Any good universal usb car chargers out there?

[yoda313]

So can you get a good usb car charger out there? I have a new dell dj 30gb mp3 player and would like to get a car charger for it. However it seems to be not supported by dell anymore so I can't buy new from them and I don't want to pay extortionist rates on ebay.

I did see that they have chargers for cars that will accept usb plugs. Are those safe? Are there any that really work?

I have seen ac/dc adapters that can run off the car battery and turn it into a house plug. Would that be a safe alternative? I think you can get them for like 20 or 30 bucks at a drug store. I do have the usb to wall plug that came with the mp3 player. I could just plug in the ac adapter into the car outlet and then plug it into that. Would that be better?

Suggestions are welcome. (looking to pay no more than 30.00 for it).

[ZippyP.]

I have seen ac/dc adapters that can run off the car battery and turn it into a house plug.

Usually called an inverter, the cheaper ones work by chopping the DC to create a square wave AC signal (as opposed to the sinusoidal AC from your wall outlet). AC motors don't like it, but it's fine for most applications like the one you propose which uses an AC adapter/transformer between the inverter and the device.

More info here: http://www.renewablestore.com.au/faq/DC-to-AC-inverters.php

[SquirrelDip]

I think Walmart sells 12V to USB for about $10...

[Heywould3]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5162346
check this baby out.. eveything you asked for and it has a transmitter so you can listen to your mp3s over yourt car speakers.
usb/inverter/wireless transmitter. oh yeah its under 30bux

[yoda313]

thanks everyone. I already bought one at bestbuy. it was a gemini brand or something like that. Works great. I even went on ebay to buy an extra usb cable for my dell mp3 player so I can leave it in the car.

[gadgetguy]

When I read this subject my first thought was: You can't charge a car battery from a USB port.