30 Mins and 15 Mins Battery Charger kit $30

[T-Man]

1. Optex Charger kits from Blacks Photography for $30 on sale down from $60

Highlights:

-30 Mins Ultra Fast Charging
-Power rating 2600 mAh
-Worldwide Voltage
-Car charger adapter
-Audible alarm sounds to Indicate batteries have been fully charged
-Safety timer, delta-T and negative delta-V cut off prevent overheating and overcharging
-Timer-controlled circuitry keeps batteries topped off for maximum power
-Reverse Polarity protection
-100 to 240V AC international power compatibility - ideal for travel
-Charges 1,2,3 or 4 NiMH AA or AAA batteries independently
-Kit includes charger, 4 high capacity 2600 mAh NiMH AA batteries, AC power adapter and DC car adaptor

Edit: There is a weblink on the back of the package:
http://www.gentec-intl.com/

2. Blacks also had another kit the 2HR ones for $25. Don't get them confuse as they look exactly the same as the 30mins ones


3. Also at Walmart, there was a 15Min Duracell kit for $30 down from $60 as well:

Highlights:

-2000 mAh
-can charge AA or AAA independently
-No memory affect
-recharge 100s of times
-Retain power up to 365 days per year unused

The Home Adapter on the duracell is huge!

I returned the Duracell one and kept the Optex Campower 30 mins one

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v56/T-Man/100_2967.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v56/T-Man/100_2968.jpg

[craftsman]

The Optex unit seems to be a better charger. But the Duracell has the better batteries (probably Sanyos)....

[jcoltage]

I would go with Enloops Changer from Costco for 31 dollars..

[netgeek]

I bought an energizer 15 minute charger for around 20 dollars from Dell a year ago. INCREDIBLE. Not only does it charge the batteries in 15 minutes; they last forever in my old (battery consuming) digital camera.

[Alvito]

I bought an energizer 15 minute charger for around 20 dollars from Dell a year ago. INCREDIBLE. Not only does it charge the batteries in 15 minutes; they last forever in my old (battery consuming) digital camera.

I saw that charger in sears at promenade for 34.95 or something like that. i forget if its the 15 minute charger or not... but a good deal for someone who wants it.

[ag2000]

I bought Optex rechargeable battery for canon camera some time ago, as a second battery. In the beginning they had similar performance.
6 months later Optex battery lost most of the capacity and discharged very quickly, while Canon original one was holding the charge reasonably well for 2 years, then it started to decline as well.

Maybe they improved since then, but they lost my trust and I buy only the original brand batteries or some other well known brand like Duracell or Sanyo.

[convoluted]

I'm not a fan of relatively unknown, non-big company batteries. I'm not too familiar with Optex, but I prefer the energizer, sanyo, sony, or duracell batteries. I figure, why put cheap batteries into an expensive device?

My friend bought cheap generic rechargeable batteries. They now no longer FIT in her camera because they have changed shape a little and have expanded. I told her to buy good batteries; it's not worth it to save there and ruin a good camera if it were to leak.

Also, a 15 minute charger is great to use. (make sure you put good batteries in too.) I'm always afraid of leakage or whatnot when they turn into plutonium rod hot. Get the good charger because you usually only have 1 charger, but batteries you get multiples of (and often buy more)

[mlc2000]

I would go with Enloops Changer from Costco for 31 dollars..

+1


Those 15 minute chargers blew the snot out of my Sony 2500's and my Eneregizer 2300's. Their charge barely lasts now.
I only use the 15min charger if I need batteries fast.
If I can wait, I use the Eneloops.

Go with Eneloops.

[theastroboy]

Tests have shown MIJ Energizer and Sanyo to be among the best performing batteries, so I would stick with those in the future. The problem with no-name batteries is they are often overrated. I have some 2300mAh generic batteries which are more like 1600-1700mAh.

There is no doubt a good charger is essential. I used to have a Panasonic compact charger for my digital camera's AA batteries. For some reasons, some of my 1600mAh batteries never seemed to last long in the camera. The camera would simply shut right off with some newly charged batteries. Due to my need to charge AAA/AA/C/D/9V size batteries, I decided to buy a Vanson BC-1HU. The charger sure made a big difference. The same batteries that wouldn't power up my digital camera can now last a long time. I was actually going to buy the AccuPower AccuManager 20 (the case is identical with the Vanson, but in different colors), which is supposed to be better. But it's not available in the Canada and I didn't want to import and get hit with duties.

