Dead Battery
 

I had a dead battery the other day and luckily I was at my house. My hood and trunk both became locked and there wasn't anything I could do. The previous owner told me I should get one of those battery chargers that you plug into your cigarette lighter. I have since found these online and wanted to know which kinds are the most dependable. It seems that there are not any consistent reviews.

The three main ones I've found are:

BB7B (black and decker)
Portajump (SWE inc)
Selfcharge Auto Jumper (Wagan)

I'm leaning towards the selfcharge since it's much smaller and seems to be the most consistent with reviews. It also has an input port so it's not taken up (i.e. still charge up cell phone or any other such accessory). The black and decker is very mixed but also has the input port. And the portajump is one that my friend actually has an extra of, but it also has mixed reviews. I'd rather go with something that works, even if it means getting one for free that doesn't work from a friend. I have found them all to be around 40-50 bucks so they are comparable in that department.

Has anyone tried any of these products or would like to add on to the list?

Haven't tried any of those, but I do highly recommend the "Battery Tender, Jr". It has hoops that attach to the battery terminals and a quick disconnect plug for easy use. It is a tender, so the microchip senses when current is needed for the battery and it doesn't run through the lighter circuit.

That device doesn't appear to be very useful if you can't plug it into the cigarette lighter port. How exactly are you supposed to plug it into your battery if the hood is locked?

Might want to read the whole page
 

Or just search on it for "radio shack" as they make an adapter to allow connection of a battery through the lighter socket to allow enough juice to open the front trunk and get at the battery.

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/batteries