# Best Budget AA LSD?



## offroad (Aug 13, 2010)

What are the best budget AA cells, that compare favorably to eneloops in run time and LSD?

I know about Duraloops but all the white top one's I have found locally, are higher priced than I can mail order eneloops for. Also read that some of the Rayovac pre-charged are good but the local walmart has several different types (platinum etc) so not sure which are best.

Any good candidates from eBay or other reputable on-line sources? Best price I could find for eneloops in the US was amazon.


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## cckw (Aug 13, 2010)

offroad said:


> What are the best budget AA cells, that compare favorably to eneloops in run time and LSD?
> 
> I know about Duraloops but all the white top one's I have found locally, are higher priced than I can mail order eneloops for. Also read that some of the Rayovac pre-charged are good but the local walmart has several different types (platinum etc) so not sure which are best.
> 
> Any good candidates from eBay or other reputable on-line sources? Best price I could find for eneloops in the US was amazon.



e-bay is not a reputable source. Do not buy batteries there. 

In the big picture Eneloops are the best value. Thomas Distributing has decent pricing on them. in Rayovac, Platinum are the best. But based on their previous products it is not going to hang in the long term like eneloops


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## bshanahan14rulz (Aug 13, 2010)

someone was hoarding AA eneloops and energizers (non-LSD, I think) and selling them pretty cheaply.... He seemed to have disappeared, though.


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## WildChild (Aug 13, 2010)

Maybe when they are on sale? I can get 4 packs of Duraloop for between $7 and $8 at a local drug store when they are on sale. This is the cheapest I've found.


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## Black Rose (Aug 13, 2010)

offroad said:


> Also read that some of the Rayovac pre-charged are good but the local walmart has several different types (platinum etc) so not sure which are best.


Rayovac changed the name of their previous LSD cells (Hybrid) to Platinum.

Either of them are good.


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## Robin24k (Aug 13, 2010)

If you want to purchase online, get white top Made in Japan Duracell Pre-Charged. They are rebranded Eneloops, and there doesn't seem to be any fakes of those (unlike Eneloops).


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## Battery Guy (Aug 13, 2010)

It seems like with the AA LSD cells, you get what you pay for. With the exception of the Duraloops (made in Japan eneloops rebranded with a Duracell label), I don't think that there are many bargains to be had unless you happen to find a great sale at a local store or online. Plus, the eneloops/Duraloops have a track record of great performance. You will find almost no negative posts on CPF regarding this cell (at least I haven't).

From a performance/price standpoint, you might see if you can find a good deal on the Imedion 2400 mAh cells. I guess you could argue that if they are the same price as the eneloops or Duraloops, the performance/price ratio would be in favor of the Imedion cells (assuming that rated capacity was the key performance criterion). Of course, the downside is that these Imedion 2400 cells are relatively new, and don't have the track record of the eneloops.

Cheers,
BG


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## ktm032 (Aug 14, 2010)

There are reputable sources on ebay, check seller rating etc.... All-battery.com on ebay is one of the best ones and great prices and warranties. You have scammers and bad quality anywhere everywhere...

Check ebay for tenergy lsd or tenergy r2u aa's and aaa's as they are 30 bucks and they come with free battery cases but only for the aa's. Also check all-battery.com as they more expensive on the site. They offer a little more capacity than eneloops too. Do not get me wrong, I still love eneloops and have a bunch of them but like to have a variety. 

The tenergy r2u are 30 bucks for 24 of them and come with cases for all the batteries. Also they have a warranty for the manufacturer and seller. Keep in mind that most of the posts on here are complainers and just are justifying their purchase to be better. This is not a scam or cheap batteries, its just a great deal. Beware of the politicians on here as they are never going to say whats real. 

Also if you do a review and submit it to them, this requires you have an account on a forum such as this one. Then write a review on here having more than 40 or so posts and then send it to them. Then at the bare minimum they will send you $30 gift certificate or up to $60, depending on pictures or video and how elaborate you are. I had got a 30buck one and got 24 Tenergy R2U LSD 2300mah aa's and 6 aa cases for 7 bucks shipped with the coupon on their site.

There is a test that has been done recently on here to prove the claim on the tenergy lsd capacity. They work great and use them daily with no complaints.

Hope this helps...


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## gswitter (Aug 14, 2010)

For a while, there were some insane deals on the Rayovac 4.0's. The local Fry's had the 4AA packs for $4.99. Of course, it's six months later now, and they don't even carry them anymore. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.


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## Robin24k (Aug 14, 2010)

Here are a couple good deals on the Duracell Pre-Charged on Ebay. If they don't specify white top and Made in Japan, I would recommend checking with the seller to make sure you're getting the rebadged Eneloops.

