Customer Reviews

Duracell DC1500B4N Rechargeable AA NiMH Batteries (4 Pack)

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was looking for a good rechargeable battery with at least 2000 mAh. I decided to buy eight each of the following three types of batteries:

Duracell DC1500B4N Rechargeable AA NiMH Batteries (2650 mAh)
Powerex AA 2700mAh Rechargeable NiMH Batteries (2700 mAh)
Sanyo Eneloop AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries (2000 mAh)

I'm posting this same review for all three batteries.

I also bought a La Crosse BC-9009 battery charger (which, apart from the manual, is quite excellent). This charger gives you the option to test battery capacity, so I used it on the 24 batteries that I bought. Granted, a sample space of 24 batteries is quite small, but it's good enough.

The Duracells came in at 1547, 1399, 951, 2200, 2220, 2180, 940 and 905 mAh for an average of 58% of rated capacity (avg. 1543 mAh / 2650 mAh).

The Powerex came in at 2620, 2560, 2570, 2630, 2440, 2470, 1318 and 1053 mAh for an average of 82% of rated capacity (avg. 2208 mAh / 2700 mAh).

The Sanyos came in at 1940, 1867, 1931, 1961, 1856, 734, 1786 and 1895 mAh for an average of 87% of rated capacity (avg. 1746 mAh / 2000 mAh).

Although the Sanyos 87% is better than the Powerex's 82%, the powerex comes out better from a cost perspective. The Duracell's were not even in the running.

In September 2009, for 8 batteries, the Duracells cost me $22.22, the Powerexs cost me $25.98 and the Sanyos cost $24.41.

Based on this, the Powerex's cost $1.47 per Ah. The Sanyo's were $1.74 per Ah and the Duracells were $1.80 per Ah.

Given all this, I'd say the Sanyo's were decent, the Duracell's were losers, but when I need more batteries I'll stick with the Powerexs.

I had another set of these rechargeable batteries that lasted well and were great for two years of heavy use. That is why I bought the same brand again. That was a mistake. These do not hold their charge or last nearly as long during use, despite the fact they are supposed to be higher output batteries.
Duracell did not ring my bell!

I previously purchased eight of the 2000 mAH Duracell batteries- the first four came with a charger. Those batteries ROCK! They do not discharge over time, which means you can leave them sitting in a device and expect it to have power when you need it. I expected that these higher powered versions would be the same- WRONG!

I should have known something was fishy since the 2650 mAH are cheaper than the 2000 mAH. The fact is, these 2650's lose their charge VERY rapidly- and when you have a six hour charger- these 2650's quickly become worthless. However, the 2000 mAH versions have been sitting in my external flashes for two weeks- and I can turn it on and it's ready to go.

Why try to save $4 by going with a higher mAH battery that will just drain quicker and might not be there when you need them? Besides, quite honestly, the 2000 mAH have enough power to recycle my flashes very quickly. My mistake was believing that the only difference between the two versions was the higher mAH.

So save yourself a headache and buy the 2000 mAH versions instead. That is, unless you want to be putting these things on the charger every week- because that is how long it takes for them to drain without use.

I don't know about the other reviewer, but I bought an 8-pack of these batteries at Target and each one of them still tests at over 2600 mah in my MAHA C9000 over a year and many cycles later. The Energizer 2500s I had before are all below 2000 mah now. These do self-discharge rapidly, but as long as you charge them within a week of using them they'll be OK.

These batteries hold a charge well and charge fast. They do exactly what they are supposed to do and they do it well.

These batteries are not compatible with lots of toys. I have since move to sanyo, energizer,rayovac.

Smetime the toys songs play too fast, some remote control does not work. Very disappointed

I don't know anything about the other Duracell batteries with different mAh, and I don't know anything about the effectiveness of the other rechargeable battery brands. What I am sure of is that I bought both this pack and the Duracell NiMH Battery Charger that was bundled with two pre-charged 2000 mAh batteries from a downtown CVS Pharmacy way back in September 2008. At the time of this writing, it's almost been exactly three years. I've had to throw three of the original four of these non-pre-charged batteries away due to their utter lack of charge capacity left, while the pre-charged ones are still going strong. Yes, I've followed the directions and charged all six batteries (the pre-charged ones, I found out later, didn't need to be charged first -- of course!) prior to first use. I never used these batteries with anything more heavy duty than with my two Sony CD MP3-playing Walkmans (yes, world! I still use CDs! :)), and the worst I've done is left my Walkmans playing while I had forgotten to turn them off, so for them to have died off after two years (they really started showing their lack of strength a year into owning them), and for me to have finally tossed them this year, while the pre-charged ones work practically good as new to this day, really says something.

Buy the pre-charged ones.