Product Review: Gunson Intelligent Memory Minder

This product is a relatively new concept, and is a new product to Tayna.co.uk. What it claims to do is to retain your radio code and any other presets that may be stored in your car’s electrical system whilst you change the battery.

We’ve previously published a tutorial on how to change a car battery without losing your radio code, however this product aims to make the task much simpler. So how good is it..?

First Impressions

First impressions are very good. The build quality seems very high – made from a tough solid plastic casing – it certainly feels as though this unit will stand the test of time. I wouldn’t like to try it; but it feels as though it would survive a small drop onto a solid floor. The unit has a power cord, leading to a 12 Volt cigar lighter style plug. On the top of the unit is a push switch and three traffic-light coloured LEDs.

Operation

Operation seems very simple, according to the rather small instruction booklet. Simply turn the ignition off, plug the unit into the cigar lighter socket and turn the unit on. So… let’s give it a go.

I popped the bonnet of a Lexus IS200, turned the ignition off and pushed the plug into the car’s electrical outlet. Pushing the black switch powered up the unit and the green LED began to glow. The coloured LEDs give an indication of the charge state of the internal battery of the memory minder. As it was glowing green, it was indicating to me that the battery was in a healthy state and was able to retain power to the vehicle as I removed the battery.

As the unit was powered up, the cars electrical system came to life and the radio turned on. Very weird considering the keys weren’t in the ignition! This is obviously the desired intention – but it was something I wasn’t expecting! I then proceeded to swap out the car’s battery in the usual way.

Once the car’s new battery was in place I pushed the unit’s black power switch to turn it off and removed it from the cigar lighter socket. Then came the big test – had theradio code and all presets been stored..? Having turned the ignition o, the radio once again came to life on the correct radio station I had been listening to. Switching to CD lead to the correct CD playing from the last position I had stopped at. All radio presets were saved too, so the unit worked exactly as described.

Conclusion

The Gunson Intelligent Memory Minder is a great unit which saves the time and hassle of other methods of retaining power to your vehicle as you change the battery. Comparing a small light and portable unit such as this to a pair of jump leads and a secondary car battery instantly makes this a desirable option.

Issues

We also tried this unit with a 1996 Ford Fiesta 1.9 Diesel using exactly the same method described above; but the vehicle did not retain the radio memory. Having looked around the internet it appears as though some – but not all – Fords are known to have this issue. So in summary, I suggest that you ensure that once you have plugged the unit into your cigar lighter and switched it on that your dashboard lights up, indicating that power has been passed from the unit to the car.