|  |
| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 FINALLY A RELIABLE CHARGER! Mar 20, 2010
This charger finally answers my requirements to constantly charge AA & AAA batteries. I operate several cameras and radios requiring these batteries and it has always been difficult to keep track of what charging state each of them is in. This charger allows one to keep batteries topped up until needed and gives one an accurate report on the condition of each battery. BR
 Best charger I've owned except... Mar 20, 2010
BC-700 has the advanced features that I like: discharge, refresh, test, and charge each battery individually. 100-240VAC input makes worry free for international travel. I chose it over BC-900 because people's complains regarding BC-900 melting issue, I only use the lowest charging current anyway.
Desire this little gadget has more features:
1. "Just charge this cell for 1 minute" function
Rechargeable sometimes are reverse charged when work in series with other still-full rechargeable batteries. Even it's reserve charged a little, or at 0V, it's still good. In this case BC-700 refuses to charge it. I use another 'dummy' charger to charge the 0V or reverse charged battery for 1 minute so that it has about positive 1V voltage, then BC-700 can take it.
If BC-700 has this function, it'll save more batteries. They are not dead yet.
2. "Test bulb" function
In one of my old charger, there's a little chamber where a battery can be put in, then a button is pressed to see if it still can light up a little bulb, meaning it still can supply about 200mA current. This is more useful than using a multimeter/voltmeter to measure its voltage, since sometimes even the voltage is 1.25V, it may not be able to supply higher current because of its high internal Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR). Since BC-700 can measure battery's voltage, adding a little bulb will make it perfect for verifying a question battery.
this works! Mar 17, 2010
everything about this is good. the only problem is that it identified some bad batteries and i had to buy more now everything is good. wont deal with rechargeable akali's
Like it Mar 14, 2010
I believe heat is the enemy when charging so I use the lower settings,on the 500mAh setting the AAs were barely warm to the touch,I have only used the 200mAh setting for my AAAs,the 700mAh setting remains unused,I won't use that unless some good reason comes up and I can be right there watching. So far so good,no meltdowns like I've heard of.
I've only had it for a few weeks.I've refreshed 8 old AAs,8 new eneloop AAs,plus,10 old AAAs,only 2 AAAs to go then I can simply charge them when needed till it's time to refresh again.It's nice to have the smart charger options instead of that ultra-fast charger I was using.
The 4 star rating I gave is because of the *possible* meltdown issue that I've only read about,I have not experienced it myself.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
An MUST to make the most out of your rechargeable batteries!! Mar 11, 2010
I've had this charger for a little over 2 weeks and it's already proven itself many times over! I hate spending money on batteries all the time, especially getting rechargeable ones that are supposed to last but all of a sudden, are no longer holding the charge they once did. This charger has resurrected those batteries for me!
First off, I see some people criticizing this charger as needing an "expert user" which is a complete exageration. Is this charger more complicated than just popping the batteries in? Yes, but once you understand how it works, it's dead simple to use. The biggest thing to get used to is having to select the charging mode and current upon inserting the batteries. It only took me doing things wrong twice before I figured out what to do. For those used to just popping in batteries to a charger, this will take some getting used to but is worth it for the life you get back from your batteries.
I have to say, I love having a digital display on this charger. With most normal chargers, you just get a light telling you that it's done charging, but you have no idea how much "charge" actually is in your batteries. With this one, you know exactly how much capacity your batteries now have. My older batteries, had lost so much charging room, in many cases they had less than 50% of the original 2500mAh. After running "Discharge/Refresh", all of these batteries were brought to over 2000mAh, some almost all the way back to 100%.
Now, as you'll see other people review, don't buy this expecting to get a "quick charge" out of your batteries. As with most things in life, to do it right takes time and that holds true to this charger. On the default setting (which is also the lowest, 200mAh) you can expect to take over 12 hours to charge a AA from a completely discharged state. Bumping it up to the highest setting (750mAh) drops that down to under 4 hours. Yes, it's still longer than the "quick charger" you got with your batteries, but look at where those batteries are now.
Plain and simple, this charger is WELL worth the price in the longevity it will provide your batteries. Use it wisely and not only will your batteries last longer in your devices, you'll keep them longer because of it!
|
| | |