*[ebay links deleted - DM51]*

(The second link doesn't seem to be Duraloops, these are from the same seller, and the Duraloops are a little more expensive.)

*[ebay links deleted - DM51]*


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## ada_potato (Aug 14, 2010)

I don't have these GP Recyko, but from what I've read in other posts, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase them.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003M0PR6W/?tag=cpf0b6-20


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## BigusLightus (Aug 14, 2010)

When I buy a price instead of a product I have been unhappy. In my experience the best product will often cost less in the long run. I've bought cheap LSD's and I've bought Eneloops and Duraloops. Some of my half price cheapos only lasted a few cycles before they dropped their runtime. Two cheapos out of the twenty four pack I purchased were DOA.

I have disposed of most of my 24 pack of cheapos because they just didn't do the work that needed to be done.

I have not disposed of ANY Eneloops or Duraloops. They have always done the work that I asked them to do.

Consider visiting the "Good Deals" page on CPFMP at least once a day. You will be rewarded. My last purchase of Duraloops was well under $2 per batt.


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## offroad (Aug 14, 2010)

BigusLightus said:


> Consider visiting the "Good Deals" page on CPFMP at least once a day.



Thanks for the tip, wonder why I get the following message when I try to go there: *"offroad*, you do not have permission to access this page."

I'm logged on to the regular forum and the Marketplace but still can't seem to get to the Good Deals page.
No problems getting to the *WTS: Flashlights & Parts *forum though so I'm not sure why I can't get to the Good Deals forum.


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## BigusLightus (Aug 14, 2010)

You might need to have two posts under your belt in the Market Place forums before you gain access to the "Secret" area.


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## offroad (Aug 14, 2010)

BigusLightus said:


> You might need to have two posts under your belt in the Market Place forums before you gain access to the "Secret" area.



You are probably correct, I have no posts in the MP forums. Thought my posts here would be enough, but I guess with separate registration the posts would be as well.


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## BigusLightus (Aug 16, 2010)

Hi offroad,

This morning I viewed the "Good Deals" page and found out that http://www.shnoop.com/index.php is selling "Made in Japan" (that's important) Duraloop AA's at a $1.83 each. There have been a few better prices in the past but this is pretty good. I've just ordered another 24 batts.

Hope this helps.


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## Battery Guy (Aug 16, 2010)

BigusLightus said:


> Hi offroad,
> 
> This morning I viewed the "Good Deals" page and found out that http://www.shnoop.com/index.php is selling "Made in Japan" (that's important) Duraloop AA's at a $1.83 each. There have been a few better prices in the past but this is pretty good. I've just ordered another 24 batts.
> 
> Hope this helps.



Thanks BigusLightus! I just ordered 24 for myself as well! 

What an excellent find!

Cheers
BG


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## offroad (Aug 16, 2010)

BigusLightus said:


> Hi offroad,
> 
> This morning I viewed the "Good Deals" page and found out that http://www.shnoop.com/index.php is selling "Made in Japan" (that's important) Duraloop AA's at a $1.83 each.



BigusLightus: Thanks very much for the tip.

Have you ordered from shnoop before? 
There resellerratings number is 3.19/10 for the last 6mos and 5.50 lifetime, not very encouraging.


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## Itchrelief (Aug 16, 2010)

offroad said:


> BigusLightus: Thanks very much for the tip.
> 
> Have you ordered from shnoop before?
> There resellerratings number is 3.19/10 for the last 6mos and 5.50 lifetime, not very encouraging.



I ordered a previous duraloop pack from schnoop a month ago. The order of 12 arrived as 6 2-packs.

The cells look like duraloops I've bought from local b&m stores, but the wrapper does not say "pre-charged" on them. Item is labeled as AA/HR6/DX1500 NiMH 1,2V/2000mAh. The "copper" colored portion of the wrapper is a bit shorter on the schnoop cells.

Haven't run any tests to be able to tell if they behave like eneloops or not.

Speculation is they may have been cells intended for a non-U.S. market, like Australia or New Zealand (if they're legit).


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## Battery Guy (Aug 16, 2010)

Itchrelief said:


> I ordered a previous duraloop pack from schnoop a month ago. The order of 12 arrived as 6 2-packs.
> 
> The cells look like duraloops I've bought from local b&m stores, but the wrapper does not say "pre-charged" on them. Item is labeled as AA/HR6/DX1500 NiMH 1,2V/2000mAh. The "copper" colored portion of the wrapper is a bit shorter on the schnoop cells.
> 
> ...



