It might be tempting to buy a cheap power inverter, and on the face of it well it might even seem like I good idea, but if you are not careful it can quite often end up costing you more. Instead of learning the hard way here are a few things to look out for which could save you money, time and a whole lot of hassle, and a few things to consider which will help you make the right power inverter choice.
First and foremost do you really need a power inverter? If you are just interested in running your laptop from your car when you are out and about and don't have access to a power point for example, then you are probably better off just getting a car laptop power supply as not only are these specifically designed for what you are wanting to do but also saves you having to worry about making sure you pick the right inverter for the job. On top of that they are usually around the same price as a good quality inverter so if that is all you are going to use it for then maybe have a look at what is available for your laptops make and model.
Ok, now that we have that out the way we are going to assume that a power inverter is what you want/need and so we are going to cover the main things you need to think about before clicking the buy button on a cheap and dirty power inverter. Before I go any further I just want to point out that when I say cheap I am referring to build quality, not necessarily price. While it is true you usually get what you pay for there are some very good quality power inverters out there without the hefty price tag if you do a little shopping around.
The main choice you will have to make is how high a quality power source you will need. There are two types of inverters: modified sine wave and true sine wave power inverters. Each inverter type has their pros and cons and what you end up choosing will come down to cost and the type of equipment you want to power.
You can pick up a cheap modified wave power inverter which will create a fairly choppy AC power source for a lot less than the cost of a true sine wave inverter that will replicate your homes power supply almost perfectly so it is worth having a quick think about what you want to run from it as for some appliances a cheap modified wave power inverter will do the job just fine, and save you having to fork out the extra bucks.
Having said that you will want to run a lot of electrical equipment from a high quality power source so a true sine wave power inverter is really your only option for those devices as otherwise chances are you will run into problems one way or another at some point down the track and you might even cause some serious and even irreversible damage to very sensitive equipment so it is worth making sure you pick the right inverter for the job.
For those on a budget a modified inverter is fine for most household appliances like fans, lights etc but not really recommended for more sensitive equipment. You can probably get away with running a lot of devices from a cheap power inverter and if they are not that expensive then maybe you think it is worth the risk but bear in mind you might end up damaging or reducing the life of that equipment, and could end up costing you more than what it would have cost you to buy a pure sine wave power inverter in the first place.
If you can afford it you cant really go wrong with getting a pure sine wave inverter and it will give you the option of being able to power a far greater range of appliances and electrical equipment down the track without a worry, even if you don't want to run them now.
| Price : $350.00
