Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am an engineer, and this charger does EVERYTHING I want it to do. Smart charger with individual circuits is the ONLY way to go. And the LaCrosse has all the smart charger features you need, at a lower price than the hyped brand. We have 4 cordless microphones at my church which take 2 AA's each. Consuming 8 AA's every week, we were spending over $200 a year on batteries. After bad memories of the old NiCd's, I decided to give rechargeables another try after learning about Eneloop and new NiMH hybrid or "low self-discharge" (or "LSD") technology. I chose this LaCrosse charger because of great reviews, solid features, and reasonable price. Three months later, I am extremely pleased and would recommend it to others. I have been recharging and tracking our 8 AA's every week for 3 months, and now I can share my experience. First of all, the charger and 8 AA batteries have already paid for themselves. Second, I have needed all 4 of the charging modes that the LaCrosse offers. Here is what you need to know: 1) CHARGE CURRENT: Fast charging is not good for batteries. Slower is better. Fast charging generates heat, which degrades the battery, reduces its life and in extreme cases can ruin it. The LaCrosse has 3 charging currents: 200, 500, and 700 mA. If you just put batteries in and do nothing else, it will charge at 200. This is a "slow" charge, taking 8-12 hours to charge 2000 mAh batteries. The 500 is a moderate speed, taking about 3-5 hours, batteries may be a little warm at the end. The 700 is the "fast" speed for LaCrosse, but it can charge your AA's in about 2 hours which is handy when you really need it. Batteries are pretty warm at the end, but not hot. Keep in mind, 700 is only half of the 1.5 mA or more that the "super fast" chargers pump out, which can't be good for battery life. 2) END DETECTION: Never buy timer-based chargers; overcharging will ruin NiMH batteries. Smart chargers like the LaCrosse are based on "negative delta-V". They detect the peak and voltage drop to know when the battery is full. Once this point is detected, the LaCrosse stops and then puts the battery on a very low "trickle" charge. 3) INDIVIDUAL CIRCUITS: The LaCrosse has 4 individual charging circuits. This not only means the 4 batteries can be on different charge modes and currents, but it also means that each battery gets optimally charged. Beware of cheap chargers that charge batteries in pairs. When paired, two batteries are treated as one. But since it is nearly impossible for two batteries to be at exactly the same level of discharge and/or have the exact same capacity, one battery may be undercharged, and the other may be overcharged. Overcharging can ruin a battery, and so can over-discharge when the same pair is drained together in a device. 4) TEST MODE: To know that your new batteries actually have the capacity they advertise, or to verify older batteries, you need Test mode. This LaCrosse has test mode, which lets you know the capacity of the battery. It first charges to full, then discharges it completely (to measure the capacity), then charges it again so the battery is ready to use. 5) DISCHARGE MODE: Although NiMH's claim to have no memory effect, it is still a good idea to fully discharge them on occasion. Not only will this ensure optimal capacity, but after a full discharge cycle the LaCrosse will show you the battery's measured capacity so you know the battery is still good (or going bad). 6) REFRESH MODE: Conventional NiMH's (non-LSD) need to be charge/discharge cycled a few times to reach full capacity. This charger's Refresh mode will accomplish that with one setup. Cheap chargers don't have a discharge feature at all. Also, NiMH batteries that are over-drained may need to be refreshed. This happened after using a set of batteries in the Wii remote too long. Cheap chargers would only report the battery as full, or as bad. Once again, LaCrosse's Refresh mode saved the day. After just a couple cycles, the battery charged to full capacity again. Another run of Test mode proved the batter was back to 2000 mAh. What are you waiting for? Buy this charger!