Great Value

Just standard AAAs nothing special there - but the price really can't be beat here as long as you have free shipping. Also Amazon usually has a promotion going on for batteries where you get something like $10 off for buying $25 dollars or more - so that really sweetens the deal.More detail ...

Rechargeable and always ready

It is very convenient to have spare rechargeable battereies on hand. This way you always have fresh batteries for your electronics. I am currently in Iraq and I use these batteries for my headlamp and Bose noise cancelling headphones. These batteries seem to hold a charge longer that traditional batteries and it is very convenient to know that you always have a fresh set of batteries available. It is the worst thing for your batteries to die and not have a spare. I switched to rechargables about a year ago and will never go back.More detail ...

An eneloop by any other name...

[Updated Dec 21 2008]

I was only half-right when I boldly proclaimed that "Duracell Pre Charged AAA are rebranded Sanyo eneloop cells" in my original review. It turns out that the first batch of Duracell AAA 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 AAA from a warehouse club. Those are made in China and they are identical to the Rayovac Hybrid (see my scan in the Customer Images section). Note that the Rayovac Hybrid AAA has an average capacity of about 780mAh (compared to about 830mAh for eneloop AAA) so is not as good a value.



[Original review follows]



Judging from similarity of technical specifications and physical shapes of (+) and (-) terminals I am convinced that the Duracell Pre Charged NiMH cell is actually Sanyo Eneloop underneath a different wrapper. Therefore all the good things you heard about eneloop apply to Duracell 'Pre Charged' too.



My own testing has shown that the capacity of eneloop AAA cell is slightly above the claimed 800mAh. The Rayovac Hybrid AAA is usually cheaper but its capacity is slightly below 800mAh. Both brands are able to retain at least 85% of their charge after three months of storage. Just pick whichever brand is on-sale and you can't go wrong.



One small problem with the Duracell 'Pre Charged' cell is that: it looked too similar to the well-known 'Copper Top' alkaline cell. So there is a good chance that people may mistaken it for a disposable cell. Personally I prefer the distinctive-looking white case of the eneloop cell.

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New Duracell 'Value Charger' is a _slightly_ better value now

This package (Duracell Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries Combo) contains the Duracell CEF14NC 'Value Charger' four Duracell DX1500 Pre Charged AA cells (2000mAh) and four DX2400 AAA cells (800mAh).



Duracell pre charged cells are either rebranded Sanyo eneloop ('white top') or Rayovac Hybrid ('black top'). But there is no way to know which version you are going to receive. Incidentally I have examined dozens of those packages in a famous warehouse club. Majority of them contain AA 'black top' cells with just a few containing 'white top'. All AAA cells are 'black top' only.



The new Duracell 'Value Charger' offers several improvements over the previous version (which was also called 'CEF14NC'):



- It accepts 100-240V universal AC input (instead of just 120V AC)

- It can charge up to 4 AAA cells (instead of just 2 AAA)



The charging current is same as before: 360mA when charging AA cells 180mA for AAA cells. That means it take about 6-7 hours to recharge a pair of exhausted AA cells.



One remaining drawback with this charger is that it still charges in pairs. That is either 2 or 4 cells. This is very inconvenient when you have appliance that requires either 1 or 3 cells. Now you're left with one cell that you cannot charge. If you try to charge one exhausted cell together with one that is full then the second cell will be over-charged (becuase the charger only stops when the combined voltage of two cells is high enough). NiMH cells are fairly robust so they are unlikely to burst or leak when over-charged occasionally. But over-charging is very bad for battery lifespan in the long run.



If all of your battery-operated appliances require only even number of cells then this package is still a good value. But if you do need to charge odd number of cells occasionally then I recommend buying the Sanyo Eneloop 2 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries w/ Charger in addition to this one. It contains a compact charger 'MDR02' that can handle 1-2 cells and it recharges much faster.

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Don't confuse those with Duracell 'Pre Charged' batteries

I can't believe it! Just when we thought we've got the Duracell battery color scheme figured out those folks at Duracell pulled another cheap trick out of their collective... hat!



To recall here is the color scheme for Duracell AA/AAA batteries:

- Duracell alkaline cell has the famous 'copper top' and a black bottom

- Traditional Duracell Rechargeable NiMH (DC2400) cell is green and black in color

- Newer Duracell Pre Charged NiMH cell has a 'copper top' and a green/black bottom



The latest batch of rechargeable AA/AAA NiMH cells from Duracell all have the 'copper top' and green/black bottom similar to that for 'Pre Charged' version. However those cells don't say 'Pre Charged' on them. Instead they have their capacity printed (2650mAh for Duracell DC1500 AA 1000mAh for Duracell DC2400B4N AAA). It is important to know that: those are NOT the low-self-discharge type like Sanyo Eneloop. They are traditional NiMH cells which have higher capacity but suffer from rapid self-discharge problem. So even though their prices may look attractive those are no bargains.



Remember: "If it doesn't say 'Pre Charged' put it back!"

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Long Lasting Power - Highly Recommended

Duracell is our favorite brand of batteries for our high drain electronics. These AAAs generally last a full day or two longer than Maxell 723815 LR03 AAA Cell 36 Pack Box Battery (which are a good value) in our MP3 speakers but you are going to pay about 18 cents more apiece (50 cents vs 32 cents).



These are good to use when traveling since they will likely last much longer than generics and are less likely to need replacing at a critical moment.



Highly Recommended!



CFHMore detail ...