Typically I cover convenient bags and cute clothes, and I leave the electronic and high-tech gear reviews to the boys on this blog. But the Black & Decker 100 Watt Power Inverter is straightforward enough for even someone as gadget-clueless as me to operate.

Plug it into the 12-volt power outlet in your car (i.e. the cigarette lighter of yesteryear), and you’ve got an instant “household plug” for electronic items like laptops, video-game players, DVD players, cell phones and more. This means, if you forget your car charger on the road, but you have your AC plug-in, you can charge electronic items while you’re driving — or if you’re the passenger, use them on the go. The 100 Watt Power Inverter also has a USB port for charging iPods and the like.

I’ve had instances where my kids’ Nintendo DS games have started running out of juice in the car. With only one car adapter between them, one kid is out of luck and can’t play anymore. Since I now keep the Power Inverter in my mini-van, I can have kid #2 use her household plug-in (always in her Nintendo bag) to recharge her video game, which equals more sanity-saving time for Mom.

Another true-life instance: I spent two nights at a Colorado resort last week, then moved onto another resort for two more nights. I left my cell-phone home charger at resort #1, and by the time I was leaving resort #2, my cell phone was on one bar of power. I stopped by resort #1 to pick up the charger I’d forgotten, and since I had the Power Inverter in my glove box, I could charge my cell phone during the drive home. (There is nothing worse than a dead cell phone when you’re driving the highway at night alone. No, I don’t have a cell-phone car charger — it broke.)

For me, the Black & Decker 100 Watt Power Inverter is about convenience. It’s not much bigger than two packs of cards, so it’s easy to keep stored somewhere in your car. The plug-in pivots, so it’s convenient to plug items in while they are sitting on your lap or near your feet. You do need to re-plug-in your item if you turn off your car when you get gas, but the Power Inverter does shut itself off if the battery in your car is running low (it won’t ever drain your car battery). A simple “green light means it’s charging” will remind you to re-plug-in.

The cooling fan absolutely makes a buzzing sound when in use, but you can always drown that out by playing the radio loudly. The noise hasn’t bothered me; maybe because I’ve just been so happy to be able to charge my electronic gadgets while I’m driving!

Buy the Black & Decker 100 Watt Power Inverter on Amazon.com for $22.85