Customer Reviews

Duracell Mobile Charger With 2AA And 2AAA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF23DX4N

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Duracell Mobile Charger (CEF23) is an extremely versatile charger. It actually has two operating modes, as selected by the MODE button:

1. As an AA/AAA NiMH battery charger, or
2. As an USB charger for USB-powered devices.

In battery-charger mode, the unit is a smart charger that accepts 1-4 AA/AAA cells in any combinations. The charger can be powered by either 100-240V universal AC input, or 12V DC input. This means you can also operate it from your vehicle's cigarette lighter adapter. Note that the car adapter is included in the CEF23DX4N, but not in the CEF23DX2.

The charging current is 550mA for each AA/AAA cell. So it takes about 4 hours to full charge up the included 2000mAh low-self-discharge cells (which are the Duracell-equivalent of Sanyo eneloop). I consider this a good compromise between shorter charging time and longer battery lifespan. Once charging is done, the current is reduced to 25mA (actually 0-50mA pulsed at 50% duty cycle) in trickle charge mode.

One really nice feature of this charger is that it has four individual battery status indicator lights. The status light for each cell turns RED when charging, GREEN when the cell is fully charged. It will even blink if you accidentally inserted an alkaline cell.

In USB charger mode, the unit generates a regulated 5-volt supply at its USB socket. You can then connect an USB-powered device (such as IPOD charger) to this unit. Input power for this USB charger can be from one of the following sources:
1. From 100-240V universal AC input,
2. From 12V DC input (car adapter), or
3. From four AA/AAA NiMH cells in the battery compartment.

The third way is the most interesting, because in case of emergency, you can even use 4 alkaline cells to power this USB charger, in order to charge up your cell phone's battery.

I must say that this charger is really well designed. It is a great bargain even if all you need is a simple battery charger. The USB charger mode is just an extra bonus.

[Update on Oct 7, 2010]:
Duracell has discontinued the excellent CEF23 charger (at least in the US) last year. So prices for the remaining inventory have skyrocketed. The replacement product (Duracell Go Mobile Charger) only charges in pairs, and does not contain an USB charger.
- If you just need an inexpensive 2-cell charger that can handle individual cell, consider the Sanyo eneloop MDR02.
- If you need a good 4-cell charger that can operate from 12V cigarette lighter adapter, consider the Targus LCD2700 with LCD Display
- If you need an advanced charger that can operate from 12V CLA, consider the La Crosse Technology BC500
- If you need a good 4-cell charger that can operate from 12V CLA _and_ can power an USB port using internal batteries... Sorry! Your best hope is to look for an international version of CEF23, such as the CEF23AU (AU=Australia)

[Update on Dec 1, 2010]
Just in case anyone is still interested in this charger: I recently found out that its USB port is capable of supplying 1000mA output current - even though the spec says 500mA only. I discovered this by accident when using it as a portable recharger for my Archos 5 500 GB Internet Tablet.

I've done a lot of research on batteries and chargers, and I have to say I'm impressed with this charger. I am a photographer, and my fancy flashes are only as good as the batteries they use. Other reviews have already stated the high points: gentle charge rate (550 mA is great); individual charging of batteries (absolutely vital); intelligent shutoff (does not overcharge). On top of these, it runs off of 12V and any AC wall power in the world (120-240V), and it charges USB devices. It also will charge a USB device off of 4 charged batteries. It's a dream come true.

One thing to note: You cannot charge batteries AND charge a USB device at the same time. You have to pick one or the other. But this is a very minor issue for something so functional, portable, and inexpensive.

Assuming it doesn't die in two months, this is the best consumer charger that is widely available. (I also have the Maha C-9000, which I love, but is not for the faint of heart. The Maha C401FS is also very good.)

If you're even considering buying one of those 15-minute chargers, PLEASE don't. It will destroy your batteries by cooking them at a high temperature. Buy this one, instead. Just get an extra set of batteries to swap out while the others are charging, if you need the quick turnaround.

First, a note on what's included: 2AA, 2AAA, a charger, and a car adaptor. It does not come with a usb cable. You can see the customer photos I uploaded.

As noted by others, these batteries are "highly similar" if not identical to Eneloops. So the batteries are great.

For AA, I like the charger included in this kit more than the one in this Eneloop kit for two reasons:

1. Each slot has its own individual indicator so you know which battery is done. Equally importantly, you can detect bad batteries in a set. Say you always use four as a set but one suddenly finishes charging a lot earlier than the other three, it's time for testing. (For testing, I use Maha MH-C9000.)

2. It charges faster, at 550mA, so the 2000mAh AA batteries charge in about four hours.

Unfortunately 500mA is also how it charges AAA batteries. Contrast this to the Eneloop charger in the kit above: 300mA for AA and 160mA for AAA. We see that the Eneloop charger is a lot more gentle for AAA. (I won't charge my AAA in this Duracell charger.)

