La Crosse Technology BC1000 Alpha Power Battery Charger

Edited 11-5-2012: Please see my edit shown below If you own handfuls of rechargeable Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries like I do you are always looking to extend the life of the batteries and trying to figure out when is the time to buy new ones. This battery charger is your answer to how to charge, refresh, fix and test the batteries while getting important technical data that is unavailable from almost all other chargers. I have attached a simple video to try to demonstrate the basic functionality of this product. I had to cut it short as I am only allowed to post a video of a certain size so you should read this written review for some details that are missing in the video. I am also sorry for the quality of the video in some places in the film. You have to greatly reduce the video quality to make it fit onto Amazon and what was perfect on the computer screen is fuzzy in some places on the web site. The charger can be used as a simple charger and I charged 5 sets of batteries this way so far. I also pulled out a set of 6 old NiCd batteries that are over 10 years old to test the charger's ability to refresh and rejuvenate old batteries. Two of the six batteries were simply beyond all hope and they are destined to be recycled. At least now I know that they are beyond recovery. Three of the remaining batteries reached over 70% for their original functionality and the last battery actually exceeded the original specs for mAh of capacity. I used the refresh mode to work on these batteries. Update: I reran the refresh more on the four NiCD batteries. After one more refresh cycle two of the batteries exceeded their 100% rating. I removed those two and reran the refresh mode again and the last two reached 100% of their rating. This is impressive as these batteries are over 10 years old and hadn't been recharged for over 6 years. This product delivers what it promises. This product features excellent performance and provides battery performance data that you don't normally get to see. I have already saved four Ni-Cd batteries and found two to dispose of. I hope the video is helpful to you. I love how this product performs and the quality of the charger, This is a 5 star product and I recommend it to you. BC1000 Main Features: * Works with all Ni-Cd and Ni-MH AA and AAA batteries * You can mix AA and AAA batteries at the same time * LCD multimeter displays each individual battery capacity when charging is complete if you discharge them or test them. * Four modes of operation, Charge, Discharge, Refresh and Test. * Will not over charge batteries, switches to trickle charge when charging is complete. * Has overheating protection to prevent overcharging. * You can set different charging rate for each battery as well as mode of operation. Max current set by first battery cell location. * Selectable charging rate ranging from 200 ma, 500 ma, 700 ma, 1000 ma, 1500 ma and 1800 ma. * 1500 ma and 1800 ma are only available when battery channels 1 and/or 4 are used. * 200 ma is the default charging rate. * Measures and displays the voltage of each battery. * Measures the charged capacity in mAh or Ah for each battery. * Keeps track of charging or discharging time in hours and minutes. * Detects damaged batteries. BC1000 accessories included in this kit: * Charger * AC power wall plug rated at 3 VDC and 4 Amps. * Four AA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries rated at 2600 mAh. * Four AAA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries rated at 1000 mAh. * Nylon carrying bag for charger and all accessories. * 4 C size adapters to make the AA batteries C size * 4 D size adapters to hold the C size adapters and AA batteries to make them D size. * Small owner's manual but download the one from the Web. It is much better. BC1000 modes: * Charge Mode - Charge each individual battery at your selected current rate. * Discharge Mode - First discharge and then charge to remove the memory effect of rechargeable batteries. Batteries discharge at ½ the rate at which they charge. * Refresh mode - Performs multiple discharge and recharge cycles (up to 20) to refresh old batteries. Stops when the batteries are no longer improving their capacity. * Test mode - Fully charge, then discharge and then fully charge to measure the capacities of batteries in mAh or Ah. If battery contains more than 1, 999 mAh the display shifts to Ah display like 2.6 Ah. * Each battery location can be set into a different mode and charging rate. The battery in the first slot will set the max charging limit