Inverter Charger, 300 Watt, Not Too Expensive?

[jyl]

Hey guys, quick question with a slight urgency.

Looking for an inverter/charger that can:
- charge a deep cycle 12 v battery (like one you'd use in a boat or RV) from 120v wall power
- supply 300 watt 120 v from that same battery, when away from wall power
- costs under $200, preferably $100 ish.
- that I can order and have shipped to my daughter who is at summer camp

Basically, daughter is at summer camp in the mountains, where she is head of kitchen. The kids want a way to power 120 v stuff when away from the camp buildings. Stuff like a modest sound system and some lights. I gather this is for parties in the woods. I dunno why they can't just use LED camping lights and Bluetooth battery powered speakers, but they really want the ability to plug in 120 v stuff.

Anything like this you'd recommend?

I see various cheapish rechargeable power supplies meant to carry in a car, they have smallish batteries and unnecessary stuff like jump start cables and air compressors in addition to a 120 v outlet, they are usually limited to 100-200 watts.

I also see UPS meant for computers, which only seem meant to supply power for a few minutes.

I also see standalone inverter/chargers that they could wire to a deep cycle battery that they could buy there, but these seem pretty expensive and meant for bigger jobs - like 1000 watt units from TrippLite.

[GH85Carrera]

Wow, I think you are asking for a lot of today's battery technology.

Any battery that can run an inverter to pump out much amperage at 120 volts will have to be huge and heavy. Lights and a stereo can eat up a battery fast.

It sounds like they need a small Honda generator and those are a lot more than your budget.

[Crowbob]

I'm with Glen. A small generator is the way to go. Honda is $$ but resale is high. After one season of use you can probably resell it very easily. Or, keep it and you have a very nice tool. No need to lug around a battery and recharge it after each use, either.

[ckelly78z]

A deep cycle battery is big and heavy to be toting around along with the wires, inverter, and lights.

It sounds like maybe they want to charge thier phones.