Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
This package (Energizer Basic Charger with 4 AA Batteries Included) contains the Energizer CHCC-A charger, and four 2000mAh rechargeable AA cells.The Energizer CHCC-A is a timer-based dumb charger. It simply charges each cell at a fixed current until the built-in timer expires after about 8 hours. The charging currents are: - 360mA for AA cell - 150mA for AAA cell - 30mA for 9V cellSo let's say you want to recharge a set of exhausted 2400mAh AA cell. The required charge time is approximately 7 hours (2400mAh/360mA = ~7 hours). It is not too bad if you just leave the batteries in there for the full 8-hour charging session. The real problem is that you have to wait for the cells to be fully drained before recharging. Otherwise, if the cells were only half-empty, then they will be badly overcharged after 8 hours. In the long run, overcharging will cause the battery capacity to drop. But lower capacity means the cell will get overcharged even more by a dumb charger. This inevitably leads to a downward spiral that kills your batteries quickly.The Energizer rechargeable batteries included in this package are ordinary NiMH cells with rated capacity of only 2000mAh. Note that previous generation of Energizer AA cells are rated for higher capacity of '2500mAh', but they suffer from rapid self-discharge problem and have terrible lifespan. So this lower-capacity version may be considered an improvement by Energizer. On the other hand, you can get 'Pre-Charged' type NiMH batteries (such as Sanyo eneloop) with capacity 2000mAh or higher. They offer much lower self-discharge rate and longer lifespan.Instead of this dumb charger, my recommendation is to get a smart charger such as the Sony Cycle Energy BCG34HLD4KN. The Sony charger monitors battery voltage profile individually, and stops charging as soon as each cell is full. That way, there is no risk of overcharging, and you can choose to 'top-off' partially drained cells at anytime. In addition, the rechargeable batteries in the Sony package are the pre-charged type with capacity of 2100mAh.As of this writing, both Energizer and Sony packages are available at similar prices. The only reason why somebody should even consider the Energizer Basic charger is that: it can recharge 9V batteries. Other than that, there is no contest.

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