La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger

everything about this is good. the only problem is that it identified some bad batteries and i had to buy more now everything is good. wont deal with rechargeable akali's

I believe heat is the enemy when charging so I use the lower settings,on the 500mAh setting the AAs were barely warm to the touch,I have only used the 200mAh setting for my AAAs,the 700mAh setting remains unused,I won't use that unless some good reason comes up and I can be right there watching. So far so good,no meltdowns like I've heard of.

I've only had it for a few weeks.I've refreshed 8 old AAs,8 new eneloop AAs,plus,10 old AAAs,only 2 AAAs to go then I can simply charge them when needed till it's time to refresh again.It's nice to have the smart charger options instead of that ultra-fast charger I was using.

The 4 star rating I gave is because of the *possible* meltdown issue that I've only read about,I have not experienced it myself.

I've had this charger for a little over 2 weeks and it's already proven itself many times over! I hate spending money on batteries all the time, especially getting rechargeable ones that are supposed to last but all of a sudden, are no longer holding the charge they once did. This charger has resurrected those batteries for me!

First off, I see some people criticizing this charger as needing an "expert user" which is a complete exageration. Is this charger more complicated than just popping the batteries in? Yes, but once you understand how it works, it's dead simple to use. The biggest thing to get used to is having to select the charging mode and current upon inserting the batteries. It only took me doing things wrong twice before I figured out what to do. For those used to just popping in batteries to a charger, this will take some getting used to but is worth it for the life you get back from your batteries.

I have to say, I love having a digital display on this charger. With most normal chargers, you just get a light telling you that it's done charging, but you have no idea how much "charge" actually is in your batteries. With this one, you know exactly how much capacity your batteries now have. My older batteries, had lost so much charging room, in many cases they had less than 50% of the original 2500mAh. After running "Discharge/Refresh", all of these batteries were brought to over 2000mAh, some almost all the way back to 100%.

Now, as you'll see other people review, don't buy this expecting to get a "quick charge" out of your batteries. As with most things in life, to do it right takes time and that holds true to this charger. On the default setting (which is also the lowest, 200mAh) you can expect to take over 12 hours to charge a AA from a completely discharged state. Bumping it up to the highest setting (750mAh) drops that down to under 4 hours. Yes, it's still longer than the "quick charger" you got with your batteries, but look at where those batteries are now.

Plain and simple, this charger is WELL worth the price in the longevity it will provide your batteries. Use it wisely and not only will your batteries last longer in your devices, you'll keep them longer because of it!

This is the best rechargeable battery charger ever!!! Buy it!!! Enjoy it!!! I rarely submit a product review after purchase. This is a very good product and deserves five stars or more!!! I think there are enough accolades by hundreds of people. Therefore, I'll stop here.

I own both the Lacrosse BC-700 and the Maha WizardOne chargers. Each has worked extremely well for me. The Wizard is larger and it spaces the batteries nicely for cooling and the lighted display, very bright and large, is all-informative. I don't mind that the display toggles between cells, rather than displaying the information on all cells at once. This is my main at-home charger. I keep the Lacrosse at work. More compact in size, the Lacrosse's unlit LCD display is also smaller than the Wizard's but it also is very informative. The BC-700 charges at 200, 500 and 700 Ma, while the Wizard can charge much faster if needed. Frankly, most of the time, I charge at a low 200 Ma on either the Lacrosse or the Wizard for the benefit of longer battery life. I can't complain about either charger. I enjoy having both. The Lacrosse is cheaper and a little more compact, but if you need faster charging (higher than 700 Ma) then the Wizard will fill the bill. Now, all this said, which one would I pick if I could own only one? A really tough choice, but it would be the Wizard.