Hmmm....now I wonder if I just spent $35 on counterfeit cells. Well, I guess we will have to wait and see. Should be pretty easy to determine if these are legit when they arrive. I will let you all know.

Cheers,
BG


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## Battery Guy (Aug 16, 2010)

Itchrelief said:


> I ordered a previous duraloop pack from schnoop a month ago. The order of 12 arrived as 6 2-packs.
> 
> The cells look like duraloops I've bought from local b&m stores, but the wrapper does not say "pre-charged" on them. Item is labeled as AA/HR6/DX1500 NiMH 1,2V/2000mAh. The "copper" colored portion of the wrapper is a bit shorter on the schnoop cells.
> 
> ...



Ok, I was concerned that wrapper does not say "pre-charged", but I did a little digging on Duracell's website and came up with this product specification sheet for the DX1500. It is definitely an LSD cell and the wrapper does not say "pre-charged".

I now have at least a little hope that I did not get ripped-off.

Keeping my fingers crossed....

Cheers,
BG


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## Robin24k (Aug 16, 2010)

Those aren't necessarily counterfeits, I got two of those with my CEF23 charger. The older packaging only says rechargeable on them, so if they are DX1500, you should be fine. I haven't heard of Duraloop fakes before. I do like the wrapper on the older ones though, they look much sturdier than the Pre-Charged label, which is just a sticker.

On a slight tangent, I got a pack of the new Eneloops at Costco today. 8xAA and 4xAAA with charger (timer based) for $25.99. They are the 1500 charge type and are a little more expensive than the Duraloops I got last December.


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## BigusLightus (Aug 16, 2010)

Yes, I have ordered from Shnoop twice and Pennywise once and my batts arrived in three days every time. My portable bass guitar amp runs on six AA's and I've been using Eneloops and Shnoopaloops for a while with very positive results. Someone posted the date coding key in one of the other threads. My very latest DuraShnoopaloop packages were born on September 08. Coming up on two years old but still performing well.


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## fishinfool (Aug 16, 2010)

BigusLightus said:


> Yes, I have ordered from Shnoop twice and Pennywise once and my batts arrived in three days every time. My portable bass guitar amp runs on six AA's and I've been using Eneloops and Shnoopaloops for a while with very positive results. Someone posted the date coding key in one of the other threads. My very latest DuraShnoopaloop packages were born on September 08. Coming up on two years old but still performing well.


 
Are all of these 'Shnoopaloops' you've been getting, white top + made in Japan Duracell batteries? Just curious. Thanks.


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## ama230 (Aug 16, 2010)

The Tenergy R2U LSD AA's have a little better capacity than Eneloops, Duraloops and etc and have the same nominal voltage. You get twice the quantity and get 6(4AA) cases for $1.45/battery. These work awesome and out of all the 100+(AA's and AAA's LSD R2U batteries) I got they all work with no complaints. There are a lot of reviews on here that dislike Tenergy as a brand. As I have seen there are just as many Eneloops and etc having problems, even if there are a few.

Then this company also warranties there batteries as well. There are many builders on here that can swear that these deliver great amperage. I have got the new Eneloops and these Tenergys are right on par and if not a little better in terms of capacity. You definitely can't beat the price.

By the way all-battery sells them for 10bucks more on there site and charges 5 bucks for shipping so in reality they are 15 bucks cheaper on Ebay then on their site. They have great customer service and this is their direct distributor/ same company as Tenergy. You can trust them 100%.

Here's a link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...fadccd6&itemid=290441191603&ff4=263602_263622

Hope this helps...


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## Battery Guy (Aug 20, 2010)

Just thought that I would let everyone know that I received my AA Duraloops from Shnoops and my AAA Duraloops from Pennywise today.

I ordered 24 of each at the following prices:

AAs: $43.98 ($1.83 per cell)
AAAs: $35.99 ($1.50 per cell)

The cells arrived in four cell card packs in original Duracell packing boxes. The cards are labelled for import into Australia and have the Duracell pink bunny, which is common everywhere except North America. The cells and cards are labelled "Made in Japan", and by all appearances are identical in constructions to eneloops and other Duraloops that I have purchased.

I am pretty confident that these are indeed genuine Duraloops. Next week I will start running discharge tests on them to measure the remaining capacity. This might give me some idea for how old they are.

All things considered, I think this was a pretty good deal. My experience with Shnoop and Pennywise was very positive, and everything arrived within four days of placing the order. My only small issue was that Shnoop never did provide a tracking number, and it appears even now that my order is still processing when I go to my account. Pennywise provided me with a tracking number within 24 hours of placing the order.