for all slots but you can lower the charging rate for other battery slots. BC1000 Notes: * Use the charging table to select the maximum charging rate for different sizes of batteries and consider the amount of time you have before you need to use the batteries. The higher the current, the faster the charge time but the harder it may on the batteries life span/ * 200 ma is the recommended charging current to extend the life of the batteries. * Damaged batteries will only display "null" * Definitely download the instruction manual from the web site, it is MUCH better than the manual included in the box! It is 48 pages long with small pages. Update: 11-5-2012 I just love this charger and as an engineer it just helps to answer all the questions I have about my rechargeable batteries. I do have to comment though about the batteries that comes with the kit. The AA size is slightly larger in diameter than normal sized AA batteries and they do not fit into most devices I would use them in. They do not fit into my wireless computer keyboard or into my Maglight flashlights. You couldn't force them into some items if you tried and if you did you would never get them back out. Just don't count on those batteries being of good use to you as you will have to select what they fit into and what they won't fit into. It is sort of sad, the best charger I have ever purchased with batteries that are not of much value. I still recommend this charger as one of the best available and I love it to use with my Eneloop and Sony rechargeable batteries. Update 11-16-2012 I returned my batteries to La Crosse and they sent me replacements that fit into my flashlights and electronic devices. The support was helpful and they took care of the problem. I commend them for standing behind their products.

There will be two different types of readers here. One that just wants to know if this is the one to buy, and how to use it, and the other that wants to know why they should buy it, and the information they need to get the most out of it. I'll start with the former. Just tell me what I need to know. 1. The BC-1000 is the right one to buy because it has what is necessary to address the needs of maintaining nickel-based batteries, and when you consider the 8 batteries and useful accessories that come with it, it's as good a deal as the BC-700. The BC-700 has the same abilities as the BC-1000 to maintain NiMH batteries, but not quite as much current capacity. Anything less than the BC-700 doesn't have what it takes to properly maintain NiMH batteries. 2. Basic Operation Charge: (Charges) - Put batteries in - Plug in. *Shows Full when finished Exercise/Discharge: (Drains, and Charges) - Put batteries in - Plug in. - Select one of the Compartment Numbers - Press the mode button until you see Discharge *Shows Full when finished Recondition: (Drains and Charges until capacity no longer increases) - Put batteries in - Plug in. - Select one of the Compartment Numbers - Press the mode button until you see Discharge Refresh *Shows Full when finished. Some batteries may go through more cycles than others and take more time. Test: (Charges, drains to measure capacity, Charges) - Put batteries in - Plug in. - Select one of the Compartment Numbers - Press the mode button until you see Charge Test *Flashes between Full and cell capacity when finished. OK, now tell me now why I should buy it with all of the details. 1. The need: NiCd and NiMH batteries both have problems with "memory", which is crystalline formation. The positive nickel plate, a metal that is shared by both chemistries, is responsible for the crystalline formation. With an anode in fresh condition, the hexagonal cadmium hydroxide crystals are about 1 micron in cross section, exposing large surface area to the liquid electrolyte for maximum performance. When the crystals grow to 50 to 100 microns, they insulate large portions of the active material from the electrolyte. After reconditioning, the crystals are reduced to 3 to 5 microns, an almost 100% restoration. In addition to the crystal-forming activity on the positive plate, the NiCd also develops crystals on the negative cadmium plate. Charging partially discharged or charged batteries is what causes the problem. Because both plates are affected on NiCd batteries, they require more frequent discharge cycles than the NiMH. Another advantage of NiMH is they have twice the power density and the same voltage. NiCd batteries in regular use and on standby mode (sitting in a charger for operational readiness) should be exercised once per month and NiMH every 3 months. The exercise drains the battery