty well run down and they tapped the VPX3101. It isn't going to power you laptop but it will keep small electronic devices going when short of power.

For the price and if you have or are planning to get other items in the VPX series, I have found this is a useful item. (See follow-up below.) My largest concern is whether or not the rubber caps to the outlets tear off or if the on/off switch fails. Personally, I have a DC inverter for my car (see my review on the Vector MAXX 400) but that requires DC and is limited to my car. It also doesn't do USB. I bought this unit knowing that it required an additional battery and charger but figuring that sooner or later I would need another of the tools and would get those as well. Gold Box came through for me with a $49.99 starter set with battery and charger and now I am complete (in the VPX3101 Inverter sense).

July 5, 2008 Follow-up:

I have now used this device several times to recharge my cellphone and it has performed flawlessly. I can keep it in the backpack use as needed. Glad I had it available.

Overall this was a Good buy for $15. I bought this to charge my iPhone and my camera batteries while camping. I had already purchased the Starter set for about $50 (Black & Decker VPX903X1 Li-Ion VPX Starter Set with Power Screwdriver, Cut Saw, Flashlight, and VPX Battery with Charger) so this made the most sense as a portable charging option. I need to do some more testing but it seems to work well enough and I don't have to set up solar cells or use a hand crank. Had this come with the starter set I would be much happier. The quality on these products seem pretty low, but at the discount prices it gets the job done.

Nice power supply to have around if you already have some of the other vpx tools. Charges USB or any small AC charger.

This tool is an amazing piece of kit that has, as of late 2010, not been matched by any competitor. It enables you to charge or power something over a USB cable, or a wall-wart charger plugged into the AC port. You could be dumb, and plug in something that would overdraw the power supply, like a hairdryer, but it would just shut off. You could charge up two things at once in the August sun and overheat the module, but it would just shut off to protect itself.

If you are ever away from any power, but still keep your cell phone with you, this product is the best thing you could buy. No other charger is as convenient or user friendly.

Works well as an extra battery for low power accessories.

Note: When using this device to power USB accessories, it will only provide 100mA charging current. This is because USB ports are limited to 100mA or less unless the device and host port can communicate to each other to enable "high power". For this to happen they both need to be "intelligent" devices to allow this bus communication to occur (which I don't believe the VPX inverter is). See the USB article on Wikipedia for more information.

Good product and it's great to have on hand on the road or in a power outage.

This little VPX Inverter will operate most ELECTRIC RAZORS and I found it WILL recharge the iphone if you plug the iphone charger into the 115 volt port and forget about using the USB port.

Two thumbs up !

Works well for its purpose. Have used to charge cell phone and iPod touch. Found out that cannot charge iPod from USB port because power draw is too high. May be able to use USB for charging smaller items. Works well for price.