If you don't mind paying a little extra, the La Crosse BC-700/900 and Maha C9000 are very nice AAA/AA chargers with analyzing functions.

[NewsyL]

This is way more battery charger than the OP's links. It will baby your rechargeble's but if you want to abuse your batteries it also has a fast charge mode.

http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/900/medium.jpg


http://thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php

$38.97 USD + freight (I think it was about $6.00 for parcel post)

Took about 20 days for mine to arrive in mid-November at the height of the Canadian dollar and pre-Christmas parcel backlog.

I posted a US link as I have yet to find a Canadian reseller... if you have a Canadian reseller please advise.

.

[sureshmysore]

with 2AA(2000mAH) and 2 AAA
were clearing them out in Winnipeg about 2months ago. About 40 left at that time.

[AzN_RiverdaleCI]

Do Want.

[litobro]

optex :D

[T-Man]

I bought Optex rechargeable battery for canon camera some time ago, as a second battery. In the beginning they had similar performance.
6 months later Optex battery lost most of the capacity and discharged very quickly, while Canon original one was holding the charge reasonably well for 2 years, then it started to decline as well.

Maybe they improved since then, but they lost my trust and I buy only the original brand batteries or some other well known brand like Duracell or Sanyo.

Uhh- Now you're making me worry....lol

The package does say 2 Years Guaranteed Performance on it though.
http://www.gentec-intl.com/

[T-Man]

I found one review(sort of) on this charger:

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6260517.html

Its Model CP8000
http://www.cameralenses.ca/Default.asp?mode=prd&div_id=&prod_id=CP8000###

[craftsman]

This is way more battery charger than the OP's links. It will baby your rechargeble's but if you want to abuse your batteries it also has a fast charge mode.

http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/900/medium.jpg


http://thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php

$38.97 USD + freight (I think it was about $6.00 for parcel post)

Took about 20 days for mine to arrive in mid-November at the height of the Canadian dollar and pre-Christmas parcel backlog.

I posted a US link as I have yet to find a Canadian reseller... if you have a Canadian reseller please advise.

.

Great unit. I have one as well.

[sterdeus]

This is way more battery charger than the OP's links. It will baby your rechargeble's but if you want to abuse your batteries it also has a fast charge mode.
http://thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php

$38.97 USD + freight (I think it was about $6.00 for parcel post)

Took about 20 days for mine to arrive in mid-November at the height of the Canadian dollar and pre-Christmas parcel backlog.

I posted a US link as I have yet to find a Canadian reseller... if you have a Canadian reseller please advise.

.

Parcel post is $13 now.. if it wasnt that price back then. Did you get hit with duties?

[mulala]

I wont to for the brand that I haven't heard of before....
However I did a search on duracell 15min charger a while ago and some people comment that the build quality isnt that good....

So, I guess I wont go for either ones, here are some other deal in my area(Vancouver) :

Energizer 15 min charger with 4 2200 battery @ bestbuy around $40 without car charger/ $60 with car charger
Sony 15min charger with 4 2500 battery @ a&b sounds around $40 without car charger as well...

And I will take the $40 energizer charger without car charger simply coz its quite a good brand for battery..

[Chadburn]

I read that the Duracell charger doesn't work with all NiMH rechargeables. Seems to prefer Duracell-brand batteries. I think I read about this in customer comments at Future Shop's site when they had the Duracell on sale during boxing week.

Reviews of the 15 min. Energizer are good. The advantage of the Sanyo 1hr charger with eneloops from Costco is that eneloops retain about 85% of their charge for about a year, so you can have several on hand and ready to go, thus making a 1 hour charger sufficient.

[miss_swan]

This is way more battery charger than the OP's links. It will baby your rechargeble's but if you want to abuse your batteries it also has a fast charge mode.

http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/900/medium.jpg


http://thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php

$38.97 USD + freight (I think it was about $6.00 for parcel post)

Took about 20 days for mine to arrive in mid-November at the height of the Canadian dollar and pre-Christmas parcel backlog.

I posted a US link as I have yet to find a Canadian reseller... if you have a Canadian reseller please advise.

.

You can buy the LaCrosse from fenixtactical.com ... it's a better deal if you buy the package deal with the fenix l2d and diffuser.

However, it's expensive for CAD and it's actually worth the while to order from the States (Thomasdistributing ... or amazon etc) because the overall price should be still a bit lower.

I would also look at the maha units which are available at paulsfinest.com ... or the usual US suspects.