to ~1V/cell, and then charges it back to full. Between these exercise cycles, no further service is needed. The battery can be used with any desired user pattern without the concern of memory. However, if no exercise is applied to a NiCd for three months or more, the crystals become difficult to break up. In such a case, reconditioning is required. Recondition is a slow, deep discharge that removes the remaining battery energy by draining the cells to a voltage threshold below 1V/cell. During recondition, the current must be kept low to prevent cell reversal. It will continue to perform this cycle until no more capacity is being gained by doing so, which means batteries could be in there for quite a while if they are badly crystalized. To achieve long life from these rechargeables we need to: - Not leave a nickel-based battery charging after full charge is reached. - Perform periodic exercises on the cells. - Recondition cells when necessary. - Avoid elevated battery temperatures. - When batteries are connected serially, it helps to group them by capacity. Chargers that lack independent cell charging, or without the microprocessor controlled exercise and reconditioning cycles, simply do not have the capabilities necessary to maintain nickel-based rechargeable batteries. Thus, it goes without saying, you will not be able to achieve a positive ROI from your NiMH batteries with the dumb chargers that frequently come packaged with batteries. 2. Why the BC-1000? - It can provide the cycles necessary to properly maintain the batteries. Besides Charge, it provides Discharge/Exercise, Recondition, and Test to measure the cell's mah. - The default current value is conservative for any battery so you can simply place the batteries in it to charge, or select discharge/exercise, or recondition, and not change the current. One that defaults to 1000 ma for AAA batteries is not a good situation when you have non-technical people sharing the charger. - If you need batteries charged in a hurry, it will do 4 at a 1000 ma, or 2 at 1800 ma, and has thermal protection for the batteries. - It comes with 8 batteries, 4 AA, and 4 AAA, and 4 D-Cell adapters. (In a household that has only Li-Ion and NiMH, they are handy for the air mattress pump, which is the only thing we have that uses D-Cells anymore) - You can see what is going on with each cell without cycling through screens. - It doesn't require a degree in computer mysteries to use it. I was initially torn between this and the Maha Powerex Wizard One MH-C9000. The first advantage of the La Crosse BC700 and BC1000 is you can see at a glance how all 4 batteries are doing without cycling through a menu, and just push the button next to each battery to cycle through the readings or set cycle. This is important because even batteries from the same package never finish near the same time. Thus, you can pop out the ones that are finished and use them, and put others in their place to be recharged. The second advantage is it defaults to 200 mah. That setting won't won't hurt AAAs, and many times you don't care how long the AAs take if you put them in there and take the out the next day. Doing even a 500 mah charge on AAAs will overheat them to where they will never get their capacity back I found out. I experimented with the Panasonic 550 mah batteries that come in cordless phones, which averaged about 350 mah. In an effort to see if "juicing" them with a 250 mah discharge and a 500 mah charge would help, I ended up losing capacity I was never able to get back. - The D-Cell adapters that came with it that I didn't think I would ever use I needed the first day. I witnessed first hand the huge advantage a low resistance battery technology has over a high resistance battery technology in situations where there is a lot of current flow, such as the 4 D-Cell electric pump that blows up air mattresses. For high current draw operations, the alkaline battery internally consumes much of its own energy before it ever leaves the battery to do useful work, much like a resistor loses watts of electricity to heat while providing resistance. Alkalines' initial voltage advantage of 1.5v vs. 1.2v falls off real quick. You can hear it in the pump motor. As you may know, a slow turning centrifugal air pump doesn't pump air, so the usable life of the D size alkalines in this situation is less than AA NiMHs, plus the NiMH batteries are rechargeable. The Alkalines shine for low current draw where their high resistance doesn't matter, and their cost works only if you buy in volume. Low current draw is the ONLY way Alkalines get anywhere near their rated mah capacity. For a flashlight, the one advantage the Alkalines would have is you could milk a very dim light for a lot of hours where the NiMHs simply stop. - The batteries that come with it aren't junk. The triple AAA 1000 mah batteries clocked in at 898, 939, 970, an 1010 mah. The 2600 mah AA batteries measured 2060, 2090, 2170, and 2270. 