So a big thanks to BigusLightus for pointing out this great bargain! :twothumbs

Cheers,
BG


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## offroad (Aug 20, 2010)

Battery Guy said:


> Just thought that I would let everyone know that I received my AA Duraloops from Shnoops



I held off ordering because of their resellerrating, guess I will have to wait and see if they come back to Scnoops now.



Battery Guy said:


> Next week I will start running discharge tests on them to measure the remaining capacity. This might give me some idea for how old they are.



Was there a date code on the cells?


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## Mr Happy (Aug 20, 2010)

Battery Guy said:


> This might give me some idea for how old they are.


I think an identifier might be found printed or stamped on the side of the cells that includes a date of manufacture. On other Duracells the date code has been of the form 7F08 = year 2007, month F (June), day 08 = 8th June 2007.


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## Battery Guy (Aug 20, 2010)

Mr Happy said:


> I think an identifier might be found printed or stamped on the side of the cells that includes a date of manufacture. On other Duracells the date code has been of the form 7F08 = year 2007, month F (June), day 08 = 8th June 2007.



I will have to confirm this on Monday, but I am almost positive that the first number on both the AA and AAA was "7", which would make them 3 years old.


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## fishinfool (Aug 20, 2010)

Battery Guy said:


> I will have to confirm this on Monday, but I am almost positive that the first number on both the AA and AAA was "7", *which would make them 3 years old*.


 
That could be why they were so cheap but if they are the real deal then it shouldn't matter. They are still way better than most. :twothumbs


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## Battery Guy (Aug 20, 2010)

fishinfool said:


> That could be why they were so cheap but if they are the real deal then it shouldn't matter. They are still way better than most. :twothumbs



Oh, I am sure that's why they were cheap. I wasn't expecting them to be new for the price. However, I am very happy that they are authentic.

I am very interested to find out how well they perform.

Cheers,
BG


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## Black Rose (Aug 20, 2010)

They should be OK.

I've got Eneloops that were made in 2006 that are still doing very well.


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## pae77 (Aug 21, 2010)

Granted that is cheaper than the current Costco deal, but not that much cheaper. For a slightly higher cost, I think I would rather get fresh examples of the "new improved" Eneloops that are currently being sold at Costco in a 12 pack (8 AA's plus 4 AAA's, bundled with a (useless to me) 2 channel charger, for a hair over $2.00 apiece.


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## Battery Guy (Aug 21, 2010)

pae77 said:


> Granted that is cheaper than the current Costco deal, but not that much cheaper. For a slightly higher cost, I think I would rather get fresh examples of the "new improved" Eneloops that are currently being sold at Costco in a 12 pack (8 AA's plus 4 AAA's, bundled with a (useless to me) 2 channel charger, for a hair over $2.00 apiece.



If I already had a Costco membership, and if there was a Costco nearby where I live, and I had other reasons to shop at Costco, then it would have been better for me to buy them at Costco.

Cheers,
BG


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## bao123 (Aug 22, 2010)

Eneloops are the best. Budget implies they should be cheaper than eneloops.

Look for deals you see for Rayovac hybrid types. Easiest ones to find are Rayovac and Duracell brands. Keywords are "pre-charged" "2000-2100mah" and often they will state 75% charge retention after 1 year.

Cheapest eneloops are usually 2 bucks a piece. The hybrid type deals are more common and they can get as low as $1 a piece - that's what I paid for Sony Cycle-energys recently.

Generally, performance difference won't be too noticeable under 1C or 2000mA rates. Above that, get eneloops. I have both types from various brands over the past 12 months. For now, they've all been reliable. But then, I've never pushed the hybrids too far.

To me, if you find eneloops for less than $2 a piece, get them.


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## syncytial (Aug 22, 2010)

pae77 said:


> Granted that is cheaper than the current Costco deal, but not that much cheaper. For a slightly higher cost, I think I would rather get fresh examples of the "new improved" Eneloops that are currently being sold at Costco in a 12 pack (8 AA's plus 4 AAA's, bundled with a (useless to me) 2 channel charger, for a hair over $2.00 apiece.




The realities of production, supply chains, and retailing for this sort of product mean that it would not be unusual to see stock being sold at retail that was up to two years from it's production date, perhaps even more. If LSD NiMh cells become the norm, and rechargeables become more popular relative to disposable cells, then the lag between manufacturing and sale to the consumer could be reduced.

Luckily, experience to date has shown that Eneloops have an excellent shelf life, even when unused, in the original package. I would not hesitate to buy Eneloops up to two years old at $2.00/cell or less.

