Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The basic function of one of these things is pretty simple: take a car with a dead battery and give it enough of a boost in juice to get the engine to turn over. They certainly beat trying to find and then position someone to get a jump between cars. That said, there are several different "flavors" of jump starters. I've had the smaller 200 amp versions and found myself stranded when it didn't have enough oomph to start my car from a fully dead battery. I don't drive a tank or a pick-up with a Hemi, so it's not like I needed a lot of juice. The little one just didn't have the power. The person that was kind enough to brave a torrential downpour and give me a jump had a 500 amp that worked like a charm. This thing is a life saver. Off of one charge, it's jump started over five cars and one was an Avalanche with a stone dead battery. The battery has held a charge for over a year, even being in my trunk the whole time. On top of being beefy enough to start every vehicle I've attached it to, there are little bells and whistles that add to the overall wow. There's an attached LED mini-spotlight comparable to a medium mag-lite, an air compressor and - get this - a USB port AND a socket similar to your car's cigarette lighter in case you want to power/charge a gadget for hours at a time without being near a computer. This thing has some heft but I didn't find it obnoxiously heavy. It certainly weighed less than a regular car battery! Pros: 1. Portable 2. Powerful 3. Simple to use 4. Easy to understand charge meter 5. Attached LED light for use at night 6. Includes a USB port 7. Includes a cigarette lighter socket (and cord) for both powering gadgets and slow trickle charging your car's battery. Cons: 1. No charge cord. You have to use a 3-prong extension cord to recharge this. After using it for several years, I bought one for both parents and a good friend and they, too, love it. If you're on the fence about buying one of these, I'll make it easy: BUY IT. You won't regret it.