Recently I got a chance to try a Duracell PowerPack 450, besides being able to jump starting your car, it has:
- a compressor for inflating tires,
- 2 120v power outlets,
- a 12 volt cigarette lighter outlet,
- a USB port, for charging many cell phones, MP3 players, GPS, etc.,
- and a flashlight.
Jumps start your car or power just about anything, I tried all of the different functions and they all performed as promised. And the battery lasted almost as long as claimed, for instance, in the owners manual they state that it will power a 40 watt table lamp for 3 hours - when I tested it, it lasted 2 hours and 48 minutes.

There are a few other products on the market with similar capabilities, but what differentiates the PowerPack 450 is that it can talk. It tells you:
- an estimate of how long it can power a device when you plug something into it.
- when the battery is completely charged,
- and basic instructions on how to jump start a dead car battery and how to use the compressor.

When I was first told about its vocal capabilities I was totally underwhelmed. I know how to jump start a car, I could probably figure out most of the rest of functions. For instance to use the compressor, turn on the main power switch and then turn the compressor switch on - this isn't rocket science. And the instructions are printed on a label on the back of the 450. But I called up a few friends and several thought is was a great idea. A few of their comments:
- this would be great to send with my kid when they go off to college.
- I could probably figure it out, but my - husband, wife, child, fill in the blank - would be a lot more confident when using this in an emergency if they were told how to use it.
- during a power outage having it tell you how much time is left would help you ration its use.

A couple of things to remember:
- when the battery is totally discharged it takes 35 hours to fully charge it,
- it weighs almost 20 pounds, batteries aren't light.

The Duracell PowerPack 450 will be available later this year and retails for about $159.99.

What do you think? Would the 'talking' feature be a benefit to you or someone you know? Or is it one of those uses of technology where just because you can do it, doesn't necessarily mean you should?