AA rechargeables - good deals anywhere?

divamum

My recharger and batteries are both old and dying - I really need a new one + 4xAA cells. I'd like to be able to charge 4xAA at once, and while 15 minute would be optimum, a 30 minute one would work out ok.

Any places to buy other than the usual retailers IRL? Sterlingtek only have a 60 minute charger (I'd really like a faster one - I'm TERRIBLE about remembering batteries until right before I get ready to leave, so I've been caught short more than once...).

So far I haven't seen anything for under about $37, so if I can bring it down from that from a reputable online retailers I'd definitely consider ordering. Searches haven't yielded much more than Amazon and the other usual suspects, but I feel sure there must be some kind of battery emporium online....

Thanks in advance!

nomar219

What about eBay?

MDalby

I just went with the Cosco Sanyo Eneloop 300 mA batteries. I really like them.

$29 for 8 AA batteries, 2 AAA batteries and a charger.

cmason

The La Crosse BC-900 is the bomb. Amazon Thomas Distributing This is a fantastic charger, that offers fast charging, smart charging, as well as battery conditioning, so your batteries last a long time.


As for batteries, I recommend Sony Eneloop, Rayovac Hybrid and Duracell Rechargeable Precharged. They are similar technology. The Rayovac and Duracell you can find at Target and Walmart.

Scott_Quier

+1 for Thomas Distributing

Slinky0390

Circuit City, or what's left of it. They just filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy today and they are liquidating all their assets. You might be able to pick up some rechargeable batteries at one of their locations for a fair price.

divamum

Slinky0390 wrote:

Circuit City, or what's left of it. They just filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy today and they are liquidating all their assets. You might be able to pick up some rechargeable batteries at one of their locations for a fair price.

Thanks all! The La Crosse looks fabu although I'm not sure I can spend quite that much at the moment, but it's definitely on my wishlist now!

cmason

divamum wrote:

Thanks all! The La Crosse looks fabu although I'm not sure I can spend quite that much at the moment, but it's definitely on my wishlist now!

Look around at Target and Walmart. The Duracell and Rayovacs often come with a cheapo charger that will get you by until you can get the La Crosse. It takes 8+ hrs to recharge, vs the 20min-1hr on the La Crosse. It makes a good backup too.

MDalby

My wife is not going to let me on this forum any more if you guys continue to show me great toys.

I just bought the La Crosse charger and batteries.

Thanks!

Slinky0390

divamum wrote:

Thanks all! The La Crosse looks fabu although I'm not sure I can spend quite that much at the moment, but it's definitely on my wishlist now!

I retract my Circuit City statement, the same scummy liquidators that liquidated Linens and Things are overseeing the sales. They pretty much jack prices way up and then take 10% or so off. You'll probably wind up paying more at a store closing sale then you would if you just went to Best Buy or Walmart even.

Terrence

I did some quick research a while back and found Thomas Distributing. As a few others have, I heartily endorse them. I bought a Maha 8 battery charger from them and a few 4-packs of Maha Imedion 800mAh batteries (you get a free 4-cell case with each pack too). I beat the heck out of these batteries in a Canon 580EX and a couple of Vivitar 285HV flash heads and I am really happy with their performance.

divamum

Slinky0390 wrote:

I retract my Circuit City statement, the same scummy liquidators that liquidated Linens and Things are overseeing the sales. They pretty much jack prices way up and then take 10% or so off. You'll probably wind up paying more at a store closing sale then you would if you just went to Best Buy or Walmart even.

Yeah, I stopped into ours today. Pathetic. Worse was that the place was swarmed and there were lines of people buying stuff at what were pretty much full price

That said, I will keep checking back over the next couple of weeks as the discounts deepen; if it's anything like LnT, the prices WILL drop eventually and although it will probably be picked over, the final days will offer some serious reductions (lnt made it to 90% off everything by the last day). It makes me feel like some kind of a bird of prey looking for road kill, but... well, we'll see.

Costanzo

I really like the Sanyo Enaloop batteries for my 580 EX II flashes. They come in a kit, with charger, 8 AA, 4 AAA, and some adapters. I got them at Costco store. They were $32.00 out the door, and were on sale just before X-Mas, for $10.00 off. You can also check with: www.costco.com and see what they are on their site.


Rob C.

Costanzo

Eneloop kit at Costco for $32.00 out the door. Also can check for them on www.costco.com I found them on sale at Costco before X-Mas for ten dollars off.

Rob C.

Costanzo

Sorry, skip the second post!

Rob C.

sherijohnson

My batteries don't charge in 15 minutes, but I will say that the new rayovac rechargeables are about $5.50 for 4 batteries and the charger is just under $6.00. Then I found 8 packs of the batteries for about $10 or so. I just bought a whole bunch of them and charge them up as needed. They seem to work great. I know once I get going and get busier, I need to pick up a few more chargers.

dragon0103

Thomas Distributing is where I buy my rechargables. Have you tried reconditioning them with a good charger?

ront

I also would recommend the Eneloops. They are really good batteries.

Ron

Pupator

He he, my La Crosse BC-900 is on the way (huray Amazon prime). Right now the baby will ONLY fall asleep with the assistance of his electronic swing which (stupidly) only uses batteries. Rather than burst the budget on batteries I convinced the wife that we save money if I buy this kit and a pack of eneloops from Costco.

Can't hurt that I get to keep the charger around

jchin

+1 Duracell 15-minute charger from Costco. Great deal.

+1 Lacrosse charger ... love how it monitors my batteries and tells me their condition (and lets me recondition them).