3. Why not the BC-1000? The only problem is documentation. The documentation of its features is spread all over and not always accurate. The instructions above and the truth table below are the clearest means to learn how to use the BC-700 and BC-1000. Truth Table: (This sounds complicated until you use it a few times and then it becomes logical and you don't need to remember any of this.) - If no Compartment Number key was pressed and is flashing, the Current, Display, and Mode key input affect all of the occupied compartments. Sometimes you will need to press one of the Compartment Number keys to make changes. - When you place a battery into a compartment, you have 8 seconds to change the current. If you change the Display or Mode for that compartment during that 8 seconds, the 8 seconds starts over. However, once the 8 seconds expires, you cannot change the Current without physically removing the battery or unplugging the device. Oddly, after the 8 seconds, you can still change the mode. - When there is a battery located in compartment 1 and/or 4, and none in 2 and/or 3, max. charging current: 1800 mA. - If you have a battery only in position 1 or 4, when you increase the charge current above 1000 ma, the null indicator for positions 2 and 3 will turn off, and the charger will no longer recognize batteries placed in position 2 and/or 3. - When there is a battery located in compartment 2 and/or 3, max. charging current for every compartment is: 1000 mA - If you put a battery in any compartment, and allow the 8 second timeout for Current to expire, oddly, any batteries you add to any compartment after that cannot select a current above that current level. - The charge current level is fixed at twice what the discharge mode. - When you set the max current for discharge mode, the max you can select is 500 ma, no matter which or how many compartments have batteries in them, which in turn allows a max charge current of 1000 ma. Summary: Maha Powerex Wizard One MH-C9000 Advanced Battery Charger and Analyzer has its advantages, but once the tech coolness wears off, and you are just using it to charge and recondition batteries, the La Crosses are handier to use and requires no understanding of anything to use it as just a charger. Of the La Crosses, the BC-700 is the cheapest one that has all of the capabilities required to properly maintain rechargeable nickel-based batteries. When you consider the BC-1000 only costs $16.00 more, and comes with 4 AAs and 4 AAAs, you are already at the same price as the BC-700. The BC-1000 also has more reserve charging capacity, 4 D cell adapters that you might use more than you think, and a nylon pouch to keep things from getting lost. While from a practical use standpoint the BC-700 is just as capable as the BC-1000, all around, the BC-1000 was cheaper, and brought some accessories with it that turned out to be more valuable than I had anticipated. Update: It's December 1, 2013, and I still can't think of a NiMH battery charger that I would rather have. I've had zero problems with it. What I wrote back then makes just as much sense today. Update: It's February 11, 2014 and the price has gone up on the BC-1000, so the gap is no longer $16, it's $30. This changes the value proposition between the BC-700 and BC-1000 significantly, since the price difference is now greater than the value of the batteries and accessories that come with it. The BT-C2000 Battery Charger Tester Analyzer NiMH NiCd AA AAA C D 12 Volt Powered starts to look attractive with its 1000 mah capacity and priced at only $13 more than the BC-700. It comes with two adapters to enable you to charge real C and D rechargeable batteries. I'd rather have that than the nylon bag and C and D adapters where you put AAs inside an adapter and still only have the power of AAs. With the remaining $17 I saved, I can buy 8 brand name LSD NiMh batteries of the size I want. Moreover, the BT-C2000 could rig it to run off my car battery, since the AC adapter output is 12V DC. *** ALSO *** I noticed jjceo did a video review on the BC-1000 here. It enables perspective buyers to be able to grasp the concepts of the BC-1000 and BC-700 interface WAY faster than reading the manual so any usage tips you read afterwards will make a lot more sense.

