Customer Reviews
Must have for anyone driving 
2008-01-20
This is a great product to have in case of emergencies but also works when a neighbor needs a jump start. Easy to use and reliable. Just remember to keep it charged before a long road trip.
great to have on hand 2008-01-08
works as advertised, have used several times for power, air supply, jumped a car battery, much easier than using another car. very handy & useful for emergencies as well as everyday convenience
Comes in very handy for all occassions 2008-01-07
This unit has enough electric supply for at least 4 hours of straight running time. I keep it fully charged at least 1 time per month. Has come in handy for power blackouts. 6 Inch color tv 4 1/2 hours. Left my lights on twice. Charged my car battery right up in few seconds. Tires low, no problem . Need your cell phone charged again no problem when there is no power. And if you need extra power, you can purchase a 100 ah marine sealed battery and plug car clamps that come with the unit to the extra battery and plug in the special wire into the xantrex unit and have over 20 hours of power. This not good for large appliance. Fridge,toaster,microwave,blenders, and large items.
A good back up power supply for a short power failure 
2007-12-15
I bought this item around 8 months ago and have used it maybe a half
a dozen times. One time my power at home went out while I was at
work. When I got home I have to upload my data via phone line, but
my laptop has to be plugged into an electrical outlet. I plugged
the laptop into the Xantrex and it worked like a charm.
I plugged in my phone with the removable handsets and it worked
fine. In stand bye mode the phone works, but it draws almost no
power. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to use the phone in
an emergency during the power outage which lasted all night.
Another time I wanted to use a heating pad in an area of my
home where there aren't any outlets close enough. I was hesitant
to plug in an appliance that generates heat, but it only drew
40watts. I used it for around four hours without any problems
before the battery was 90 percent drained.
The only thing I found doesn't work with the xantrex is lamps.
I tried a small table lamp and a floor lamp, but niether one worked.
However a chord with only a socket for a lightbulb works fine.
Go figure?????
The air compresser....well it works, but it took a very long time
to add air to an automobile tire and it made a very loud and
annoying banging sound the whole time. It also took forever to
inflate a kiddie pool.
The battery is kind of small (20 AH), so it doesn't last very long,
but it will work in a pinch. The unit is not to heavy for a women
to carry and it can be charged three ways, AC, DC and solar. I thought
that was convenient. You have to buy the solar panel. It does not
come with the unit.
If all you want is back up power in a pinch, this item is good bang
for the buck.
Rating is for Xantrex Customer Support 
2007-10-08
The nozzle packet was not included in the delivery and Xantrex is making it difficult to get it.
Better than Described! 2008-07-17
I was so pleased with my first unit that I purchased two more. I own five 13Watt solar panels and each Powerpack 400 can be fully charged with a single 13Watt solar panel. I only had to solder Radio Shack plugs to some braided hookup wire. This is covered in the instruction manual and is really easy to do.
The Powerpack batteries are cheap and easily user replaceable. Additionally, I can hookup larger amperage batteries (using the supplied jumper cables) to the Powerpacks - thus increasing running time on each unit.
Since my Radio Shack battery charger (for 9Volt, AAA, AA, and D size NMh batteries) functions with a 12Watt DC current, I can use the Powerpack to charge these little batteries when the grid power is down.
LED display stopped working altogether 2008-05-31
I bought this 1.5 years ago and used it on occasion. Recently, I noticed that the LED display started acting finicky and would not always display. The problem quickly worsened to the point that now the LED will not display at all (no matter what) even though the unit still provides power as before, and even though it appears that the unit still can charged with the included A/C adapter.
The lack of a working LED display is very annoying because I will no longer get feedback as to how much power is left in the battery, or how many watts are being consumed when using the unit. Since the warranty only lasts 6 months, I'm out of luck.
I tried temporarily disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it to see if that would "reboot" the display but it did not help. I also tried removing the battery altogether and opening up the plastic case of the unit to see if there were any loose connections inside that would cause the display to fail but did not find any. Some of the connections are in compartments that didn't seem accessible. Looks like I'll just have to live with the lack of the LED display.
The only LED that still works is the one that lights up the power switch of the inverter.
Another complaint I have is that the clear plastic covers that protect the inverter and 12/V stockets are awkward to flip open because it is hard to get a good grip with my fingertips.
use it for golf cart boom box 2008-05-27
bought this to use as a power supply for an Itec Lansing boom box for Ipods. Used to re charge energizer D batteries. This was a very long task. Now I charge my Powerpack 400 during the week (about 18 hours) and i'm good for 3 rounds of golf on the weekend. i have had zero problems and i even used to air my car tires (took a few minutes to go up 3 psi).
had it for one month. totally satisfied.
Good device, with limitations 2008-04-25
I bought this for emergencies and for it's multiple uses. Somehow, I have needed almost all of it's features since I purchased it. Let me review each;
Jump starting a car: Worked flawlessly and repeatedly. We had a minivan that was used quite infrequently and had a dead battery in it. One thing to note: the jumper cable is fairly short. We had to have a stool or someone holding the unit to jump start the vehicle. It did not reach from the bumper to the battery.
Powering a portable DVD player/DC: It worked well and gave over 2 hours of play. It probably could have provided more.
Powering laptop & Air mattress pump(AC): Used briefly with laptop without problem. The air mattress pump worked well off the plug and was used repeatedly on the campsite. It made a very convenient combination. The drain on the battery was negligible.
Light: Too heavy for a flashlight, but good for lighting up an area or room during a power outage. Easier to remember where this was put and batteries didn't need to be checked. Surprisingly useful, even at home.
Compressor: The big let down. The air compressor gets hot pretty quickly. This is perfectly fine if you are topping of a slightly flat tire or inflating a basketball, but I would not trust this to inflate a real flat or anything large. I'd rather buy a cheap compressor and plug it into this thing. This is perhaps the weakest link in the device and that seems to be correspond with other reviews.
All in all: a fine portable power unit with multiple uses. It's a nice tool for a vehicle, camping or in an emergency. Read the instructions and warnings before use. This isn't intended for use with all electric devices.
Nice but... 2008-02-27
Well I have only had the chance to use this once. I tried to start a Dodge van that had a dead battery. This unit did not have enough juice to turn the van over. It looks really nice, and seems like it is built well. The light on it is cheap but the rest of it seems nice. Maybe it would work better on smaller vehicles... Time will tell.