It will be very interesting to see how Battery Guy's new (old) Eneloops measure up under professional scrutiny.


- Syncytial.


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## Quest4fire (Aug 22, 2010)

Does anyone know a link to pictures of the retail packaging for Duraloops?


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## Robin24k (Aug 22, 2010)




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## tandem (Aug 23, 2010)

Indeed, those "Duraloops" in Canada are often the best budget LSD cell. Currently on 2-day sale for 7.99 (9.99 for balance of week) a 4-pack at almost any Shopper's Drug Mart in the country - no shipping costs for locals! Last batch I bought (yesterday) were relatively new too - the cell date code was December 2009 on some AAA cells; November 2009 on the AA's.

Only in Canada eh? Pity.

(last line from a very old tea commercial)


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## Fulgeo (Aug 23, 2010)

Just wanted to chime in and say Eneloops. As reflected you can usually find them in the $2.00 a piece range. They really are hard to beat. I love the little guys.


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## Battery Guy (Aug 23, 2010)

Wanted to give a quick update on those Duraloops from Shnoops and Pennywise:

AA Datecode: 7K05-11 Q (November 2007)
AAA Datecode: 7JC8-SS (October 2007)

Initial discharge capacity fresh out of the package measured at 500 mA on my C9000 for the first four AA cells:

1308 mAh
1324 mAh
1328 mAh
1337 mAh

That is an average of 66% capacity retention (assuming 2000 mAh nominal capacity) after about 2 years and 9 months of storage.

Cheers,
BG


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## Mr Happy (Aug 23, 2010)

Those seem like typical numbers for three year old cells.

Also note that the cells were likely not shipped in a fully charged state. Discharge readings on brand new cells typically give around 1700 mAh.


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## Fulgeo (Aug 23, 2010)

Mr Happy said:


> Those seem like typical numbers for three year old cells.
> 
> Also note that the cells were likely not shipped in a fully charged state. Discharge readings on brand new cells typically give around 1700 mAh.



Seems like I have read somewhere that they are shipped with a 75% charge on them. Can not substantiate this point since my googlefu seem to be rusty. Anyone?


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## Mr Happy (Aug 23, 2010)

Fulgeo said:


> Seems like I have read somewhere that they are shipped with a 75% charge on them. Can not substantiate this point since my googlefu seem to be rusty. Anyone?


I've heard that kind of number quoted, but 75% of 2000 would be only be 1500 and yet fresh new Eneloops do read higher than 1500 mAh when tested on the C9000.


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## Kestrel (Aug 23, 2010)

Battery Guy said:


> Wanted to give a quick update on those Duraloops from Shnoops and Pennywise:
> 
> AA Datecode: 7K05-11 Q (November 2007)
> [...]
> That is an average of *66%* capacity retention (assuming 2000 mAh nominal capacity) after about 2 years and 9 months of storage.


Awesome. Interesting thing, I did a runtime test (Malkoff M31W) with these exact cells (from Shnoop) and got ~45 minutes until initial dimming. Charged them up and subsequently got ~1:10.

45 minutes / 70 minutes = *64%* :twothumbs

Not bad agreement for a rather less scientific test method over here.

--------------------

*Edit*: And since this batch of new-old-stock Duraloops is probably going to end up being pretty popular around here, I humbly suggest the following term: Shnoopaloops ?

Edit # 2: LOL, I just re-read the first page of this thread and it looks like this term had already been suggested.


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## jdmaxima89 (Aug 24, 2010)

I don't want to get flamed for this... but has anyone tried radioshack.com's "Lenmar® 2150mAh Ni-MH "AA" Ready-2-Go Batteries (8-Pack)"? They are $19.99... but I work at a hardware store that has a radioshack in it.. so I was wondering if these even remotely compared to my Eneloops. I imagine my price on them would be $10-$15 for the 8-pack... but I won't know until tomorrow. I could order them, but I have no way to test anything with them. Here is the link. :wave:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3402581&clickid=prod_cs


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## Whitedog1 (Aug 24, 2010)

HobbyKing has also some LSD batteries which seems to be ok for the price (guessing based upon user reviews) :thumbsup:

Look Here :huh:


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## Mr Happy (Aug 24, 2010)

jdmaxima89 said:


> I don't want to get flamed for this... but has anyone tried radioshack.com's "Lenmar® 2150mAh Ni-MH "AA" Ready-2-Go Batteries (8-Pack)"?


I have often seen Lenmar products in Fry's. I have not seen the R2G cells before, but since Fry's is listing them at $8.99/4 I suspect they will not be as good as Eneloops. I usually get the feeling that Lenmar products are "value priced" with commensurate product quality.