Be sure to read NLee's expert review and give him a vote. Thanks to him I bought this charger. There is green and then there is greenish. This charger is green. Not only do you reduce the number of batteries going into landfills, but you reduce the number of phones being tossed out of cars which may reduce accidents as well. Yes you plug it into adapter in your car, SUV, or truck and charge double and triple A batteries and your cell phone.

Versatile functions in this charger. 3 different ways to provide a charge to a USB device - awesome. However, it did not charge several batteries my other charger would. It appears this charger thought some of my batteries were bad because the voltage was too low. I have several AA batteries for my speed-light which doesn't get used as much as other high-drain devices I use. Hence, the batteries sit a long time and the voltage may drop very low. This charger would seem to be more appropriate for batteries in constant use without deep cycling.

I still have the charger since it makes such a great compact charger for the car. There's really not much competition with those aspects.

Good marks for lots of good features, but two strikes for pre-maturely rejecting good batteries. BTW, this one showed up with a defect, it would not work in the AC mode. 12V charge has always worked fine. Based on other results, this AC-mode flaw is probably an outlier, not a trend.

I have a "dumb" charger that only shows that all batteries are charged. I have suspected that some of my batteries are weaker, and this unit does show that some take longer to fully charge than others. I also like the self-contained design, eliminating a separate line-power cord since it plugs directly into the outlet, as well as the included 12V car adapter. I can also use it (in its USB mode) to recharge my Garmin GPS when I'm away from the normal charging options.

I have bought several different kind of portable chargers for my Apple iPod classic 160 GB Silver (6th Generation) and my Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player (Pink). The first one was a solar battery/charger and it was a piece of junk. The second one was a box powered by 4 AA batteries and it broke in a very short time.

Then I saw the reviews of Duracell Mobile Charger With 2AA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF23DX2, I bought Duracell Mobile Charger With 2AA And 2AAA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF23DX4N that includes a car charger. It did not charge my iPod and Zen either. It only charges my other smaller MP3 players.

Then I got Xantrex Technologies 852-0281 XPower PowerSource 100 Watt Inverter. It works even for a very small laptop, but it is a bit too heavy for travel or on-the-go.

Finally, I bought Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Power and Battery Charger. It charges all my portable divices that can be charged through USB port.

Of course, this is a very nice charger for charging smaller mobile divices and AA batteries. But just as the review of 135mph says, it does not charge all the mobile devices. Although that review says it does not charge PDA, I was hoping that it would charge my iPod Classic 160GB and ZVM. Well, it didn't. And I wish I had bought Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Charger before wasting so much time and money on all other chargers.

Buy this if you need a good charger for AA Nimh batteries and small portable devices. But if you need a mobile charger for bigger MP3 players and cellphones, you may need Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Power and Battery Charger. It even comes with several adapters/tips for different cellphones.

Hope you find this review helpful.

I bought this based upon the engineer guys review. I'm happy I did! It works perfectly for all of my rechargeable batteries. I have some older ones from Rayovac, some from only half a year ago that are Energizer and a handful that I recently bought that are Rayovac. They all charge perfectly in this device. I consider the 2 AA and 2 AAA that come with it a bonus. It doesn't get hot and it's not noisy either. You can plug it into just about anything to boot! :D

Bought this as a travel charger for AA batteries that I use with a camera and it works very well for that purpose. But what really impresses me is that it can charge my 64gb third generation iPod Touch! This surprised me as my Touch is very finicky, sometimes failing to charge at all with certain USB charging cables, connections, and adapters. This is a well-known issue with current iPods and iPhones.

The CEF23 is a little bulky, but its versatility more than makes up for its size. It's a great travel companion as it can do so much:

--Charge AA or AAA batteries singly or in pairs and safely
--Charge the iPod Touch with AC power
--Charge the iPod Touch with just AA batteries
--Charge batteries and the Touch via the cigarette lighter!

If you use the USB charging function, be sure to press the button first which switches the charger from battery charging mode to USB charger. Initially I didn't realize one had to do this and just thought here was another device that won't work with the iPod Touch. Also, if there is one weak battery in one of the charging bays, the USB charging mode may not engage (which is indicated by a light). This happened to me and I thought the charger was malfunctioning. I simply switched out the weak battery with a fully charged one and all was well.

If you need to carry backup power every day for your portable device or smart phone there are much more compact solutions available. But if you don't, then the CEF23 is an ideal solution for backup power for long trips on a plane, train, bus or in the car to give your device a boost. And since it works with AA batteries, you never have to worry about depleted batteries if you simply carry spares.

Tested old and new batteries. A blinking red LED indicated that some old batteries and even one new one were malfunctioning. How would you do that with a standard charger? Well, you can't. This charager saved me considerable aggravation.

Haven't found any other charger with this kind of versatility. Highly recommended.