Panasonic BQ390A/2PK NiMH Battery and Charger

by Panasonic

Product Details

• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008W2L3
• Item model number: BQ390A/2PK
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 11, 2006

Product Description

2 AA Nickel Metal Hydride Rechargeable Batteries / 1950mAH Each Battery / Smart Charger Charges Batteries in 2 Hours

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Charger Set, July 4, 2004

By 

Jack Wang (Waterloo, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic BQ390A/2PK NiMH Battery and Charger (Electronics)

The BQ-390 charger, with its pearlescent white finish and simple lines, is an attractively designed charger. If you were giving this as a gift to your girl friend, it will not look so geeky as the other Sony, Kodak or Maxell chargers you can find on Amazon.com.

Like the Sony Power Charger, it has advanced circuitry inside to monitor charging through temperature, voltage drop, or the cell's internal resistance, so that you'll get fuller charges and less damage from overcharging of simpler chargers. In other words, your NiMH cells will give you better performance as well as a longer service life. This breed of chargers also charge each cell individually, rather than in pairs. Less sophisticated chargers charge in series, so one cell in the pair may not receive full charge, while the other, worse, is overcharged. NiMH, unlike older NiCd's, does not tolerate overcharging. Because they have 3 times the capacity of NiCd's to refill, all at under 2 hours, you can see why chargers are so expensive, and why they're worth it.

Panasonic has recently shifted their cell production from Japan to China, so you might get Chinese cells in the bundle. Still, Sanyo and Panasonic are the 2 major NiMH makers, and you can't go wrong with either. (Sony and GE NiMH cells are all made by Sanyo.)

This charger will only accept 1~2 AAA cells at a time (but 1~4 for AA cells). If you need to charge 4 AAA at a time, look to the Sony Power Charger elsewhere on Amazon.com. It bundles 4 NiMH AA cells made by Sanyo for Sony, but charges more slowly, twice as long as this Panasonic. But that is also why it's somewhat cheaper.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Panasonic AA charger - small, light, worldwide charger., January 3, 2005

By 

G. Diseth - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic BQ390A/2PK NiMH Battery and Charger (Electronics)

This 4 AA cell charger is the smallest and lightest charger I have seen. It slips easily into a camera bag pocket. It has built-in fold out AC plug prongs, thus, no cord or power brick.

This is not clearly documented, but I have tested the fact it will operate on 120 or 240V.. all you need is a travel adapter, no foreign converter needed. Just make sure it states, 'FOREIGN AC100-240V' on the label underneath before you use it overseas. This charger is not a 'dumb' transformer based constant voltage device, but a smart charger using active electronics. No heavy transformer!

The charger will charge 4 cells in 3 to 4 hours, depending on cell capacity and state of charge. This is a 'smart' charger. It will charge at higher current, getting the cells moderately warm, not dangerously so. When it detects near maximum charge, it switches to trickle mode, evidenced by the fact that the cells stay just barely warm, even several hours after the charge is 'complete.' When first plugged in, the green LED blinks to indicate regular charging, then changes to solid green when charged, and in trickle mode. I don't like leaving cells on trickle charge longer than overnight, so I unplug it. When I'm ready to use the batteries, I plug the charger back in, and the charge tops off after a few minutes (LED blinks for a few minutes, then goes solid when charger detects full charge).

Note that Panasonic states in the instructions, and on the charger label, to "Only use Panasonic batteries, other types may burst." In defiance of this statement, I am using Energizer 2100 mAH cells with perfect results.

I'm sure this is a marketing ploy to sell more Panasonic batteries, as any reasonable person knows that all NiMH batteries are basically the same. In fact, its charging current of 550mA is similar to other fast chargers on the market. Also, the instruction sheet states you can charge regular NiCD as well as NiMH, and gives a chart of charge times for each type and capacity.

I recommend this charger.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best NiMH battery charger ever, February 14, 2006

By 

CyberSimba (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic BQ390A/2PK NiMH Battery and Charger (Electronics)

I purchased this charger from BJs for about $20 and also received $5 mail in rebate. This charger came with 6 AA batteries and 2 AAA batteries. I love this charger and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Its a great charger for great price. Following are the points to consider:

-It is so tiny that you can carry it anywhere with you
-Works on 110-220v so you can use it anywhere in the world
-It has a green light that keeps blinking once you connect it for charging and the green light automatically stops blinking as soon as the charging is complete. You don't have to worry if you keep it connected for longer than you need to.
-Charger's connector pins that connect to the mains supply, flip in and out of the charger. This way the connector pins don't stick out when you are not using it.
-Charges really fast. The batteries I keep on using get charged in just one hour. Charging time, however, depends on the batteries you have. You can check the manual of batteries you purchase.

Out of different types of chargers I used and tried to shop for this was the best both in terms of quality and price.

cheers