Comments on: Awesome Battery Charger (with Total Crap UI)

By: n[ate]vw

n[ate]vw — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:43:43 +0000

I’m late to this party, but as I’ve been happily using this charger for a while now, I was taken aback by your comments on the interface. I’ve been trying to become very sensitive to UI issues, but I don’t remeber ever being terribly frustrated with this charger as I have with other devices. I’d been kind of waiting until I had to use the interface more to respond, but in those weeks I’ve realized that 99% of my interaction with the device is extremely ideal:

1) Drop discharged batteries into the nice slots.
2) Take them out when they’re “Full”.

The brief voltage display in step 1 can flag bad cells (under 1V is not normal), and occasionally I’ll cycle Display when I’m “watching the pot boil”. When I have time to tinker with my batteries, I don’t mind tinkering with the configuration as well. The next time I use an advanced feature, I’ll try look for ways it could be improved, but the UI simply hasn’t bothered me much. Rechargeables are great, low self-discharge rechargeables are totally awesome… and I also heartily recommend this charger (have even bought a few relatives their own).

By: Ben Holt

Ben Holt — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:22:06 +0000

I highly recommend BatteryUniversity.com - tons of very detailed information about battery and charger technology

By: Builder

Builder — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:11:22 +0000

I am still using the very old Energizer charger for AA – AAA – 9V batteries, output power AAA – 4x at 1.4V — 150mA, I purchased in one of those packs containing 4 rechargeable batteries and with the charger inside. Its case is cracked and sticky taped for a couple of years, I reckon it would be a good time to change it for this new one so thanks for the reference.

By: Convert

Convert — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:24:26 +0000

Only recently I went to electronics’s shop to buy a new charger which will charge other than AA size type batteries. I bought this digitor universal NiCd/NiMH charger. Before connecting it to the wall plug I noticed the charging instructions saying that AA type 1000mAh should charge 12 hours, or, AA 1700 mAh (max. size mentioned in the brochure) need 21 hrs. Well because all of our rechargeable batteries we use around the house are 2000mAh or bigger, and a quick calculation for 2400 mAh suggested I would have to keep these charging for almost 2 days, it got to me the product must be outdated now days. Reading your sentence “Some really cheap battery chargers are, in fact, dangerous.” I must agree, this one doesn’t even turn the actual charging auto-off, it has to be done manually and, as the instruction also mentioned a battery might burst when overcharged I went to the shop again to buy another one that turns charging off automatically, then keeps in the trickle mode, plus is much quicker. Does also 9V size for fire alarms around the house.

By: Awesome Battery Charger (with Total Crap UI)

Awesome Battery Charger (with Total Crap UI) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:17:39 +0000

[...] Awesome Battery Charger (with Total Crap UI) We have an absolutely ridiculous number of devices in the house that eat AA batteries (and a handful of AAA batteries). LED flashlights. Wii Controllers. The Canon macro ring flash. Various remotes. Toys. Etc… As a result, we use a lot of batteries. Thus, I decided that I would pick up a bulk … [...]

By: wii remote charger | Digg hot tags

wii remote charger | Digg hot tags — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:55:10 +0000

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By: Garrett Albright

Garrett Albright — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:26:10 +0000

I have one of these chargers myself. It really is great. I didn’t think the UI was too terrible, but for those that disagree, it comes with a sizable if somewhat “changlish” manual.

I haven’t purchased disposable batteries in years. Rechargables pay for themselves and their chargers quickly, and they’re more convenient too. And of course they’re more ecological if you’re in to that. Disposable batteries are for suckers!

By: James Duncan Davidson

James Duncan Davidson — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:04:36 +0000

You’re right indeed that flashes love the current that rechargers give. I hate when I’m somewhere that I have to use alkaline AA’s in my strobes. Instant buzz kill. But, chargers do suck. I also bought the exact same charger you have a while back. The one that I ended up getting is Maha’s 8 cell charger: http://www.mahaenergy.com/store/viewitem.asp?idproduct=407 … mostly for the 8 cell at a time feature. If somebody made a 16 cell smart charger, I’d buy it.