Sony Cycle Energy Power Charger with 4 2500 mAh AA Batteries by Sony Batteries
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Digital camera reviews of Sony Cycle Energy Power Charger with 4 2500 mAh AA Batteries
Digital camera Review: Charger getting better, batteries same old same old
Summary: 3 Stars
SONY has updated this package ("Sony Cycle Energy Power Charger with 4 2500 mAh AA Batteries") recently. It now looks quite different from what was once shown on the Amazon product description page. For example, the old charger is silver in color, while the new charger is white. But beside colors, they looked almost identical, and even share the same model number (BCG34HLD). So is this really a new and improved model, or just a simple cosmetic update?
According to all the older Amazon spotlight reviews, the old model is a timer-based dumb charger. I'm happy to report that this is no longer the case. The new model is actually a 'smart' charger, meaning that it monitors each battery's voltage independently during charging, and stops when each cell is fully charged. In fact, it is very nicely designed for such a value-priced charger. Here are some things I like about this charger:
+ Charges 1-4 AA/AAA cells individually - no need to charge in pairs
+ Compact, one-piece design with fold-down AC plugs - no need for power cords or wall adapters.
+ Low-profile (just 1.1" thick) so it fits in camera bags easily.
+ Accepts 100-240V universal voltage.
+ Bad cell detection - indicator light flashes in case the resistance is too high (alkaline cell).
The average charging current is 360mA for each AA cell (actually 1.44A pulsed at 25% duty cycle), 140mA for AAA cell. That means it takes about 7-8 hours to fully recharge 2500mAh AA cells.
The included four SONY AA batteries, however, appear to be just the same old 2500mAh cells with a new shiny wrapper. This is very disappointing, because that means they will also suffer from rapid self-discharge problem after just a few cycles. So you always have to recharge those batteries the night before you need to use them (remember this is a slow charger). Keeping a set of batteries in the charger does not help, because this charger does not maintain a trickle charge after charging is done.
If you like this charger but don't want to take chances with those 2500mAh batteries, my recommendation is to get the "Sony Cycle Energy BCG34HLD4KN Power Charger with 4 Pre-Charged 2000 mAh AA Batteries" package instead. It contains the same BCG34HLD charger, but comes with four low-self-discharge cells similar to SANYO eneloop. It is even priced a few dollars lower as of this writing.
Digital camera Review: Charger is fine, but the batteries are already kapoot!
Summary: 2 Stars
The charger itself is just fine, but I gave my son and his wife this set for his Canon digital camera at Christmas 2006. The batteries are already kapoot and won't take a charge. It's only been 9 months. Not a very good track record. I have recharable batteries for my digital camera that have been going strong for more than three years now. They are a different brand that came with my Sony DSC73 camera. Go figure...Digital camera Review: Charger ok, but not the battery
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this pack from another online store. After using more than 1 year, the battery power seems to be not as good as before. Getting a chance to use Energixer, I can tell there is a big difference from the 1st day of using both. Engergixer can stay longer. After half year used, and no sign of any degrade in power capacity.Digital camera Review: Charger works great / batteries dont last :(
Summary: 4 Stars
I tried the charger and the batteries and i am very satisfied with the charger. However, batteries that came with the charger didn't last so much. I wasn't able to use them for more than 30 minutes in my digital camera (Olympus F300).
Anyway i didn't expect more from what I paid for.
Digital camera Review: Charging time
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this without knowing what the charging time was. I took a risk since it was at an affordable price and found out to my dismay that the charging time is as follows:1-4 batteries:
2100mAh Approx 7 hours
1700mAh Approx 6 hours
800mAh Approx 7 hours
700mAh Approx 6 hours
I haven't used the product yet...I just got it today. I don't know. I might return it for the Kodak 1 hour charger one for the same price (18.99) but the deal is gone for this product, it's back to 19.99. Anyways...pretty fast shipping though =)