One of the main reasons we sprung for this is its ability to be paired with a solar panel to charge it in that way - this is an option that is only available on higher end units. For those who are true camping off the grid for an extended period of time this is essential and lets you not have to draw from your vehicles power. The solar charging, as expected, is the longest method in charging which brings me to the next point - it's ability for pass through charging which renders that not as significant. I didn't find that stated as much until I found out, but it's a feature that not every unit has but one that's very important. You needn't have it at full charge or off charge to be able to use it because you can power devices while that's happening. Basically you can be charging the power station with a solar panel and at the same be charging all your other goods - it's a bigger deal than one would think. Pro tip: you'll get fantastic performance through the 12v port so if you have the option to, get items that use that as its source. The reason for this is that the 12v port has a boost regulator, which means that no matter what state the batter is in (even if it's low) it'll still output the same power no matter what which is something many solar generators does not do.
The usefulness of something of this grade is pretty endless. My partner got it confused with looked to be a similar product at costco but if you know your stuff, the specs are exponentially different - the 500 watts is continuous power (with a 1000 peak) so it can pretty much power any steady device. Aside from the most obvious of devices you'd want to power (laptop, phones, tablets, etc), the list just goes on - electric blankets, specific fridges, tool batteries, fans, grills, tvs, video consoles, small blenders, pumps, small heaters an even a cpap machine and a e scooter! In operation it's quiet with barely a hum and using the volt adapter will turn on the cooling fan. Even more hard to please electronics we've randomly plugged in have been fine, and we'll test in the future with an oscillator and update.
Aside from camping use, he'll be bringing this to the burning man festival to use full time in his adventure roadtrip van so that's quite a bonus. He can now ditch having to lug around liters of gas or a big watt inverter generator making the entire experience that much more eco conscious not to mention lightening the load. Additionally, while it's great for the big events, this is going to get a lot of use for a wide range of regular every day events such as tailgate partys, roadtrip and just general outdoor excursions. It's even great to have around for emergency purposes. We have a very satisfied recipient and we're glad such a product exists - highly recommend!