Duracell sent me a few of their new pre-charged batteries to try out. The idea is that people don’t purchase rechargable batteries because they need to use them right away. In the past you couldn’t pre-charge Ni-Cad rechargeable batteries because they would lose their charge while sitting on the shelf. The new pre-charged batteries seem to overcome this problem which also means you can charge up the batteries and not use it for awhile without losing power. I’m still testing them out to write up a better review of their performance. Duracell seems light on stats for the batteries with most of their efforts going into marketing based on humor, however the product seems good and will probably convert me back to using rechargeable batteries after a long hiatus due to the short comings of Ni-Cad technology.
I’ve been using Sanyo’s Eneloop. They are great!
@Adora – I’ll have to check those out.
This is good news for gift-giving and receiving. When giving a gift that’s “batteries not included” I always give batteries as well. Now the recipient gets to use their new toy right away.
If you are still buying NiCads you will be plagued by charge loss and battery memory where batteries progressively lose the ability to accept a charge. The DuraCells mentioned are Nickel Metal Hydrides (NiMH). NiMHs do not suffer many of these problems of NiCads. Many come out of the pack with a partial charge, but mfgrs recommend charging first. That is the biggest advantage of these batteries. While more expensive, Lithium Ion batteries are even better. This is the formula used in current laptop, cell phone and hybrid car batteries. They have longer charge lives, greater current storage capacity and often shorter charge cycles. Charge batteries in chargers specifically meant for the type as each one has a different charging cycle procedure.
Where a NiCad might last two hours when new, a NiMH will last about double and a Li Ion about double that.
I would love to have Duracell rechargeable batteries for my Inova X5 flash light. I hope the company will soon made Duracell 123 rechargeable batteries.
I’ve been checking the capacity of Eneloops , Panasonic Infinium and Camlink ready to go batteries.
All have a claimed capacity of 2100Ma/hrs with a claimed minimum of 2000Ma/Hrs
The Eneloops that I tested (16) not one reached the 2000 min.
The Panasonics (12) only a few managed 2000 but most Camlinks returned an impressive 2200 and a few gave a capacity of 2400+ . I’ve not bought any Duracells so I can’t comment on those . I can not give any figures on lifespan as i’ve only had them for a week or so .