Ansmann Energy 8

This is a substantial piece of kit which I purchased out of sheer exasperation having bought various other 'cheap' chargers over the past few years. All have either failed or take so long to recharge the current high capacity NiMh batteries (e.g. 2800 mAh AA cells and D cells at 4000 mAh or more) that they are not a practical solution. Most also insist on charging pairs of batteries which can be a nuisance.

The Energy 8, as its name suggests, can charge up to 8 batteries at once including 2 x PP3. Of the remaining 6 slots, 4 can take AAA through to D cells and the remaining 2 either AAA or AA. Each cell is charged independently and once charged can be left in the charger which then reduces to a trickle charge. There are LEDs for each cell to show the state of charge, when the charger is undertaking 'conditioning' or if the cell is faulty. The instruction manual is particularly 'naff', using expressions such as '-delta V control of each cell' and 'tired cells' without explaining just what this means. But it's not rocket science to put a cell in each bay and leave it to charge until the LED goes constant green!

If you use a lot of rechargeable and value them, then this charger is probably as good as it gets. If you only use a few then there are cheaper alternatives, including from Ansmann. The Energy 8 is guaranteed for 3 years - I've had mine some months now and paid £44 delivered from fotosense.co.uk For me, it's been worth it for the sheer speed and convenience of this charger.