I had been intending to purchase a battery charger for quite a while. In fact I had even dropped hints to certain family members around Christmas time, but to no avail. I was recently reminded of this missing piece of equipment in my life when I rediscovered the PC lead to my digital camera. Remembering that a pair of standard batteries lasted for only about 30 photos in this camera I decided that it was certainly time to invest in a battery charger and some rechargeable batteries.
I purchased an Energizer CHDCW8 – 4 battery charger from Argos for just £9.99. This decision was based on several factors, the most important of which was the price and what I considered to be the best value for money. The design also played a part in my decision process, but in the end it was the price/value that were the strongest influencing factors.
This charger was on offer. The normal RRP being £17.99. The charger came with four AA size Energizer 2500mAH batteries. These were the same size of battery that I required for my camera. My camera however only requires two batteries so I thought that this would be ideal as I could always have a spare set of fully charged batteries with me when I was out and about with my camera.
This charger comes packaged in a thick plastic packet that was moulded around the shape of the charger. This packaging is transparent so you can see what you are buying before you part with your money.
The charger itself is rather modern looking and very compact. It is also very lightweight and weighs only 132g. Size wise it measures just 80cm long by 10cm wide and it is less than 3cm thick. The prongs of the plug are moulded into the design of the charger, which is simple yet effective. This saves the necessity of having a separate plug and also looks neater.
Two of the AA size batteries were already inserted into the charger to demonstrate which way round they go, but if you look closely there is a + and - sign marked on the charger so it is clear which way up they are to be inserted.
This charger is capable of charging either two AA size batteries or four AAA size batteries. It is possible to charge a mixture of both sizes at the same time but all the spacers must be full or it will not work.
When loaded up correctly and plugged in a green light illuminates to indicate that the charging process has begun. When all of the batteries are fully charged this light goes out, but there is a safety feature which ensures that the batteries can not be overcharged.
This charger comes with three plug pins but these can be rotated to enable the charger to be used in the USA, it will not however fit into a standard European socket. Therefore if used in Europe it will be necessary to use a separate plug adaptor.
One of the downside of this charger is that it does take quite a long time. In fact to charge just two of the four AA type 2500AH batteries that this charger comes with will take over eight hours. These batteries can be recharged over 1,000 times making them excellent value for money.Overall I think that is a nice little battery charger that was definitely well worth the money.
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