Well this is great unit. It did work as described. However as a non technologist the manual is very difficult. I gave 4 stars as manual needs help. The FAQ on their website do not exist, There is not much help for non electrical engineers. Yet it works well. As always the product arrived before expected. Since instructions were poor I placed batteries in as described. You must do all 4 inside within 8 seconds. Does not say what happens if fail to do so. Also says need slots 1 and 4 used, so again if takes more than 8 seconds what happens? So being male adult just stuck in some old batteries that did not seem to charge and pressed "mode" Without any flowchart of options I just let what happen happen. They included 4 new "AA" and "AAA" batteries so saw nothing wrong. This manual really challenged the first Cisco router manual I dealt with in the 1980s. But then I was not retired and had to take time to understand. I also had had experience installing Proteon Routers. Today retired, also male and reading instructions is not in my genes. Once started you get to wait. The 4 batteries I chose took between 4 hours and 2 days to reach full. Again no statement on removing when full. However seems some restrictions as states 1 and 4 slots need to be used. I left all batteries in until all said full. The display feature is very nice. It takes come times through to really understand results. Again a flowchart would have helped. But the time feature was wonderful. I went to LaCrosse Technology for FAQ. They only say coming. That did not help at all. Also be careful typing as if forget the "e" on Lacrosse you do not get to there site. I guess age and eye sight affected my first attempts. Do download the full manual as better. However without more than pushing buttons it worked. My batteries are charged. Now will try to understand how to set the charging rate. While the charger has many options for a person just wanting to charge batteries it works much better than my former unit. It is expensive but works. As I tell friends a cheap bad meal is more expensive than expensive great meal. This BC-1000 is great charger. I recommend reeading several of the reviews on Amazon as very good and did provide guidance to me. I

This charger is safe for my eneloops, but it also surprised me by making my older Energizer Recharge batteries much more handy. The Recharge batteries don't hold a charge in the drawer very long (why I switched to eneloops), but I can set four of them in a La Cross and trickle charge them so whenever I need them, they're ready! No more dying flashlights lined up on the counter waiting for an over night charge. (Now with two BC-1000 I can have 8 batteries on trickle charge) But let me give some tangible key points why I love this charger so much: PROS: 1) It's SMALL and COMPACT -> not as compact as an Apple charger, but about the same size as a "dumb" charger. Light as a feather. 2) The display and electronics are a ton of fun! You can view anything you want with a simple tap - current voltage, time spent charging each battery, mAH added to each battery - and the differences between batteries are dramatic! 3) It's simple to operate. I only recharge batteries, so I just hit one button to select the initial current. It does all sorts of stuff, but I haven't needed it. 4) Accessories - it comes with 4 NimH rechargeables and some C and D adapters, plus a cool carry case I don't use. But it imputes awesomeness. 5) Awesome, incredible customer service! Two months into it, one of mine went haywire. I contacted La Cross, and they immediately replaced it on RMA. I did have to pay shipping to them, but otherwise, not so bad. CONS: 1) It *would* be nice if there was a selectable backlight to the display. However, I found this a transient wish. Initially, seeing the battery stats was so cool I wanted to be able to see it all the time, even at night. Now I'm fine seeing it just when other lights are on. 2) Changing the charge current takes some acclimation. All the batteries get the same charge current. You have a short time when initially putting in the batteries in which to hit the current button to select a charge rate greater than 200mA. (That default is actually the healthiest, but I punch it up to 500mA). The manual says you have 8 seconds. It seems you get a bit more than that, maybe 30 seconds, but it's a bit stressful. Else you have to unplug it and replug it and you can then set the current again. Not a big deal, but can't in good conscience call that a good user interface. 