Black And Decker Simple Start - Battery Booster / Car Starter

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-11-24 rating:
Saved the day
I borrowed one of these a couple of weeks ago as I had a flat battery in my Ford Galaxy 2 litre diesel. We don't use the car too much so it can suffer from lack of battery power. There was not enough juice in the battery even to turn over the engine but after leaving the Battery Booster plugged in for 10 minutes it started up straight away. Its simple to use - just plug it into the cig lighter 9( no need even to open the bonnet) , wait for 10 mins and then start the engine. As far as I'm concerned it did exactly what I needed so I have now bought one and it sits in my garage fully charged. I can see that it will also be useful as a general power source ( dvd player for the kids, laptop or anything with a 12v plug) there is also an itegral torch light. I'm pleased with it and its not too expensive.

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review by: Flat Dog date: 2008-11-12 rating:
Not a complete waste of time
I bought this item as it was the only thing available at short notice (I usually like to read reviews and shop around). I plugged it in to charge and then checked the reviews here to see what others had experienced. Obviously I was dismayed by the many negative responses from other customers.

I thought that I would add my views on this item because there is not much information here if you:
a) Have a petrol car with a capacity <= 2.0l
b) Have a battery that is not completely flat, but cannot not start the engine

if you fail any of these conditions, then run, run and never look back.

Anyway, here are the pro's of the unit:

- It is well engineered (B&D got this right at least), it feels sturdy, and everything tucks away into a nice, neat and small package.
- It works (after 15 minutes the thing beeped and my car started first time).
- The whole 'plugging it into the cigarette lighter is quite nice (especially if it's raining at the time).
- It has a female connection which enables you to use it as a portable power source (you can charge cell-phones etc off it).
- The female connection can even be used to re-charge the unit while you drive, which is quite nifty.

And here are the cons
- Ok, having a battery booster that can't boost a dead battery is pretty pants in anyone's book.
- It takes ages to re-charge (15 hours the first time, and then roughly 12 hours after each use)
- Running through the cigarette lighter makes it slower than 'attach to battery' units. 15 minutes is a long time when you're sitting there staring at the dashboard and feeling like a lemon.


All in all, this item is not the complete waste of time that other posters have said, but for the same price, or a bit more, you can get something that boosts a dead battery.

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review by: date: 2008-08-11 rating:
disapointing
Was a present for my son; ordered at the last minute and delivered promptly and on time; but the unit just didn't work! Very disapointing. Returned Item for a refund.

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review by: caravanj date: 2008-04-02 rating:
Seems fairly useless. get the Clarke 4000
The real clue to its use lies in the fact you connect it via the cigar lighter socket. There is no way you could deliver enough starting amperage through the cigar lighter so it can only provide more power to a partially flat battery. I agree that it's been totally mis-sold to anyone without an electrical or garage mechanical background. In reality you don't want a booster with an average output of less than 500 amps with a peak of not less than 1000amps. The best buy is probably the Clarke 4000 at around £90. It will start a 4 litre diesel engine on a cold day on a vehicle with a flat battery since it chucks out 700 amps with a peak of 1500 amps.


review by: V disappointed date: 2008-02-22 rating:
Don't buy if you have a flat battery....
Right, this useless lump of consumer junk is promoted as an alternate to the messy business of jump-leads. All fine and dandy until you learn, as others have who've posted reviews on Amazon about this thing, that it states in the instructions "THIS UNIT WILL NOT START A FLAT BATTERY", great, so what possible use is it?

The charge time is also misleading, it promotes it as 15mins, exactly what you want if you unexpectedly have a flat battery, in actual fact unless you've been charging the unit every couple of months (what sane person would do this)it takes 15hours for a full charge - or as much time as a conventional trickle charger.

Best avoided & the marking department of B&D should be ashamed of themselves for this one.

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