Rechargeable Batteries

[brettw22]

Do any of you guys/gals use rechargeable AA batteries and if so, what brands have you found to be longer lasting than others?

My brother has a digital cam and he's won't consider anything other than rechargeables, so the only thing I've been looking at spec-wise is the mAh rating for each battery. The Duracell has a 2300 mAh rating which seems to be the highest, and I'm assuming means it would last longer than an 1800mAh rated battery, right?

[Polk65]

I have not experimented with brands, just buy the one's on sale. Last price paid was $4.50 for a 4 pack of off-brand 2000 mAh.

mAh explained:
Scroll down past the comparison chart to the section: "Watt-hours vs mAh and Simple Run Times".
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

Some batteries for sale here:
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/aa-nimh-batteries.php

A few recharger reviews:
http://steves-digicams.com/digi_accessories.html

[F1nut]

Duracell, there is no substitute.

[billbillw]

I've used the Lenmar NoMem Pro with their speed charger. Worked great. The Powerex products are always rated highly as well.

Although Duracell may make great alkalines, their rechargeables are nothing special. Energizer does however make some pretty good rechargeables.

[nadams]

I don't use name brands. I have two pair of Rayovac 1800mah NiMHs... those are the only name brands.

I then have 4 or 5 pair of "Digital" 2200mah NiMH, and one pair of Vanson 1800mah.

I have found no differences between them, except the "digital's last a little longer being of a higher mah. Biggest difference is rapid-charging vs slow charging. I have both chargers, and I still use my 14 hour charger because the batts last much longer that way.

For comparison, when I first got my digicam, (A Gateway DC-M42) I could take 11 pics before normal alkaline batts would die. I can now take nearly a full card (170pics) with 1800mah batts.

[dlew308]

I use batteries from http://batteryspace.com/

[faster100]

I use some cheap o's and some monster power batteries... both seem to work similiar and last a long time.. it depends what you use them for as to what power rating you would need.. if its a motor driven piece, camera with zoom lens, cam corder or just a simple light... or non moving item its not as critical.. and the batts will obviously last longer..

[chenj16]

i use 2800mah... they last long, you can even feel they weigh more on your hand.

[steveinaz]

POWEREX Batteries.

Example:

My Canon digital will take 9-12 pics with 2 AA duracells.

It will take 350-400+ with the powerex batteries. How much more proof do you need? Buy a Maya charger to go with them.

[brettw22]

Originally posted by steveinaz
POWEREX Batteries.

Example:

My Canon digital will take 9-12 pics with 2 AA duracells.

It will take 350-400+ with the powerex batteries. How much more proof do you need? Buy a Maya charger to go with them. You're not talking 350-400 on a single charge, are you Steve?

[steveinaz]

Yes! Powerex NiMH 2200's. They are awesome.

[Toxis]

I've had a few guys at work swear the Monster batteries are hard to beat. But we all know our feelings about the Evil Empire.

[nadams]

I've had a few guys at work swear that Bose is hard to beat.... would you listen to them? :D

[faster100]

I get 900 pics on my monsters :D

joking, But who takes 350 -400 pictures and keeps track? LOL of the battery life.. picture taking Mo-fo's

[shepx2]

I have a set of Power EX and a Maha charger as well, and they are they blow-away the Monster Powercells I had before.

[Toxis]

Originally posted by nadams
I've had a few guys at work swear that Bose is hard to beat.... would you listen to them? :D Hey, I like the 901's when properly setup... so why can't monster make ONE thing worth while? :p

[faster100]

I'll fully charge my monster shit bags and see how many pics it will take, random snap snap snap pics.. I'd actually be interested to know what they and others "actually" do....

[Polk65]

The 4 cheap AA's I bought at Microcenter.com suck. They are called Ultralast with "up to 1,000 charges" but are heading south with under 50 charges.

For the first year I got at least a month's heavy daily use in a universal remote. Then they started lasting 3 weeks, 2 weeks, and now about 15 minutes.

I'm going for a name brand this time.

[Mike682]

In my experience, Energizers are great rechargeables. I use Energizer AA 2500 mah batts and the Energizer 15min charger. These things last a very long time in my Canon A620.

Highly Recommend.

Also, this is a great site for battery information:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htm

Tells you when to charge batts, different types of rechargeables, etc. Very informative.

Mike

[dorokusai]

I use Radio Shack rechargeables for work items. I'm going to transition some into the house eventually as they work great.