Seems to be a great deal. Hope someone posts some real world info on these compared to some other well-known batteries.
I have both the Maha C204 charger [from Thomas Distributing] and the RipVan charger. I also have the Sanyo batteries from RipVan and the GP and energizer batteries from Thomas. Just looking at the
Thomas site, it looks like they've redone their website and seems harder to navigate than when I was last on it. I think you used to be able to link on just AAA or AA batteries, for example, but now you have to go to a batteries page and choose a brand first. I don't like that. I want to look at all AAA batteries and quickly see their price and maH ratings. boo hoo hoo.
Well, the bottom line is, after a couple months of use of the RipVan and a year of using the Maha is that I don't use the RipVan charger any more. It charges more quickly but not to as full of a capacity. The Sanyo batteries are certainly no better than the GPs, but then again the GPs are a higher capacity. The Sanyos from RipVan always seem to lag the industry when the higher capacities start hitting the markets, so I won't get more Sanyos.
As previously mentioned here by somebody (an imaging-resource link),
The Great Battery Shootout is a great review effort.
BTW, as noted by Mark I in the imaging-resource forum related to the Great Battery Shootout, "The 1850mah AA Energizers exist! $11.97 at Wal-Mart. They also have Rayovac NiMH AA's at 1800mah for $10.97. The old Energizers were 1700mah and the old Rayovacs were 1600mah. The Wal-Mart closest me moves stock fairly quickly, but one further away still only has the older batteries. "
I've been very pleased with the Maha charger and the GP and Energizer batteries. Some of my devices need the highest mah rating batteries possible, so I will always buy the highest rating possible. Onward to buy some of the 1850mah Energizers today.
And yes, I have found there are times when I feel have too many batteries - either the discharged batteries keep getting mixed in with the recently charged batteries and I'm always checking them for charge levels or topping them off. Sometimes I open up a device that hasn't been used in a year only to find I had rechargeables in it. Always seem to have batteries strewn about and obviously need to get better organized with all this!
Also, Steve's Digicams also has some great reviews of the chargers at this
link. I believe the Maha C204F is still the favorite as it is on the Imaging-Resource's shootout. Also here is a
link to Steve's Digicam's page on NiMH batteries and chargers.