3) I still need to keep one dumb charger, because for the Energizer RECHARGE batteries (but not with the eneloops), when they get used up, their voltage is too low and with a couple of my oldest Energizers, the La Cross doesn't see the battery (NULL). (Other reviewers sometimes noted similar things with old batteries. ) But I found just 30 minutes in a dumb charger raises the charge to the point where the LaCross can then take over, so I don't need a different smart charger to handle this case. (I cheerfully recharged two of my oldest NIMH Energizer batteries recently - ones my daughter drew hearts on - and they worked beautifully.) This was *THE COOL* batter charger for me. I recommended it to all my friends. I chose it over the other leading charger because of it's compact size, lack of a blinding blue light, and simple user interface. I have never had the slightest heating issues with the batteries - it does its job flawlessly. Most batteries charge really, really fast, probably because Nimhs tend to look empty early in devices because they have a lower scaled voltage... IN a dumb charger, it still cooks them for 8 hours, but in the Nimh, it's more like 10-90 minutes and they're topped up again. If having something be cool high tech makes it more enjoyable to you, I can't recommend this more. LAST COMMENT: I tried to decide whether to get the BC-700, BC-900, or BC-1000, since honestly, there's no features I need in the BC-1000 that aren't in the BC-700. I finally decided that since the BC-1000 was the latest model and had new circuitry to prevent overheating, why risk it for a $20 price difference at most? IMPORTANT UPDATE: Thanks so much to the person who commented on this review with a tip that wasn't in the instructions: YOU CAN CHARGE INDIVIDUAL BATTERIES AT DIFFERENT CURRENTS! I tested it out, and here's the way it seems to work: 1) Put in one or more batteries and set the current on them. 2) Wait 8 seconds - you will see the display for those batteries flash. At this point, the current for those batteries is set. 3) Put in one or more additional batteries - you can now set the current on those new batteries independent from the first. 4) Wait until the new batteries flash, then repeat! This is a cool feature. I found it a little annoying waiting for each battery to "set" - just as found it stressful to insert all batteries before the current "set" - need to come up with some button press to "seal in" the current selection. UPDATE: Much thanks to the person who commented on this review with information not in the manual: YOU CAN SET BATTERY CHARGE CURRENT INDIVIDUALLY! (I tested it out.) Turns out the process I described above works with one or more batteries at a time. After an initial battery or set is in for 8 seconds, the display flashes, telling you the charging current is now "set" for those batteries. Insert additional batteries at this point and you can independently set their charging current in the same manner, and continue... Cool feature, but again, wish you could just press a button for "freeze charge current and continue"...

Just about anything on the market advertising that it is a battery charger will charge a battery. Not many will tell you the capacity of your battery and/or attempt to refresh your rechargeable batteries, like the La Crosse chargers! Rechargeable batteries have always been frustrating for me to use because they seem to lose capacity after relatively few charge and discharge cycles. With a typical dumb charger or even most smart chargers, there is no indication of the health of the cells other than the often subjective, perceived discharge time in a device. With most chargers, when the battery seems discharged, you stick it in the charger and wait for the light to change. There is no indication of charging rate, cell voltage, or overall cell health (capacity in mAh). The La Crosse charger changes all that. This is really a feature rich charger and more powerful (feature-wise) than any charger I have ever owned. If many other chargers are "smart", this one is GENIUS! I have only had it for a day and it is already proving entertaining as I check its progress in reviving cells from around 200 mAh capacity to over 1600 mAh! And it is still refreshing those old NiMH (claimed 2000 mAh) batteries that were in a box of batteries headed to a recycling center. Up to now I have only had two ways to test cells. One was to charge the cells up and run them in a device, noting (or usually estimating) the discharge time. The other was to set up a known resistance and a couple of multi-meters to track the current and voltage over time as the cells discharge, then plotting the data and calculating the capacity from the discharge curve. Both were cumbersome and time consuming. The La Crosse charger does it all automatically! GENIUS! I can think of a few improvements that would make this a more user friendly charger, but I would not change the functionality! I would like to see a "Select" or "GO" button to start the charging/test/refresh cycle, rather than having to plug the unit in and cycle through the functions and charging rate within the 8-second start-up window. It would be nice if the LCD had a backlight with a momentary switch so that you could check the progress in a dim room without a flashlight or turning on the lights in the room. With 24 batteries to refresh, I would like to have more charging bays, but I could always buy another charger to fix that (and I might!). I would like to have this functionality for C and D cells as well as CR123a and other odd batteries. Lastly, it would be nice if the charger came with a dual power supply or second supply for use in a vehicle. And my ultimate wish would be to have a USB interface and a piece of software to really geek out on the discharge curve of each cell! As it is, this is already the best, most functional and most advanced charger I have found.

