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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