[theastroboy]

The Maha C9000 is a better unit than LaCrosse, but at a higher price ($60 at ThomasDistributing). If you have the dough, go for it. The break-in mode seems to be very nice.

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/maha/mh-c9000-charger/mh-c9000-lg.jpg

[uberanch]

Can I use different brand batteries on a certain charger? e.g. Duracell rechargeable on a Optex charger, or Energizer batteries on a Duracell charger, etc.? Is there any negative effects on the batteries?

Seems to me from reading the comments so far is that the longer time chargers preserve battery charge better than the quick 15/30 mins ones...

[miss_swan]

Can I use different brand batteries on a certain charger? e.g. Duracell rechargeable on a Optex charger, or Energizer batteries on a Duracell charger, etc.? Is there any negative effects on the batteries?

Seems to me from reading the comments so far is that the longer time chargers preserve battery charge better than the quick 15/30 mins ones...

1 - doesn't matter
2 - negative effects? The main negative effect is charging batteries with old, timer-based chargers which can potentially cook your batteries if you unplug, and then recharge again to top off. Chargers within the last 4-5 years for the most part have smart circuitry preventing overcharging.
3 - not sure what you mean. Quick charging, like really quick charging will tend to reduce charge cycles ... but for all intents and purposes you would have moved on to the next gen of batteries before really charging your batts until they crapped out. Batts are relatively cheap anyways so in the long run it's not that big of a deal.

[malquin]

This is way more battery charger than the OP's links. It will baby your rechargeble's but if you want to abuse your batteries it also has a fast charge mode.

http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/900/medium.jpg


http://thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php

$38.97 USD + freight (I think it was about $6.00 for parcel post)

Took about 20 days for mine to arrive in mid-November at the height of the Canadian dollar and pre-Christmas parcel backlog.

I posted a US link as I have yet to find a Canadian reseller... if you have a Canadian reseller please advise.

.

I really agree with this. Did the same thing and I have no more problems with batteries. It detects faulty batteries, slow charges treats them gently so they last longer and the charger display is really useful because it tells you the amps, voltage and charge each time. Really easy to find out duds.

This combined with Eneloop or Hybrio batteries means no more problems.

[predator]

Thanks to OP for the deal and other posters with info about the La crosse charger. I need to pick a LA crosse for myself now , that canadain site is expensive though at 75 bucks so prob order from the states even though waiting time is usually long for that.

[miss_swan]

Thanks to OP for the deal and other posters with info about the La crosse charger. I need to pick a LA crosse for myself now , that canadain site is expensive though at 75 bucks so prob order from the states even though waiting time is usually long for that.

I have the LaCrosse and I really like it ... having said that ... I would probably choose the Maha WizardOne this time around. It's got pretty good reviews.

I'd do more research about these Maha and LaCrosse units over at candlepowerforums, batteries forum.

[uberanch]

1 - doesn't matter
2 - negative effects? The main negative effect is charging batteries with old, timer-based chargers which can potentially cook your batteries if you unplug, and then recharge again to top off. Chargers within the last 4-5 years for the most part have smart circuitry preventing overcharging.
3 - not sure what you mean. Quick charging, like really quick charging will tend to reduce charge cycles ... but for all intents and purposes you would have moved on to the next gen of batteries before really charging your batts until they crapped out. Batts are relatively cheap anyways so in the long run it's not that big of a deal.

Thx for the info miss_swan! ;)

I read that the Duracell charger doesn't work with all NiMH rechargeables. Seems to prefer Duracell-brand batteries. I think I read about this in customer comments at Future Shop's site when they had the Duracell on sale during boxing week.
Reviews of the 15 min. Energizer are good. The advantage of the Sanyo 1hr charger with eneloops from Costco is that eneloops retain about 85% of their charge for about a year, so you can have several on hand and ready to go, thus making a 1 hour charger sufficient.

Those 15 minute chargers blew the snot out of my Sony 2500's and my Eneregizer 2300's. Their charge barely lasts now.
I only use the 15min charger if I need batteries fast.
If I can wait, I use the Eneloops.
Go with Eneloops.

From what Chadburn and mlc2000 said, I got the impression that using a 1-hr+ charger may give the batteries longer life (while retaining high charge level) than those 15/30 min quick chargers that may kill the batteries faster. I guess from what you said it doesn't really matter.

I am not a heavy battery users BTW.

[predator]

I have the LaCrosse and I really like it ... having said that ... I would probably choose the Maha WizardOne this time around. It's got pretty good reviews.

I'd do more research about these Maha and LaCrosse units over at candlepowerforums, batteries forum.


