should i buy Sanyo Eneloop Ni-MH Charger reviews

New, improved eneloop kit in colors eneloop - ready to use rechargeable battery. Since its launch in November 2005 eneloop has become well-known around the world as it has revolutionized the consumer-use rechargeable battery segment with its unique features: * rechargeable approximately 1,000 times * coming pre-charged, making it usable immediately after purchase * its unique design departing from the look of traditional batteries What is the difference between the "old" and the "new" improved eneloop? * An extra of 500 charging cycles - instead of being rechargeable 1000 times, the new eneloop is even rechargeable up to 1500 times. * Improved self-dischcharge. Even though the self discharge of the old eneloop was already very impressive, you can store the new eneloop for 3 years and still it will retain 75% of its capacity. * You need a battery, which is reliable even when having cold temperatures? Before eneloop was suitable for temperatures as low as -10°C - now even until -20°C. * The new eneloop is even more environment-friendly as it is pre-charged with solar energy in Japan. The rated capacities of those new eneloop cells are the same as that of : 2000mAh for AA, 800 for AAA. All batteries are made in Japan. The charger is made in China.

I have tested 4 new eneloop AA cells, using my
- Right out of the package, the average remaining charge is 1557mAh (min=1551, max=1564)
- After just one charge/discharge cycle, the average capacity rises to 2100mAh (min=2070, max=2130). This is 5% higher than the rated value!

Date code embossed on the AA cells is "10-04 0Y". I assume that means April 2010. Note that just like the old eneloop, the new ones are only charged to 75-80% when leaving factory.

According to the package and also Sanyo web site, the new eneloop is supposed to offer the following advantages over the original:
- "Holds charge up to 3 years" (85% after 1 year, 80% after 2, 75% after 3)
- "Recharge 1500x" (vs. "1000x" for original)
- "Suitable for temperature as low as -20 degree C" (vs. -10)

In real life, it is nearly impossible for the user to experience those benefits. If you recharge the new eneloop twice every week, it will take 15 years to reach 1500 cycles! Also the new self-discharge rate is not much different from that for the old eneloop (which claims 85% after 1 year, 80% after 2). So it is probably not worth paying an extra premium over the old eneloop, just for those perceived benefits.

However, there is one visible benefit for the new eneloop: it comes in different colors!
- The 8 AA cells consist of 4 light-blue and 4 dark-blue
- The 4 AAA cells consist of 2 light-green and 2 dark-green
This makes it easier for the new eneloop to be arranged in groups. For example, you may use one color group in your camera and another group as spare. Plus the new colors looked very nice, too.

The charger included in this package, on the other hand, is a big let-down. It is the same old  which is slow and only charges in pairs. It is simply inexcusable that Sanyo continue to package their best rechargeable batteries with their worst charger. In my case, the price I paid (at a local warehouse Club) is cheaper than buying 12 new eneloop cells separately, so I just tell myself that the charger is thrown in for free. Otherwise I would subtract one star from the rating.

[Update July 29, 2010]
I have tested 4 new eneloop AAA cells, date code "10-05 0B":
- Average remaining charge out of package is 619mAh
- After two more charge/discharge cycles, the average capacity reached 830mAh.
That's what I like most about those eneloop cells (both new and old). They are highly consistent, and their measured capacities are usually higher than rated values.

[Upadte Nov 21, 2010]
Long term self-discharge data: I have tested a pair of new eneloop AA cell, after nearly 4 months (115 days) of storage. The average remaining charge is 89% of full capacity. This result is slightly better than that of the original eneloop, which usually reatins about 87% after three months. But the difference is within margin of error of my experiments. I bought two of this set to use in my Canon 580EX DSLR flash and Canon CP-E4 external flash power pack. The AA are blue and AAA are green, as these are the ones with 2000 cycle times with no hysteresis. I used 12 AA batteries for my flash system and the remaining cells to be used for other things like remote controls and wireless mice. I could not be more pleased. The flash recycle time is the fastest I've seen with any battery. This includes disposable alkaline lithium Energizer and Duracell AA cells. In one evening I was able to do nearly 600 flash shots without ever having to wait for the flash to recycle! I kept going, thinking "well, my flash may not fire this time since the batteries are loosing their charge." I knew the Eneloops would be better, but I didn't know it would be this much better. I wish I had gotten the Eneloops a couple of years ago. The charger does take several hours to recharge Eneloop cells and it would probably be best to get a high quality Maha PowerEx Charger like the C801D for a faster charge time. The great thing about the Eneloop batteries is that the voltage doesn't drop after several cycles of charge/discharge.

My only complaint is the packaging is so big and hard to open. Perhaps the packaging was intended for retail to prevent theft. I bought this for one reason alone: Classic style rechargeable batteries after a month or so, will discharge most of their charge! Requiring another recharging cycle, wasting your time, and increasing your power bill. It also made it impossible to have a spare fully charged and ready to go. I don't know how Sanyo did it, but I am glad they did. These are all high quality batteries, all 'Made in Japan', that look stylish [love the shades of blue] and work just as described.