Olive Wood Children's Nativity Set (12 Pieces Set).

Good Batteries Bad Charger

This package (CEF14DX4N) includes four new Duracell 'Pre Charged' NiMH AA cells plus a simple charger. The batteries are similar to the Sanyo eneloop low-self-discharge cells. In fact based on their identical technical specifications and physical shapes of (+) and (-) terminals I am convinced that the Duracell Pre Charged AA is actually SANYO eneloop AA underneath a different wrapper. Therefore all the good things you heard about eneloop apply to Duracell 'Pre Charged' too.



The 'value charger' (CEF14) included here however is not a good value because:



1. It is a timer-based dumb charger meaning that it doesn't detect when cells are full charged. It simply charges at 360mA for 6 hours and turns off. You have to wait until your cells are fully exhausted before recharging otherwise they will be over-charged. With a 'smart' charger you may choose to top-off your rechargeable cells any time.



2. It can only charge either 2 or 4 AA cells in pairs. This is very inconvenient if you have appliances that require odd number of cells.



3. It can only charge two AAA cells and you cannot charge any more AA cells at the same time.



My advice is to get the CEF23DX4N package for just a few dollars more. It comes with four Duracell Pre Charged cells (2xAA + 2xAAA) but the included charger (CEF23) is far superior in every aspect. It even operates from your vehicle battery and doubles as an USB charger too.



[Update on Dec 24 2008]

I was only half-right when I boldly proclaimed that "Duracell Pre Charged AA are rebranded Sanyo eneloop cells" in my original review. It turns out that the first batch of Duracell AA cells I bought from Amazon are made in Japan and those are identical to eneloop (both mechanically and electrically). But lately I bought some more Duracell AA from a warehouse club. Those are made in China and they are identical to the Rayovac Hybrid.



[Update on Feb 15 2010]

I have confirmed that the new Duracell 'Value Charger' has several improvements over the old model:

- Works from 100-240V AC (instead of just 120V AC)

- Able to charge 4 AAA at a time (instead of just two)

- Semi-smart charge termination (stops when BOTH cells are fully charged)

The only remaining drawback is thet it charges in pairs only.More detail ...