La Crosse Technology BC700 Alpha Power Battery Charger

So many times I would grab a set of batteries to put in my camera, flash... and because 1 of the 4 batteries was not up to snuff, I was dead in the water. With this charger you know which battery may cause you problems and you can recondition it. I will never buy a charger that doesn't give feed back again. This charger is also very compact so good things do come in small packages.

I had no idea that there was such a difference among battery chargers. I thought they were all pretty much equal, until I happened to begin reading reviews on Amazon of the different brands. Prior to this, I thought whatever they sold at the store (that usually came with a set of rechargeable batteries) was just fine.

After reading the reviews and deciding that I wanted a charger that was gentle on my batteries (again, I had no idea that the rate of charging made a difference) and also reconditioned them as well, I spent a little bit extra to buy the La Crosse. I am happy I did.

The directions/literature is somewhat confusing for me since I am not sure what things require what treatment, but that's something I need to deal with. This charger seems to have all the capabilities I could want, and so far it has worked very well. I like how you can control each individual battery that is being charged, and see the charging status of each of them in separate screens.

The product has decent enough build quality (just don't mistreat it and you will be fine) and I really like all the features it has. If you are going to invest in rechargeable batteries, then spend a little bit extra to invest in a high-quality charger like this one instead of those cheaper ones you find at the discount stores. Over the life of the product and your batteries, you will actually be saving money by doing so.

This is a perfect charger which works on almost all rechargeable batteries.

The best part of this model is each cell gets an individual charging, individual current setting etc etc. I could charge AA/AAA simultaneously on this charger. Ofcourse 4 cells at a time max. This charger gives the correct rating and charge on each cell. A faulty cell can be easily found rightaway.
It also has different charging modes which also helps you elimitate memory effect of cells.

If you need rechargeable batteries buy the new rayovac batteries. They are the best in market.

Very handy; it tells you just about anything you could want to know about a AA or AAA battery, with separate readings for up to 4 batteries. You don't have to charge them in pairs, and you can pick from 3 different charge rates.

What more would you want?

I don't know why a company would adopt such a confusing model number scheme, but in terms of capabilities, this is far superior to other models by LaCrosse and Maha.

The BC-700 can charge up to 2500 mAh capacity -- it does so in relatively faster steps of 200/500/700 mA currents (these are not capacities). Unless you are in a really big hurry, let the charger work at the default current of 200 mA, otherwise, you are stressing your batteries. This charger has saved several sets of 2000+ mAh batteries for me that previous had developed a low capacity problem in a Maha charger.

Compared to my old Maha, it's nice to be able to see the capacities and voltage of the batteries. Having a device like this and a couple dozen AA and AAA NiMH batteries saves me several hundred dollars per year.

Make sure you glance through the documentation so you don't misunderstand the various modes.

TIP: you must make selections on the charger within 8 seconds of inserting the batteries, AND hold the mode button for 5 seconds when changing modes.