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## Battery Guy (Aug 24, 2010)

Kestrel said:


> Awesome. Interesting thing, I did a runtime test (Malkoff M31W) with these exact cells (from Shnoop) and got ~45 minutes until initial dimming. Charged them up and subsequently got ~1:10.
> 
> 45 minutes / 70 minutes = *64%* :twothumbs
> 
> Not bad agreement for a rather less scientific test method over here.



Outstanding agreement if you ask me.

I am very interested to see how aging has affected the performance at higher current discharge drains. Not just capacity, but how well the voltage of the cell holds up. Hopefully I can get some testing done this week.

Cheers,
BG


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## Battery Guy (Aug 25, 2010)

Battery Guy said:


> Wanted to give a quick update on those Duraloops from Shnoops and Pennywise:
> 
> AA Datecode: 7K05-11 Q (November 2007)
> AAA Datecode: 7JC8-SS (October 2007)
> ...



Here are the total capacity values for these four cells as measured by the Break-In mode on my C9000:

1954 mAh
1974 mAh
1983 mAh
1963 mAh

Based on values I have seen posted by others on new eneloops, I would have to say that there is really no significant loss in total capacity in these three year old cells.

I am running a test on one of the cells above at higher currents (1A through 10A) to compare with a new eneloop to see if there is a loss in high discharge rate performance.

Cheers,
BG


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## fishinfool (Aug 25, 2010)

Brand new numbers on 3 yr. old cells. Another reason why Eneloops are simply the best. :twothumbs


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## Robin24k (Aug 25, 2010)

Age shouldn't make much of a difference as long as these cells are stored properly. Nickel-based batteries' life is based on cycle-count, so storage time doesn't affect them like it does to lithium-based cells.


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## Mr Happy (Aug 25, 2010)

Robin24k said:


> Age shouldn't make much of a difference as long as these cells are stored properly. Nickel-based batteries' life is based on cycle-count, so storage time doesn't affect them like it does to lithium-based cells.


There are delicate structures and compounds in the metal hydride electrode that undergo chemical changes with the passage of time, reducing performance and capacity. Unlike NiCd cells, NiMH cells do have a finite lifetime even when not being used (especially when not being used in the case of non-LSD cells). Cells like Eneloops have a more stable composition, but even they will not last forever.


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## shark_za (Aug 26, 2010)

Here is a curve ball... 

In actual brick and mortar shops in South Africa the best "budget" LSD AA is the Duracell Duraloop. 

No lies. 

The other options are Uniross Hybrio and GP Recyko and the price of the white top duracells is the cheapest at Stax stores. 

For the SA members who might be interested. 

Americans and web shoppers will freak at the price though, $13 for 4. 
The rest are around $14/$15.


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## subwoofer (Aug 26, 2010)

This may only be a suggestion for the UK market, but after reading some reviews I opted for the 7dayshop "Good to Go" AA LSDs:

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=107341

Maybe a bit of a naff name, but performance has been very strong.

I use the La Crosse/Technoline BC-700 charger and it reports these are achieving their rated capacity and seem to be holding charge well. I don't have enough gadgets to do a proper test, but one review I read had the Good to Go and Eneloops neck and neck in testing (performance and charge retention) and at half the price great value for money.

Anyone else tried them?


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## Selectron (Aug 26, 2010)

subwoofer said:


> This may only be a suggestion for the UK market, but after reading some reviews I opted for the 7dayshop "Good to Go" AA LSDs:
> 
> http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=107341
> 
> ...



I just switched from standard NiMH to LSDs and I also opted for the 7dayshop 'Good to Go' cells - that performance review which you mentioned swayed me in favour of them. If you look very closely on the side of the cell right down by the negative terminal, there's a date code printed in tiny characters - mine are '09-07', which I'm interpreting as July 2009.

Upon arrival, I popped them into my digital camera and they performed just fine - the camera is very demanding, so considering that the cells haven't been near a charger in over a year, I have a favourable initial impression of them. I'm putting them through three discharge/charge cycles at the moment - discharging at 100mA and recharging at 0.1C for 16 hours, then I'll put them into regular use and I can retire my old cells to less demanding applications - their internal resistance is too high for the camera but low enough that I can still make good use of them elsewhere.

The old cells were also 7dayshop items - the 2500mAh AA, and it was a constant struggle to keep a decent charge in them and squeeze some decent performance out of them - latterly it was mostly a losing battle so I'm looking forward to a more relaxed experience with the LSDs.


