Here is a little bit of "knowledge" that I gained from a recent trip to Miami. This post is spurred by the one above on the amperage outputs.

I had to drive from South Florida to Virginia stopping at dozens of Publix grocery stores for business. I had all the addresses, and was relying on my phones GPS for the directions.

Well, the 12V car charger I had bought at Walmart would NOT keep up the charge on my Samsung S3 if I was using it for GPS, email, texting and talking. Drove me nuts till I did a little research.

Turns out that 12V car chargers come in two flavours. The 1A and 2.1A.

1A is NOT enough to maintain the battery while in use (under load) but the 2.1A is more then capable.

Moral of the story: Check the specs on the car charger to see what the output is and buy one with a 2.1A output in at least one of the ports

Our car charger is really really old. We charge it off house current and it holds the charge for about 5-6 charges of the phones. The Apple-type compatible connector is white and has 2 USB ports in it
for Apple and non Apple devices. We use it in the 12 V access port on the front.

We do have a dual converter plug in for the car.... so it has 2 plugs which have different voltages. I think that is what you are referring to?

The car charger battery I was referring to is a jump starter carry along not connected to the car, but has a 12V plug to run small things off. That is going on 15 yrs old now and really I think its life is almost over. This was designed for camping use where the car is not available or to jump start a dead car battery.

We wanted a new power source other than the "car jump starter" gizmo..which is quite heavy and a pain to lug around etc. It takes about 12 hrs to charge, and we have to take it to the marina and leave it overnight --weather permitting.

So far this solar device is looking very handy. I hope it holds up and doesn't die-- like so many solar devices reviewed on Amazon that I read. We'll just have to see.

Well, the one I am actually referring to is the 12V charger with two USB outputs (one is the 1A and the other is the 2A) but the overall jist still applies.

Check the output voltage!

Our charging plug in the car says A and NOT A...
Each of our vans has two charging ports in the dash.

A is for Apple products.

Here is what it looks like:
http://www.amazon.com/PowerGen-charg...ger+for+iphone

We plug this into the battery jump starter too on the island.
The NA plug also charges the phones. But the A plug will not charge large electronics, and is only for the iPhones.

This stuff is so highly confusing. Each year getting ready for the trip (and this year will be 2 mons in the boonies), means all this electronic stuff (cameras, lanterns , phones, rechargers ) my art supplies (considerable stuff), a whole tote for supplements, medications and HBA OTC things (old people's stuff), cat food for 2 cats (which is not affordable or good selection up there in dog land--we use Wilderness Blue and Fancy feast dry and Friskies plus wet). Special food... I am now Gluten free again...they don't sell it up there... etc. Our Zone bars, etc. Each year the list grows...sigh. We take two minivans...each of us drives one.

Can't leave any fragile thing (medications or food except dry pasta and rice) over winter as it gets down to -40F and things are ruined. Canned goods turn to slop inside as they freeze and burst in the can...very yukky. I do leave isopropyl alcohol there and some first aid ointments. I also leave some clothes up there and bedding.

I will probably do some Amazon orders too from my phone.

Cool.

Your dual charger is rated at 2.1Amps per USB output....you are ahead of the game for charging your iPhone and any other NA device you have...

They have been very nice, I agree.... and affordable.

We were going to try today to charge in overcast sky, but rain came so we are postponing that.

We just recovered from buying a new computer, which was an intellectual effort, and then trying to pick a solar charger came up.
My first really difficult task in 2006 was choosing a digital camera...that took 3 months! It was our first digital camera and boy, learning all that techno speak and figuring out the recharging on vacation, etc! Meh! LOL

http://mnvcollections.com/new-soundl...attery-back-up

her dad gave her one beats me why we will use have car chargers home

dont go far or hiking hmm just have to play with it

Just an update.... Our solar charger is working
Well . Ave time in full sun is about an
Hour. It also charges in cloudy/ bright
Situations but not in full overcast.

It is turning out to be very handy as 4 G transmission
of data eats battery life.

The solar charger is really working well.
It charged even in a heavy fog
But it does go off -- it pings so you know--
With heavy cloud cover. In full sun it is as
Efficient and fast as using an electrical
Wall plug.

We are happy with it so far and even charge twice a
day.