namja

No field test info but ... I have a friend who uses GP, Maha, and Powerex (made by Maha) batteries, and he tells me that they're all the same = they're all terrific. In terms of hours of usage, he can't tell the difference from brand to brand among those 3.

CheapBastid

That is what I'm worried about. GPs list at a higher price and a higher capacity (mAh). If there is no real difference I'll stick with the MAHA Powerex.

ANDREMIKE

So someone make a suggestions...... What specific charger should I buy? I would like to be able to recharge AA and C's. What batteries should I buy????
Who's got the best prices??

Startide

Sam's Club has eight 1700mAH AA EverReady plus charger for $19.95. Each Christmas season, Sam's sells NiMH batteries and when they run out, you have to wait until next year. These cells are made in Japan and look physically robust. The timed charger is manually switched between NiMH/Nicad and claims to charge at 140mA for 14 hours (NiMH) and 7 hours (Nicad).

One nice feature of the charger is that it has a nicely rounded and streamlined shape. Even the AC wall-socket prongs can fold down so that you can easily carry the charger without the prongs snagging or scratching other items in your carry case.

sh4ft

Has anyone tried the new one hour charger from Rayovac? I can get 4 pack AA 1600 mAh for $6, but don't want to deal with a 14 hour charging cycle.

icondude

the 1700mah are here. I bought some Kodak AA ones from Amazon a couple of months ago and that's what they sent me.

icondude

I was wondering if those cheap Nimh batteries made in China are any good. They seem to be fairly common in Department stores and even grocery stores now.

Plus I was also wondering if anyone has found any decent C size nimh batteries. The ones I see in the stores (Eveready, I think) aren't any more powerful than the AA's.

CheapBastid

Looking to make another good sized purchase of AAA and AA batteries...

reverb

I would add that NiMH batteries are poor choices for use in cold environments, and it is our experience that such use can effectively kill them. We recently took both NiCad and NiMH onboard batts for an Aaton XTR Prod film camera, our first experiment/comparison with NiMH for this camera system. The NiMH batts were nearly $1000 each, and highly recommended. The sophisticated charger was several thousand dollars. This was an alpine shoot, and the working temps were never above 10F. On day three the NiMH had died. They were ruined. The NiCads continued to function, though of course no matter the insulating efforts their effective amp-hour rating was shot. But they did, nonetheless, far outperform the NiMH. In a conventional, warmer setting, the opposite is to be expected.

Regarding Lithium Ion, we have had great performance from these in use on prosumer video cameras. In fact, in total they have outperformed any other very portable battery technology I have yet used, including all Anton-Bauer products. I do not recall the exact amp-hour size, as they are slightly larger than the normal ones, but we use these Sony ones on a Sony PD-150 DVCam, and it will run the camera in normal full-time use for approximately 10 hours. This performance will fade as the battery ages and the hours add up, but it has been very impressive. On the alpine shoot, it two of those batts will run the PD150 all day in sub-zero temps with no heating and little insulation. I am also a fan of the little Sony chargers, which I keep plugged into DC/AC inverters in camera trucks all the time for all the Sony devices. The performance to cost ratio of the Lithium Ion batts, for the gear I use them with, is unequaled.

valkyrie

CompUSA is having their usual buy-one-get-one-free sale. It comes out to $9.99 for 8-packs of Rayovac NIMH's. Pretty good deal (sale until Saturday, I think).

Gallant Pig

Are NiMH bad for PDAs?

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=169917

I don't want to wreck my PDA. But I love these batteries. Thanks.

nathanbrzl

Looking for batteries for my kids Gameboys.

Thought this thread deserved a bump.

Also thanks to Startide for keeping this up.

Jacob

icondude

Ordered from Sunnbattery in late December. Got an email claiming that it was shipped on Jan 2. Still haven't gotten the batteries. When I called to complain they claimed that the batteries were actually shipped on Dec 27 (unlikely).

nathanbrzl

Ordered the new 1800MAH NEXCELLs from SunnBattery as well as the MAHA charger. Ordered 1/18 4pm and received batteries and charger on 1/22 even though Monday was a holiday. If they say that they shipped them then they probably did. I have ordered at least 5 times from them and received fast shipping.

Maybe Icondude ought to give them a call and ask for a tracking number.

Jacob

icondude

I made several emails and calls and as of yesterday they said that they are sending a replacement shipment. Will post again when (if) I get it.

icondude

OK, I got the replacement shipment from Sunn Battery today! I have no idea why it took so many tries. I guess you have to wait for the right person to pick up the phone there.

shrimpsiumai

are there any 1900 mAh NiMH AA batteries out there?

phreakyzen

OK the Sam's Club batteries are Energizers(non ACCU) not EverReady but either way they are very solid. The charger that comes with it has whats called trickle charge which keeps the batteries topped off when you leave them in the charger. Does anybody know how this affects the batteries lifetime?

Also Startide you mention that this is a timed charger does that mean it will charge for 14 hours every time you stick them in the charger? What if you take them out, don't use them and stick them back in to keep them topped off? Will they charge another 14 hours?

Thanks

After looking around it seems EverReady owns the energizer line you were right Startide my fault.

Startide

If you unplug the unit from the wall socket, it will reset for another 14 hours regardless of the battery level. After approximately 14 hours, it should switch to trickle charge mode. AT THIS POINT, if you leave it plugged in but only remove the batteries, i am not sure if the unit will still provide a trickle-only charge to whatever else you put into the unit. I'm too lazy at this time to open up the unit, but maybe someone else can.

As for using it as a permanent trickle charger, well, you have to consider how good your AC power is (no dropouts or temporary outages). It might be possible that everytime your powerline gets a "burp", the charger might reset to full-charge mode and overcharge the battery for another 14 hours. So, if you get one good "burp" per day on your powerline, that thing might overcharge your batteries every day for you.... Ugh.

CheapBastid

I finally found it!!!

Battery Shootout!

This gives you a great reference point on how each brand performs.

nathanbrzl

Happy to see that you got your stuff and I hope that you have better luck with them in the future.

Also thanks to CheapBastid for the info. I was glad to see the Quest cells on the list - I got 4 - 4 packs for $1.50 at the local discount store.(truck salvage)

P.S. I would have replied much sooner except I was in HOTLANTA and boy was it hot for January