I got this for my sister so she can keep her car charged when she goes on long trips. The battery in her card dies pretty quick because of all the electronics in the car. She usually has a ton of work trips so having this saves her car from dying which is great. This device easily plugs into the wall and the charger is able to keep your battery charged. It is easy to just clamp and power the device on. You can turn the device off whenever you do not need it. The digital screen shows how much power is going through and the internal fan system keeps this thing from over heating. I am not sure if you should plug this into a surge protector. I would only recommend plugging it directly in the wall to avoid any issues. I am not an electrician but I just would not plug this into a power strip. I have not tried to use this to jump a car. I did try it on my school golf carts to see if it does a good job with charging and it does pretty well. I would say this works pretty well to keep your battery charged when you have things in storage. The cable is fairly long so you do not have to worry about not having enough slack. I could actually keep this device on my engine and have it charging which is great. It may not work for others though but I have a flat area. The golf cart though was able to charge overnight without much issue. When I checked the golf cart in the morning, it was fully charged. I like that you can change how much power is going through. The clamps are live so be careful when handling them. I would recommend clamp BEFORE you turn it on just to avoid any issues. Also make sure you have the correct settings before powering it on. The cooling system is not too loud and it does not get too hot. Overall this is a good device to have if you are trying to make it so that you have something that can charge your car battery or golf cart. So far it has done a great job doing both. That being said, I am not sure if the charger is able to jump a car. I would recommend using this for cars that are not always in use and need to keep their batteries from dying. It stays relatively cool and charges pretty quickly.