Lenmar 2000 mAh NiMH Rechargeable AA Batteries (24 Pack)

by Lenmar

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3 x 2.5 x 4 inches ; 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001FZCQQ
• Item model number: PRO-2420
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,107 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 15, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

From portable CD players, PDAs, two-way radios, and toys, today's personal electronics demand more power than did devices of old. Lenmar's NoMEM PRO rechargeable Nickel Metal-Hydride (NiMH) batteries replace up to 1,000 disposable batteries each, providing economical rechargeable power to today's ultra-high-demand digital electronics. This handy 24-pack saves you 24,000 disposable alkalines, powering six or more devices requiring 4 AA batteries each. Charger not included.

Product Description

Lenmar PRO-2420 Rechargeable NiMH Battery Bulk Packs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

225 of 230 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The truth about NiMH Batteries, May 12, 2005

By 

diljs - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lenmar 2000 mAh NiMH Rechargeable AA Batteries (24 Pack) (Electronics)

First off, NiMH are great for most power hungry devices, but you should NOT use NiMH batteries in:
1. Emergency Devices (smoke alarms, emergency flashlight batteries, etc.)
2. Slow drain devices like clocks
This is because NiMH devices drain much quicker than Alkaline batteries. Don't expect to charge once and then use the batteries a couple of months later; they will have discharged. Another note is that NiMH batteries operate at 1.2 volts, while Alkalines are 1.5 volts. This isn't a problem for MOST devices, even ones that say "designed for Alkaline", but some things, such as clocks, simply will not work well with 1.2 volt NiMH batteries, and you should still use Alkaline in any device that doesn't behave correctly after NiMH batteries are used.

Now that I've cleared that up, should you buy these particular batteries or not? The smart consumer will notice:
1. They are not a well known brand name
2. They are only 2000mAh
3. They are an amazing deal.

The truth is, these batteries are most likely exactly the same quality as most brand name 2500mAh batteries that you'd pay 2-3 times as much for. Here's why:

1. There are only a few factories that make NiMH batteries, and they then label and sell them to various companies. The same factory that sells to Lenmar sells to the big guys as well. The only reason you'd pay a higher price is for the brand name.

2. What about mAh ratings? The answer lies in how batteries are rated at the factory. Once a battery comes off the line, it goes through a process similar to that of computer processors and other electronic devices, known as "binning". During this process the batteries are tested ONE TIME according to their resistance, and classified as between 2000mAh and 2500mAh (the maximum advertised rate currently available). The problem with this rating system is that resistance does not mean the same thing as the capacity to hold a charge, and is not a very good indicator of actual battery performance. The result is that a 2000mAh Lenmar could perform just as well or even better than a 2500mAh Energizer, Duracell or Rayovac, for instance.

3. "But what about the battery shootout", you ask? "I've seen that website where someone tested batteries from all the brands, and Lenmar didn't do very well!" The fact is, that test ONLY applies to the actual batteries used for that particular test. THAT'S IT! The batteries you buy from each manufacturer will perform completely differently from that test. This is because each individual cell varies widely in performance, there's no way to actually specify a "2500mAh battery". They are all manufactured at a certain target capacity (around 2250mAh), and then are binned according to their performance of the production line.

There is ONE exception to all of this this, however, and that is a company called MAHA and their Powerex line of batteries (not to be confused with Powerizer). I am not associated in any way with this company, but time and time again they have bested the competition and are well respected. The reason is that they test their batteries much more extensively, and this ensures that you WILL get a high performance battery almost every time. This quality comes at a price, however, as their batteries cost around 4 times as much as these Lenmars and comparable low cost NiMH cells, so unless you absolutely have to have the extra few minutes a MAHA cell will give you, it's not cost effective to purchase them.

All things considered I would highly recommend these batteries and would encourage you to look bast brand name and marketing hype when selecting NiMH batteries.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Specific Issues with my Lenmar 2420 package, June 24, 2005

By 

M. Carlos III (Bay Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lenmar 2000 mAh NiMH Rechargeable AA Batteries (24 Pack) (Electronics)

I'll tell you right off that I'll be a bit AR in this review, but with good reason.

First, I bought the best charger I could get, which according to (http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html) is the LaCrosse BC-900 Advanced Charger. I was confident the features of the charger could make the best use out of any batteries I buy. No regrets at all!

Second, I looked for the best deal in town on batteries (e.g. the best deal that didn't look like a rip-off).

I bought these Lenmar 2000 batteries bcs. of the price (didn't we all?), even though I would give them a "middle-low" quality score based on the this site's testing (http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM). More on that at the end of this review (I like to think "short story").

They arrived in the mail looking noticably different from the picture on Amazon:

- They are not in the older blue "NoMEM PRO" wrapper shown on Amazon, they are in the purple "NoMEM Battery" wrapper, as shown in Elizabeth Persun's image.

- On the LENMAR website, the purple wrapper seems to have "NoMEM Battery" printed immediately above the prominent capacity rating. The batteries I received had the "NoMEM Battery" printed on the opposite side of the battery or about 3/8 inch above the capacity rating.

- They are stacked horizontally in the package (not vertically as shown in either Amazon's or Elizabeth Persun's image, AR - remember?)

I wonder if what I got is representative of the LENMAR 2420 product?

Anyway, my first set of 4 batteries were charged in TEST mode at 500mAh, where the charger initially charges the batteries, discharges them (measuring the capacity) and then recharges them again.

I got 2 batteries with good capacity ratings (1829mAh and 1769mAh) and 2 batteries with poor and rotten ratings (1404mAh and 856mAh).

Right now, I'm charging my 2nd set of four batteries in TEST mode. 2 are still under initial charging (a good sign), while the other 2 are already recharging (as in finished with initial charging and discharging), with "detestable" scores of 435mAh and 349mAh.

If this keeps up, I figure I'll end up with 12 GOOD batteries, maybe 4-6 POOR batteries and 6-8 OTHERS (it just doesn't feel right to call them batteries).

Note, the 500mAh charging rate yields a "fast" charge of about 4 hours, so maybe the OTHERS like it "rough" (1800mAh ~ 90min) or will respond to more gentle (200mAh ~ 10 hr) treatment.

To be fair, most people say the capacities of rechargeables peak around the 3rd-4th charge-discharge cycle, so I'll keep you posted if any of these improve dramatically.

When all else fails, I'll use the REFRESH mode on my charger to try to revive the POOR and OTHERS.

CONCLUSION

I have the best charger around, and that I'm glad the batteries were so inexpensive that I couldn't possibly get ripped-off (no matter how hard "Len---" tries). The 2 stars are for price alone.

Are they still "Middle-Low" Quality? No, with the variations in quality I've so far experienced, put them smack dab in the "I want to ask for a refund but it'll cost me more" category.

BUY AGAIN?

No, I did it once but I won't do it again, not unless I need a lot of batteries and I can make use of the clunkers too. If you don't have a good charger, stay away from this deal and perhaps, this brand too.

Buy Sanyo/Kodak/Energizer/MAHA/Powerex/Nexcell/Rayovac and don't get the highest capacity models (2300-2600) until their capacity/rating score improves.

33 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good deal, good batteries., July 19, 2004

By 

Hugo Calendar (Monument, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lenmar 2000 mAh NiMH Rechargeable AA Batteries (24 Pack) (Electronics)

This was the best deal on rechargeable batteries I could find, and they've proven to be good quality as well. They're as good as or better than all other rechargeable batteries we've tried.