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## amigafan2003 (Aug 26, 2010)

> http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/prod...ucts_id=107341



Just ordered 20 of those cells so I'll see how they hold up - thanks for the heads up


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## Battery Guy (Aug 26, 2010)

*My final word on "Shnoopaloops"*



Battery Guy said:


> Here are the total capacity values for these four cells as measured by the Break-In mode on my C9000:
> 
> 1954 mAh
> 1974 mAh
> ...



Here are the discharge curves up through 5 A for the Shnoopaloops that I purchased, compared to new Eneloops that I tested a couple of weeks ago:







I actually tested two of my nearly 3 year old Shnoopaloops, and the results posted above are the worst of the two.

You can see that 3 years of storage has indeed caused a degradation in performance. At a 5 amp discharge, the older Shnoopaloops have a 15 mohm lower average voltage compared to the new Eneloops.

You can safely assume that for every 1 amp increment in current draw, the average voltage difference between new Eneloops and the three year old Shoopaloops will be ~3 mohms. However, I personally think that this is still outstanding performance from these cells.

My final conclusion: Three year old Duraloops from Shnoops.com (actually, Shnoops sister site Pennywise.com also has these cells for the same price occasionally) at a cost of $1.83 per cell have my vote for "Best Budget AA LSD"!

Cheers,
BG


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## Black Rose (Aug 26, 2010)

That's pretty good performance for 3 year old cells.


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## Kestrel (Aug 26, 2010)

*Re: My final word on "Shnoopaloops"*



Battery Guy said:


> [...] My final conclusion: Three year old Duraloops from Shnoops.com [...] at a cost of $1.83 per cell have my vote for "Best Budget AA LSD"!


Excellent data and a very sound conclusion it seems to me. I had been shopping around for quite some time looking for some good LSD AA's on a budget and came to the conclusion that if I was patient enough I could find the 'real thing' for a budget price.

Regarding getting comparison data, these 3-year old 'Shnoopaloops' were a fortuitous find. :thumbsup:


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## amigafan2003 (Sep 1, 2010)

Just got my 20 lsd cells from 7dayshop (own brand) and I've done some rudimentary testing. I have a smart charger but it's not capable or analysing the cells for capacity, so this is the data I have collected in comparison to a pair of eneloops.

Voltage off the charger after an overnight charge:-

Eneloop 1 1.477v
Eneloop 2 1.484v
7DayShop 1 1.469v
7DayShop 2 1.469v

Voltage after 1hr rest (% in brackets):-

Eneloop 1 1.455v (98.5%).
Eneloop 2 1.463v (98.5%).
7DayShop 1 1.447v (98.5%).
7DayShop 2 1.448v (98.5%).

Run Time on a Quark AA2 on Max (initial amp draw in brackets):-

Eneloops 1h10m (1.8A).
7DayShops 1h5m (2.0A).

Voltage after run (voltage after 1 hr rest after discharge in brackets):-

Eneloop 1 0.93v (1.183v).
Eneloop 2 0.97v (1.187v).
7DayShop1 0.95v (1.101v).
7DayShop2 0.96v (1.127v).

So, not bad but not up their with the Eneloops. Some have mentioned that they look a lot like Rayovac Hybrios and looking at the perfomance I'd say that seems feasible. 

They're certainly good enough to rescue my Eneloops from my kids toys and I'd say they ARE worth the £3.69 I paid for each pack (and they come with a case). I'm glad I bought them.


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## gnopgip (Sep 1, 2010)

+1 for the "schnoopaloops."

I've been on a buying binge with them the past few weeks. They seem to alternate selling the AA with AAA for $22 and $18 respectively. They're actually on sale now at http://pennywise.biz

But if you miss it, just wait about 1 week and it will come back on sale. Thanks for the testing BG. That is very reassuring info seeing I"ve been stocking up lately.


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## offroad (Sep 1, 2010)

gnopgip said:


> They're actually on sale now at http://pennywise.biz



Yes, ordered a set for myself after some reservations about the the sellers online reputation. 
Everyone else seems to be getting them ok so hopefully I will as well.


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## Sparkss (Sep 3, 2010)

had no problem with my orders from either site. You should be fine to order from them


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## offroad (Sep 10, 2010)

Received my AA Duraloops from pennywise, date code showed they are from November of 2007. 

The first group of four had from 1387-1415mah still available so 69% after 2 years 9 months. These definitely are not like the Non LSD NiMH I tried a number of years ago. Will see how close to 2000mah they get, but I am very impressed with how long they hold a charge.


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## ama230 (Sep 10, 2010)

The tenergy lsd's are great and I had finally pulled the trigger on a maha 9000 and have bought a bunch of aa and aaa lsd cells as they were at an awesome price.