The Good - The BC 1000 is well made with a well thought out button lay out. - Switching modes and accessing all the functionality is easy - It comes with a bag to keep everything together. - So far, it charges GOOD quality batteries without any issues The Bad - Two of the La Crosse AA and AAA batteries included in my box were defective showing up as NULL in the charger. - After jump starting the NULL batteries with a dumb charger, they were then recognized but got very hot during charging. - All the La Cross batteries could not charge beyond 1.34v, 1.38v and instead got very very hot to the extent I could smell some plastic leaving me no choice but to terminate the charging to avoid heat damage to the main unit. However, my own batteries (Eneloops AA and AAA) charged with minimal heat build up to 1.46v / 1.52v as expected. - The La Crosse batteries are substandard, both the AA and AAA cannot hold much charge ( confirmed by running a charge/discharge tests ). They fall far short of their respective 1000/2600mah capacities - La Crosse support cannot support international customers such as me so I either have to return the entire product to Amazon or accept the loss of paying for defective batteries. - Overpriced given the batteries included are defective Recommendations I read very mixed reviews about this charger but decided to chance it as it has a nice form factor and good functionality. Having used it for a few days, I do like the charger but the defective batteries and zero international customer support leave me wishing I had gone for something else with a higher Amazon rating. Should you buy the BC 1000 ? NO if you expect everything in the box to work perfectly and customer support to be there for you. There are much better alternatives out there.

Very nice charger. It charges four basically dead 2300mah energizers in under 3 hours at the 1000mah mode. Much quicker if partially discharged. The Time chargers ruin your batteries. This doesn't cook them like the old energizer 15 minute charger I had. THE OTHER BIG REASON to buy this... the refresh mode. I had a bag of about 10 year old rechargeable Duracell 2650mah and Energizer 2500mah that were not working and after 2 times of refresh mode some were back to 80% of original capacity, more than enough for toys or beard trimmers. I found out which out of a set of 4 older batteries were duds (reason I stopped using them) and were able to salvage the other 3 for reuse. They were all in a bag to be recycled before this. The refresh mode is great for brand new batteries as they don't reach their rated capacity for apparently as much as 20+ charges, and the charger deals with this for you rather than having your first 20 uses be cut short. Only negative I found was it labeled recently fully discharged batteries as dead/unuseable. (Left in walkie for several days with the switch on) If I let them sit for a few hours off load they would rebound and then it would charge. Deeply discharged batteries could be brought up to the .9V? minimum by taking to paperclips and linking them to a recently charged to (1.5V) AA battery. The batteries that came with it are junk and mah rated worse than my 10yo energizers/all over after being put on 2 refresh cycles. The C/D adapters work. They fall off the battery easy but I tried them in a 3 D cell flashlight and it ran as promised.

This thing is very techhie, works like a champ, gives you more information than anyone ever needs about your batteries while charging... Was delivered early, worked without fuss, came with a case, extra parts and four rechargable batteries. More buttons, bells and whistles than necessary, but does what it should. Knocked off one point because it has a separate wall-wart... does not just plug directly into the wall. This makes it a little less portable if you want a charger in your camera case on the road... all-in-all, a great product, includes a discharge/recharge mode to give your rechargables new life. Edit - two years later, the separate power adapter bit my butt... It looks so much like other adapters I own, especially without my reading glasses - I plugged the wrong adapter into my expensive, over-the-top charger and I FRIED THE THING! A very expensive error... I was a little surprised there was no reset button on the unit, so it went into the trash. :(