Customer Reviews

Maha PowerEx MH-C204W4AA27 - Battery charger - battery - rechargeable - AA x 4 - 2700 mAh

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Maha C204W is marketed as a 'Smart' charger, but it has a fundamental design flaw. A real 'Smart' charger has to charge cells individually, because that is the only way it can determine when each cell is full and stop the charging. The C204W, like most 'dumb' chargers, can only charge cells in pairs.

Why is charging NiMH cells in pairs a very bad idea? Beacuse no two cells have identical capacities. Even if you start with two new cells of the same brand, their capacities will drift apart after several cycles. When you charge two cells in series, the one with lower capacity will be over-charged, and this will only accelerate the disparity in capacity next time. Eventually you'll end up with cells that can only deliver a fraction of their rated capacities.

Then there's always the problem when your application requires either one or three cells. Now you are left with one drained cell that you cannot charge. If you try to charge a drained cell in series with a full one, the latter will be badly over-charged and may even be damaged from over-heating.

The C204W has a Discharge function that can be used to 'revive' cells with deteriorated capacities. But once again, you can only discharge two cells in series. So one cell is likely to become fully discharged before the other. Then the first cell may be forced into polarity reversal (negative voltage), which is very bad for battery life.

I should point out that the "PC Photo Editor's Choice" award for this charger was given in 2001. Also, the claim of "Recharges in one hour" is only valid when charging two 1800mAh cells. To fully recharge a set of four 2700mAh cells, it takes about 3 hours.

Perhaps back in 2001 this was considered a great charger, but by now there is no way to justify its high price. Even the Sony BCG-34HE4, at only half the cost, is a smart charger that charges cells individually (but it does take twice as long to charge). For similar price as the C204W, you could get the La Crosse BC700 which is a far more advanced battery charger, analyzer and conditioner. If you are willing to spend a bit more, reach for the top-of-the-line Maha MH-C9000 instead. All three alternatives above work with universal supply voltage (100-240V AC) as well.

I brought this charger along with me on a 3 week trip to China. Everywhere I went, I was able to charge the batteries for my digital camera. It is compact so it didn't take up much room in my luggage. Four batteries were charged in less than the manual quoted 2 hours. The included 2300mAh batteries lasted nearly an entire day of shooting in my Canon A95, sometimes longer. This was really a worthwhile investment in my opinion.

This charger can best be described as a complete package. Has all the features you could possibly want and some not available anywhere else. For you world travelers, it has a built in power supply so no need to lug around an adapter.

If there is a better equipped charger on the market at this price, I have yet to see it.

I bought this because it can travel around the globe. It uses a simple DIN plug, cords for which can be bought anywhere around the world for easy convertibility. It's also nice and small, and while it's not one of the superfast 15min or 30min chargers, you can rest assured that your batteries don't get overheated. Charge times of 1-2 hours are plenty fast for me (especially since one set of batteries can last a whole day in my Canon S2 IS), and it's as pocketable as any of the proprietary Li-Ion chargers for other digicams. A great choice all around.

I have a Maha C204F and C204W battery charger and they are best your money can buy. I travel outside the United States a lot so I bring the C204W which is lightweight and uses 100-240V. The C204W does the best job of "topping off" batteries because it uses a three-stage charging process. The C204W switches from a fast charge to an intermediate charge level after the charger initially detects that the battery is "full" (about 95% charge capacity). After a while in this "topping off" charge mode, the charger will finally drop down to trickle-charge mode, applying brief pulses of current for a few tenths of a second every 7 seconds or so. The "revival" capability of the C204W is a real plus: Saving just one or two sets of old, "dead" NiMh batteries could pay for the entire cost of the charger. I just leave my batteries in the C-204W after they're charged, to keep them topped off.

Ok so I ordered this charger because I knew it was the best one around. I have researched it on a number of sites. (start here http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/C204W/C204WA.HTM ) I know what it looks like. Then in the mail I get the "Travel Charger"? That isn't the same thing! I don't know how many other people Accessory Genie sent this travel charger to, but it isn't what you thought it was.
Also what is the deal with the batteries? It clearly states that you get 2500 batteries with this (made by PowerEx) they sent me some 2450? That are made from some no name company. So if you got "The Smart and Speedy Travel Charger" you got the wrong thing!

I agree with the observations of "the engineer" elsewhere in these reviews. I too am an engineer, and I concur with his observations about the limitations of this Maha design.

As for my personal experience, the first unit I received died within 5 days. I received VERY cheerful and FAST replacement direct from Maha PowerEx no questions asked. However, the second unit died as well, after just a couple of months of not-so-heavy use.

I have given up on this charger. Despite what "editor's choice" might say, this charger isn't "the One".

Truth be told, finding a good charger that is smart, world-power friendly, and inexpensive seems to be nigh unto impossible. Someone let me know if they find one.

I bought this for my Canon A95 about eight months ago from amazon and it's been great. Have to charge it for 1-2 hours and then forget about it ! Once charged it lasts for 2 trips for me. I am a photo freak and I take about 300 pics on each trip atleast.
Highly recommended. Worth every dollar that you pay for it.

Way too expensive for a smart charger that requires batteries to be recharged in pairs. There are much better choices out there. A charger should be able to recharge any combination and number up to 4 total of AA and AAA cells individually.

Better charger choices include:
(31 bucks) La Crosse Technology BC500
(42 bucks) La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha
(45 bucks) Maha PowerEx MH-C401FS (great and very easy to use)
(45 bucks) Maha PowerEx MH-C401FS4AA27
(51 bucks) Maha Powerex Wizard One MH-C9000 (great, but not that easy to use)

RECHARGERS TO AVOID:
Maha PowerEx MH-C204W(4AA27/4AA25)
Maha Powerex C204GT-DC

Bought this charger based on ratings and comments on how well it charges NiMH to capacity and its conditioning cycle. It charges fine but I honestly haven't seen much difference in the flash recharge time on my camera (which is why I bought it in the first place). The one negative comment I have is that it only charges batteries in pairs... So when the battery on my MP3 player runs out, I need to waste a charge cycle on another battery to get the MP3 battery charged.