Best value AA Batteries?

[KingPro500]

I live in Norway, and its not easy to get affordable batteries. I have purchased batteries from ebay, with mixed results. I am a cheapo, and want cheap stupp that performs great. I said it.

When i was clueless i bought the cheapest AA batteries i could find. BTY for $2.50 on ebay. They where mostly bad. I did not have a good charger, but i had so many problems, that i bought http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031ERMO4/?tag=cpf0b6-20 . I was sure there was something wrong with it, becsuse most of my batteries showed up as defect, so i bought a c9000.

It was of course the cheap batteries there was something wrong with. It was a pleasure to get the c9000. From the reviews i was sure it would be difficult to use, but its great.

I had also bought some eneloops, and they work fine. But they are expensive. In my country, this is the cheapest place to buy batteries: http://www.clasohlson.no/product/ca...97218&_path=251882;85177594;88597215;88597218 You can divide the currency by 6 to get dollar value, so its expensive.

My problem is that i have a lot of stuff to put batteries in, and i refuse to pay good money for something that almost wont get used like remotes, and such. I also have a small business, and i use some batteries there also.

I mostly shop from ebay, because of p&p, and the best price i can find on eneloop there is around $13 for 4xAA. If i cannot find cheap usable batteries, can i get some tip on cheaper Eneloops?

I will continue to buy eneloops, but only for high quality stuff. I also want some cheap batteries. Any tip is welcome.

 

[Wrend]

Eneloops are kind of like an investment with a practically guaranteed return, if properly used (a C9000 should go a long way to help in that regard). For how well they perform and how long they last, they're one of the most (if not the most) inexpensive AAs you can get.

One of those takes money to save money kind of deals.

For TV remotes or things with extremely low average drain rates, alkaline cells are still fairly practical. Their usable capacity at low drain rates is high, provided the device has a relatively low minimum operational voltage.

 

[KingPro500]

You have some good points.

I also have some cheapo lights from ebay, but i an not going to put good batteries in them, because the kids are going to use them and forget them with the power on. That cant be good for the batteries.

I think i just am going to continue to buy cheap batteries and eneloops side by side. I found more info on the BTY: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/bty-2500mah-ni-mh-rechargeable-aa-batteries-4-pack-25496

 

[shadowjk]

This is probably a CPFMP topic, but as nobody has protested so far, and me myself not sure which mp forum "help how do I find X" fits in, I'll just reply here instead. Check out eu.nkon.nl and batterycity.eu, they seem to be willing to sell europe-wide. For an inexpensive brand of batteries that are for sure better than BTY, hobbyking is the only seller of Turnigy LSD, but there's usually a long waiting queue for them.

 

[ashleecopper]

I always get the Maxell ones on Amazon...they are about the cheapest I can usually find and seem to last fairly long...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PY7P4I/?tag=cpf0b6-20

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Panasonic Eneloops, or Fujitsu would be what I'd be looking for.

I'm done with lessor NiMH batteries.

Chris

 

[xxo]

I would much rather pay $13 for a quad of Eneloops than mess with the cheapest batteries on ebay......chances are they are a waste of $ and you will need to buy proper bats anyway.

Don't know if you can get them in Norway, but you might be able to save a little with rebranded Eneloops like the Japanese amazon basics or the duracell Ion cores.

 

[fivemega]

Best value AA Batteries for smart people are genuine Eneloops.

Why go after trouble for few dollars less?

 

[apagogeas]

ebay batteries from unknown sellers and unknown quality to reduce cost? No thanks. Cheap good batteries for non-critical (non-high drain tasks)? Lidl Tronic Eco (not the regular one) fits the bill very nicely and compared to eneloops style, cost 1/4 and even less, at least where I live. So for such utilization I consider these a much better deal, especially if we take into account unintentional abuse, lost batteries in the long run and things like that. Utilization in remotes and similar tasks can't justify an expensive battery in there.
For anything else (critical app or heavy usage), eneloops is the way to go really. If however we can get eneloops at a very good price, I see no reason to get any other battery, given the proven record of eneloops.
For all my critical jobs I use eneloops and eneloops Pro/XX (camera flash lights mostly). In remotes/wireless mouse I use the cheap camelion alwaysready AA 800mAh (I can't find them anymore unfortunately) which I got for even less than Tronic Eco and they have proved to be outstanding (more than 4 years and still perform like new - can't tell for the higher capacity Camelions AlwaysReady if they are so good). I use Tronic Eco for most of the other low/mid range tasks (ECD light, handheld motors) where full performance is not critical and even if I overdischarge/abuse them, I wouldn't care much. The non-eco version of Tronic was a bad battery however.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

There are reputable brands/models of NiMH that make sub-par batteries.

I wouldn't buy my Sanyo 2700s, or my AccuPower 2900s/1200s again. They just haven't lasted as long as my Eneloops, Imedions, Energizer 2300s or GP ReCyKos have. Duracell had some problems with their 2650 HSDs, IIRC.

Chris

 

[Mr Floppy]

IKEA!! Surely there's an ikea in Norway. Maybe the price isn't the same over there but it's $1 a battery if you are an IKEA family member. Comes in a pack of 4 and are lsd. Even the charger is value for money.

 

[night.hoodie]

IKEA!! Surely there's an ikea in Norway. Maybe the price isn't the same over there but it's $1 a battery if you are an IKEA family member. Comes in a pack of 4 and are lsd. Even the charger is value for money.

+1

IKEA Ladda (AA) Accelerated Cycle Testing

 

[Brlux]

I have gone through a lot of Ni-MH batteries over the years and nearly all of them have degraded to the point of having to throw away after a few years. That is until I started buying Eneloops a little over 9 years ago. I now probably have 200 Eneloops in use around the house. I put them in everything form lights, remote controls, kids toys and thermostats. With the oldest ones being over 9 years old I have never had one go bad and need to be thrown away. I occasionally will get some different brands of LSD Ni-MH but they always give out after a few years.

I have found a nice side effect of Ni-MH batteries is they do not leak and destroy electronic devices. For that reason I use Eneloops even in long term storage or low drain devices that typically would not be a candidate for rechargeable batteries. And I can't even tell you the number of Alkaline batteries I have thrown away new in the package with the shrink wrap still on them which have leaked in the packaging. For me an Eneloop costs about as much as 4-5 quality Alkaline batteries so I figure after my 5th recharge they have paid for themselves. So while I have spend several hundred dollars on Envelops over the last decade I now have reliable batteries in everything that needs them and things are now free to operate for a long time in to the future.