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189 of 191 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fair price, January 7, 2010
This review is from: eneloop Power Pack Kit
BATTERIES: Eneloop's are the leader and you won't be disappointed about spending $33 on this kit. Hopefully you understand why these are so much better than normal rechargables, but if you haven't heard these are pre-charged. In fact, these are so good, that Eneloop-type is a more common name, rather than pre-charged.
What this means is that they hold their charge while in storage. Typical rechargables self-discharge rather quickly. My old style are almost always dead when I need them. But these hold most of their charge after a year in storage. This may not matter in devices that eat batteries like I eat Smarties, but in remote controls, clocks, doorbells, flashlights, etc, this long storage life is an absolute must.
WHAT YOU GET: You get 8 AA and sadly, only 2 AAA, a dual channel charger, and some C and D battery adapters. For the idiots that look at pictures and then press the buy button without reading, the C and D batteries are ADAPTERS that use the AA cells. I apologize for the negativity, but rating a fantastic product 1 star because the buyer didn't read ANY of the description really ticks me off.
ADAPTERS: I agree with the only 2-star rating, billmill was it? that the adapters are not perfect. This is not necessarily the adapters fault, but in my experience, is instead due to the huge variety in battery compartments. For example, my Maglite 3D uses a HUGE spring on the negative terminal. The end of this spring/coil is open, and so large that the AA battery by itself will actually fit inside the spring. I simply slipped a penny inside the coil, to cap that huge hole. Now it works with the adapters. Not the best solution, but it worked well for that one application. In my wireless door-bell, the negative terminals are small, normal sized springs and all is well.
Overall, this is my third type of adapter, and it is my favorite, and the best design/highest quality, plus the batteries are top notch.
CHARGER: I wish the charger would charge a single battery (vs a pair), but of the 7 chargers I have, only one (expensive) has that feature. The charger has a medium charge rate, 300mA for the AA, 150mA for the AAA, which is better for the batteries, but still charges in an acceptable (to me) amount of time. Most of my chargers are timed, this one is better because it monitors and will charge longer/shorter depending on how drained the batteries are. It also is a dual channel charger, so you can charge a really drained pair along side a lightly used pair.
I use multiple wireless flashes/Speedlites for photography, and recharge my batteries after each use. Seldom are the batteries fully discharged, and more than once my favorite timed charger has overcharged the batteries (hot, and stinky!). So having a charger in my arsenal that monitors the amount of charge is great. If you're a heavy user of rechargeables, having a La Crosse Technology BC-9009 or similar item is a must, but this is a great everyday charger.
OVERALL: Purchased individually, this kit would likely set you back $40-45 dollars. When you think petroleum jelly, you say Vaseline, right? Same with these batteries, when you think pre-charged, you say eneloop. They are just that good, that original. I highly recommend them.
TIP #1: If you don't need the adapters or the charger, but you DO want the pre-charged, make sure the other brand you are considering has a solid top, rather than a piece of cardboard. The solid tops (generally) are made in Japan, vs China. Eneloops have always been manufactured in Japan for the best quality control.
TIP #2: If you use a lot of rechargables, label them somehow: Set A, set B, or camera, remote, whatever. Try to keep these sets together, used together, charged together. It will possibly prolong the life, and also is very helpful if one of the cells eventually goes bad. Toss the bad one, and then re-purpose the remaining ones to less important jobs (remote controls), as they are likely on their last legs too.
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