There is this one really good review on amazon that compares both of these chargers together. And my impression is that the maha charger does not really have any real benefits compared to the lacrose ( maha is harder to program requiring a lot more steps , and the only extra function that it has is this new battery conditioning feature that takes 39 hours which I highly doubt I will ever use). Also being cheaper and coming with batteries and adapters makes the lacrosse really tempting compared to the maha.

What's your opinion?

[zkool448]

Most review sites do favour one over the other (but most forums do prefer the Maha), guess we need to own both just to be sure..

http://www.newstarget.com/021897.html

http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-BC-900-AlphaPower-Battery/dp/B00077AA5Q

http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=119951&forum_id=51&jump_to=734631

[predator]

Thanks for the links, This is a hard choice. Go with what is a better charger or what has better value. Decisions decisions. However I tend to believe forum's more than sites because I find people more willing to discuss problems without fear of ad revenue and such. I guess if I don't go with the maha I will always think what if.....

[miss_swan]

There is this one really good review on amazon that compares both of these chargers together. And my impression is that the maha charger does not really have any real benefits compared to the lacrose ( maha is harder to program requiring a lot more steps , and the only extra function that it has is this new battery conditioning feature that takes 39 hours which I highly doubt I will ever use). Also being cheaper and coming with batteries and adapters makes the lacrosse really tempting compared to the maha.

What's your opinion?

My opinion's not worth much since I have the LaCrosse bundle ... so, naturally i'd like to try the Maha charger the next time.

The LaCrosse is nice for a person going to the next level because you get quite a few accessories with it. The batts aren't a huge deal (for me since I have quite a few nimh already) but they work alright ... the battery adapters are a nice touch, the bag is quite nice too.

The maha is supposedly even more flexible and powerful ... but only if you're a bit of a battery/charger nerd ... most people are not so perhaps the features for the maha are wasted.

Do you think you would want to condition your batteries? Do you get hot and bothered if you don't do a proper forming charge for your nimh before using them? Have any here even heard of "forming" charges?

If you answer no to any of those questions then perhaps the extra nice features of the maha are wasted. Then again, it's a nice unit. I'd like to have one.

They have a ton of reviews of the LaCrosse and maha units at candlepowerforums. Lots of info and feedback.

Ultimately though, I think that for Canadians access and cost really do play a role. If we were in the States then cost, taxes and duties would be less of a factor ... unless you're made of money.

Hope that helps.

[tallshorty111]

I recently bought the Duracell 15min charger with 4 AA (not precharged version) during the futureshop boxing week sale for $30 thinking it was a good price. But now I'm kind of regretting it. Should I return it and get the 15 min Duracell charger with the 4 precharged AA batteries? I heard they are rebranded Eneloops. I will mainly be using the battery on my external camera flash so long storage will be useful.

[notnormal]

Get a Maha or a La Crosse. The 15/30 minute chargers can be very picky about battery resistance.

[tallshorty111]

Get a Maha or a La Crosse. The 15/30 minute chargers can be very picky about battery resistance.

I don't need a fancy battery charger. I don't use rechargeable AA's on many things other than remote controls (which alkaline's can last forever) and for my external flash.

[theastroboy]

I chose LaCrosse over Maha because of the price and functions that I would likely use. While the Maha is better (at least on paper), it is $20+ (if you consider the accessories) more. There are some negatives I don't like about the Maha. The backlight display is too bright, info can only be displayed for one channel at a time only, and the size is much bigger.

Maha's bigger size (with more spacings in between batteries) does help to dissipate heat though, but this makes it bulky to carry around.

The LaCrosse bag is nice, but a little smaller would be better. Battery adaptors are good, but D-sized ones must be used by inserting the AA battery into the C-sized adaptors first. The included batteries are not the best and I would much prefer LaCrosse to knock down a few bucks instead. There is a stripped down version of the LaCrosse. The BC-700 is missing a few high charging current settings and with no accessories at several bucks less than the BC-900. I opted for the BC-900 at the time of my purchase because TD priced them almost the same...

If anyone is going to spend $75 buying the LaCrosse at the Canadian site, I would suggest you to consider buying the Maha from Durham Radio instead. It is selling for less than $60, which is even better than the price at paulsfinest ($86 but with 8 LSD batteries).

[notnormal]

I don't need a fancy battery charger. I don't use rechargeable AA's on many things other than remote controls (which alkaline's can last forever) and for my external flash.

My post was in response to the poll/OP.