Duracell DPP-600HD Powerpack 600 Jump Starter & Emergency

Great for jumping my car
In the cold winters of Minnesota, I've had a couple dead batteries - so I ordered this unit in hopes that it would do the trick. I've already used it this winter a couple times (same car until I was able to replace the battery). Even though there wasn't a bit of response when trying to start the car on its own, hooked up to this unit, it started every time. I ordered this unit, as I thought the other features might come in handy. They really don't. But, that's not a fault of the unit, I just overbought for what I needed! I have no need to for an AM/FM radio on my battery jumper, however, the light is a great addition. Another feature that like is that the unit has "overcharge protection." That means, you can just leave the unit plugged in all the time and don't have to worry about it overcharging. That way, it's always ready to go right when you need it. I give the product 4 stars because of 2 issues I have: 1) The connection where the jumper cables plug into the side of the unit is miserable. My hand hurt for an hour after working to get the cable plugged into the unit. I understand that you need a good connection, but it is WAY too tight. Getting the cable out from the unit was equally painful. 2) The cables are way too short. Either you have to set the unit directly on the car or have someone hold the unit and stand right next to the battery. I literally had to use a ladder to set the unit on while I jump-started the car. Outside of those two issues, this did just what I was looking for it to do. When shopping for one of these, truly evaluate your needs. No sense in over-buying like I did! ;)

Useful!
I bought this item almost 2 years ago and have no complaints. It is still going strong. When I went camping at Bonnaroo, I had this battery in the tent with me. After 4 days of keeping my cell phone and rechargeable lantern charged, plus a few charges to the cell phones of visitors, it still showed 20% remaining. Having AC and DC outlets on a camping trip is great, especially when I saw others try to charge their stuff off their car and kill their battery. I have also jump started a few cars with this. Again, it worked great. My only complaint is that I wish the built in light were LED based. It is silly to have an incandescent sucking power out of the battery when an LED would have used so much less power. However, on a battery this big, even the inefficient bulb will last quite a while. I just use other LED based flashlights/lanterns and charge them off this battery and avoid the built in light. I isn't really a significant issue. I should also probably note that it is quite heavy. Not enough that moving it around is a problem, but you're not going to want to carry this (for example, on a hike from your car to your tent) if we're talking any further than 1 minute or so.

One worked, One didn't... Both were one year old yet sold as new
Purchased two of these Duracell Power Packs from Sportsman's Guide through Amazon. One of them worked and the other didn't. After calling Xantrex tech support (the actual manufacturer of this rebranded product)we came to realize it was manufactured in November of 2008... more than a year ago. The significance of its age is the manufacturer recommends these batteries not sit on the shelf for that long without charging. This is why one of the batteries had a constant clicking noise when connected to the charger, therefore not allowing it to charge. I was lucky with the second battery. It took a full charge and works great! I was able to run a full-size blender as well as one of those Magic Bullet blenders. It also worked very well at jump starting a Ford F-150, Pontiac Grand-Am (both vehicles sit for long periods of time on our property and need a jump start anytime we want to move them, so I thought I'd put the Pak to the test with these cars), and also worked great on our ATV. All three if these vehicles were jump started on one Power Pak Charge with energy to spare. Bottom Line: It's a great product if it hasn't been sitting on the shelf for a year before you buy it. If you choose to buy one, I recommend you put it to charge immediately to see if it charges properly. If it does, then test on everyday appliances the way I did, but don't overload it! Know your wattage requirements for any product you try to use on this product. As far as Sportsman's Guide is concerned, their customer care was very nice as well as responsive to my issues. They offered to return both of them, and sent me two prepaid UPS labels so I can return them on their dime. I chose to return one for now. We'll see how the other one holds up before taking SG up on their offer to return the second item. Thumbs up to SG for standing behind their return policy.

I bought this for C-PAP use while camping
I bought this unit to power my C-PAP machine while camping. It blew up our queen-sized high-type air mattress and then lasted one and a half nights for my breathing machine. The second time I used it camping, I got a different model for blowing up the air mattress, and the Duracell lasted two nights. Not much good if you are camping for a week at a campground that has no electrical outlets. I think it is way too expensive for its limited use. I bought mine a couple of years ago for $99, and now it is up to $130? Where is the recession I heard about? I guess it is not pushing down prices.

Sulfated Batteries
I ordered one of these and the battery was sulfated so it would not take a charge. Amazon exchanged it for another one, but the replacement had the same problem of sulfated battery. The tech support guy at Xantrex, the company that makes these, told me that when the units sit in a warehouse for so long without charge to the battery, sulfation occurs and the battery will never take a charge then. It is interesting that on the Xantrex site, they do not even link to Amazon as one of their sellers for this unit. There must have been too many returned units from Amazon. In all fairness to Amazon, I have two friends who bought the Duracell Powerpack 600 from Amazon and they are totaly pleased with their units. I just got two bad lots on the draw and decided to wait to purchase another one.