Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo, one charger, 4 AA and 4 AAA batteries

by Duracell

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches ; 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B002Q8JQYU
• Item model number: Duracell combo
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #46 in Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Batteries, Chargers & Accessories > Household Batteries > AAA
  • #92 in Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Batteries, Chargers & Accessories > Household Batteries > AA
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 24, 2009

Product Description

Ideal for digital and high drain devices, pre-charged and ready to use, straight out of pack. Retains power for up to 365 days while not in use, unlike regular rechargeagles. Can be recharged 100 of times. Longer lasting in high drain devices, than ordinary alkaline batteries.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Duracell 'Value Charger' is a _slightly_ better value now, February 15, 2010

By 

NLee the Engineer (Nashua, NH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 10 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo, one charger, 4 AA and 4 AAA batteries (Electronics)

This package (Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo) contains the Duracell CEF14NC 'Value Charger', four Duracell DX1500 Pre Charged AA cells (2000mAh), and four DX2400 AAA cells (800mAh).

Duracell pre charged cells are either rebranded Sanyo eneloop ('white top') or Rayovac Hybrid ('black top'). But there is no way to know which version you are going to receive. Incidentally, I have examined dozens of those packages in a famous warehouse club. Majority of them contain AA 'black top' cells, with just a few containing 'white top'. All AAA cells are 'black top' only.

The new Duracell 'Value Charger' offers several improvements over the previous version (which was also called 'CEF14NC'):

- It accepts 100-240V universal AC input (instead of just 120V AC)
- It can charge up to 4 AAA cells (instead of just 2 AAA)

The charging current is same as before: 360mA when charging AA cells, 180mA for AAA cells. That means it take about 6-7 hours to recharge a pair of exhausted AA cells.

One remaining drawback with this charger is that it still charges in pairs. That is, either 2 or 4 cells. This is very inconvenient when you have appliance that requires either 1 or 3 cells. Now you're left with one cell that you cannot charge. If you try to charge one exhausted cell together with one that is full, then the second cell will be over-charged (becuase the charger only stops when the combined voltage of two cells is high enough). NiMH cells are fairly robust, so they are unlikely to burst or leak when over-charged occasionally. But over-charging is very bad for battery lifespan in the long run.

If all of your battery-operated appliances require only even number of cells, then this package is still a good value. But if you do need to charge odd number of cells occasionally, then I recommend buying the Sanyo Eneloop 2 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries w/ Charger in addition to this one. It contains a compact charger 'MDR02' that can handle 1-2 cells, and it recharges much faster.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great deal, December 19, 2009

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo, one charger, 4 AA and 4 AAA batteries (Electronics)

This item is a truly great deal.

I recently purchased several packs of rechargeable Duracell batteries of AA and AA sizes, and paid a great deal more, in all, that this charger costs, complete with eight batteries (four of each size). First off, the batteries included here come already charged. And that charge lasts a long time.

Moreover, the Duracell charger --- made for 120 volt AC sockets --- is excellent.

Although I highly recommend the Solar 11-in-1 Battery Charger (also available here) for its ability to recharge batteries of many sizes, all at once --- this Duracell unit is great for fast "retooling," as needed. And again, the charged batteries with the package mean there will be no waiting to use them.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than Energizer Anyway, March 29, 2010

By 

Veil_Lord - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo, one charger, 4 AA and 4 AAA batteries (Electronics)

I got this package for my Christmas present. I was down a charger and the deal my wife got made it cheaper than buying the 4 AAA and 4 AA batteries separately. I've been mostly pleased.

The charger will only charge batteries in sets of 2 or 4 and is somewhat easier to use with AA batteries. The AAA batteries sink further in and I found it cumbersome to try to physically get them out of the charging recesses without digging into their tops with my fingernail and damaging their labels. My solution was to use a Lenmar Charger, Egg which can handle single batteries of either size. Using one charger for each sized battery works great for me because I usually use AAA batteries as singles and AA as pairs.

The overall construction feels solid and not cheaply made. I miss having some kind of plastic cover built into the charger like my last one had. If you don't put this charger in a bag or something you're going to get dust in it. I know this is a value charger, but a simple flip cover would have been appreciated. The electrical plug on the back swivels up so you can lay it down flat when not in use, which is handy. In case you're hoping for one, there isn't a car adapter included, though you can use this in the car if you have a cheap inverter plugged into your cigarette lighter.

I haven't had them a very long time, but long enough to get a general feel. The batteries most certainly last longer than the Energizer ones I've used in the past. Those had nice high charge capacity, but lost their charge so fast they were near worthless a few weeks later. The longest I've gone without charging these Duracells is maybe three months. I use them in my old Gameboy Advance which sees very light use and it still hasn't run through the first ones I put in. On the other hand, I used them in my digital camera and I got maybe five to ten pictures one day, then put the camera away for a month and got maybe five shots before the camera shut itself down with dead batteries. I've noticed similar short life span in both my MP3 players. The player I use for exercise only gets played a couple hours a week and the battery was starting to go dead after only a handful of uses.

I'm not sure why I'm getting shorter life span, since it seems most other reviewers are having no issues. It's entirely possible they just haven't gone through enough charging cycles to have reached their full capacity. Either way, they're still better than the multiple Energizers I've had; they just don't seem to be the magic Alkaline replacements I'd hoped for. My only suggestion is if you get these try maxing and then draining the batteries a few times right away and testing how long your stuff stays active, while you can still return them.