I had just gor doing a break in cycle, which takes forever and have to compare with just a basic charge as most cells get an adequate first charge when the leave the factory but still applies to those cells that are left sitting for a long time used.

The charger: I am using a brand new powerex maha c9000

The batteries:
AA: Tenergy ready to use 2300mah @1.2v lsd cells. Qty 4
AAA: Tenergy ready to use 1000mah @ 1.2v lsd cells. Qty 4

Method: Break-in cycle(Charge - Discharge - Charge) With factory settings and just plugged in the 1000mah for aaa's and 2300mah for aa's.

Results:
AA: 2012 1963 2004 2010 (mah) @ 1.44v
AAA: 837 775 840 787 (mah) @ 1.44v

As comparing to eneloop it seems pretty good as the aaa's are all over but they still gave great results as we have yet to see a nimh aaa reach to conisistant 900mah mark.

As for the self discharge they are also on park with the white eneloops as they give the same charge and life. a great option for as I had got the aa's and aaa's @ $1.50 shipped each.


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## tandem (Sep 10, 2010)

This is an extract from my tracking system showing cell capacity values from the last few batches of Imedion and "Duraloop" AA and AAA cells I've run through a routine initial discharge and then a break-in run: 

Duracell "Duraloop" AAA 800
796, 793, 793, 800, 793, 797

Duracell "Duraloop" AA 2000
1930, 1920, 1945, 1937

Imedion AA 2400
2254, 2219, 2239, 2241, 2278, 2236, 2236, 2236, 2206, 2275, 2247

Imedion AAA 800
819, 829, 830, 821, 844, 823, 809, 816, 817, 827

Duraloops cost me just under $2 a cell locally here at the drug store when on sale, Imedions I've never bought nearly as cheap. More or less I use them interchangably, both great, I'll probably buy more Duraloops than Imedions simply because of the great price.


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## purduephotog (Sep 11, 2010)

offroad said:


> What are the best budget AA cells, that compare favorably to eneloops in run time and LSD?
> 
> I know about Duraloops but all the white top one's I have found locally, are higher priced than I can mail order eneloops for. Also read that some of the Rayovac pre-charged are good but the local walmart has several different types (platinum etc) so not sure which are best.
> 
> Any good candidates from eBay or other reputable on-line sources? Best price I could find for eneloops in the US was amazon.



Tenergy cells.

I've put a few posts up about my experience with them- 72 cells, loads of applications- long run times, abuse (baby toys left on overnight), flashlights, HVAC equipment- they've held up well. The ones I've deep discharged do hurt in capacity, so I mark them with a dot and move them to another pile.

You can get them at less than 1$/cell on sale if you wait.

They're also the right size to fit the double AA to D adapters with no problem... I want to get a triple AA to D but no such lucj.


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## uk_caver (Sep 11, 2010)

I'll be getting some of the 7dayshop own-brands (re-brands?) in the next few days - will run them through my c9000 and see what I get.


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## amigafan2003 (Sep 11, 2010)

> I'll be getting some of the 7dayshop own-brands (re-brands?) in the next few days - will run them through my c9000 and see what I get.



Cool - It'll be interesting to see what they get.


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## offroad (Sep 11, 2010)

purduephotog said:


> I want to get a triple AA to D but no such luck.



KD sells some here they are series not parallel though. There are also some much better made versions for sale in the marketplace.


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## uk_caver (Sep 14, 2010)

I got my first C9000 results for the 7dayshop-branded AAs (nominal 2100mAh)

I bought 2x 4-packs. All cells are marked 09/07, so potentially 14 months post manufacture, with unknown initial charge level.

On an initial 500mA discharge, I got between 990 and 1040mAh, so fairly close figures.

Then a refresh/analyse, 1000mA charge, 500mA discharge, and got between 1724 and 1771mAh.

I'll use/abuse them for a while, and see how they behave, and compare to some of my Eneloops.
Need to try some out at 2.8A in a small XPG-based photo light I'm making a few of.

I think my C9000 may be a little conservative on charging , since I seem to get slightly lower results with my Eneloops than most other people do (will run a set of used but fairly new Eneloops through tomorrow for comparison).

Also, while doing the refresh, I noticed slot 1 seems to be underreporting charge - with both sets of 4, slots 2-4 showed pretty much the same amount going in as coming back out, but slot 1 showed rather less - more like the high-ish 1600s than the mid 1700s of the other 3 slots.

The fact that the discharge figures seem pretty even across all 8 cells and all 4 slots makes me suspect that the charging was happening fine in all slots, but was just being measured a bit low for slot 1.


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