What we had with us were combination adapter/converters. I didn’t even think to just try the adpater without the converter – this was my first time anywhere that I would have to even use a converter like that, so I am sure it was overkill. Hopefully we didn’t hurt anything…

Judie :0)

Judie: I actually wound up buying a blue U20 after admiring Julie’s on the trip, and I can definitely vouch that the NEXcell charger is wayyyyyy better than the included Sony version.

Julie: Speaking of voltage converters, both of us bought one for the trip. Mine is called the Voltage Valet and came from Packinglight.com. It came with several different plug adapters. I used it with my hair dryer and various PDA, camera chargers. —–

why did you need to use a voltage converter with the nexcell charger? i reread your nexcell review and it can be used for travel both in europe and the united states. it would appear that it should not be attached to a converter. it also appears that you used a converter for your pdas. i would also assume that your pdas are rated for 240 volt and should not require a converter. i use my sony 615 and handspring visor both in the united states, middle east and europe with no coverter,just a plug adapter.

thanks for the clarification.

bettina

Unfortunately, with a two-circuit charger you need to own a few extra batteries and wait until you have similarly discharged pairs and charge them together. This is what I do with the batteries I use with my Nomad II MP3 player that only uses a single battery. If you really need to charge odd numbers of batteries the Maha C-410-FS referenced in Carguy’s first post seems like the way to go, although digital-imaging.com has considered it and kept its original recommendation of the Maha C-204F as the best charger available because of its ability to give a full charge to the batteries on each charge cycle.

Carguy – great post! It caused me to realize that the only NiMH batteries that I have ever used that have failed were also Nexell’s and the indication on digital-imaging.com that these batteries also failed in their tests is starting to amount to more than anecdotal evidence of problems. I have had good experience with Maha and Powerex batteries, and my wife has not complained about Kodak and GP AAA batteries (although her usage may not be at “gadgeteer levels.”

Finally, the down side to NiMH batteries seems to be that some electronic devices have a battery charge indicator that is not properly calibrated for the lower voltage of NiMH batteries (1.2V rather than 1.5 volts of alkalines) so they prematurely indicate that the batteries need to be replaced. This should not be a problem with any digital camera made in the past three years, as the manufacturers all seem to be recommending NiMH, unless they are providing Lithium-Ion rechargeables.

-w

Originally posted by Judie
I believe you really need to charge either two or four for it to work properly, but with the over-charge protection I think (hope) your batteries would be safe. I suppose you could just rotate them out…

it appears this charger only has two circuits, i.e., you can only charger batteries in pairs. you should put that down as a negative, judie. a lot of the newer chargers have up to four separate circuits that allow you to charge 1, 2, 3, or 4 batteries at a time. here is a good source for nimh batteries and chargers:

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/nimh_battery_chargers.htm

-10bt

The only older battery that I have had trouble with was in one of my iPAQs – it just died – possibly because it was discharged for too long.

To the best of my knowledge, all of the others have held up very well (I have sold many of my older PDAs). My Palm IIIc now belongs to a friend, and it is going strong – and it is well over 2 years old.

In any case, this is what makes companies like Pocket PC Techs even more valuable.

Judie :0)

The site is put together by a company that makes battery charger/conditioners.

The good thing about NiMH is that you can use them for years. Apparently, Li-Ion batteries only last about 2 years before they degrade (no matter how well you treat them).

Judy,
Have you had any problems with PDA batteries that are over 2 years old? On several Palm bulletin boards, I have heard that Palm, Sony, and Handspring Li-Ion batteries are lasting only 2 years.

Well – right now they are working very well. If I see in the furture that their performance slacks off, then I will definitely make note of it here and in the review.

Thanks!
Judie :0)

I would like to point out that this type battery is probably not the best one for a digital camera to begin with. Lithium-Ion would be better – however for the money (meaning less of it), I am happy with these.

Judie :0)

I’d also like to point out that I’ve owned NEXcell batteries, and they have failed. At first they performed very well, as you experienced. Within a few months they became useless and wont’ even power on my Olympus digital camera. This is not an isolated incident, as Imaging-Resource had the same problem in their test of many NiMH batteries. I suggest visiting that site to see which brands did well.

They also reccommend the Maha C-204F, which I use. The batteries do get warm during charging, but I usually place a fan in front of my charger while I’m charging batteries to help keep them cool.

I believe you really need to charge either two or four for it to work properly, but with the over-charge protection I think (hope) your batteries would be safe. I suppose you could just rotate them out…

Judie :0)

MAHA

Could you let us know if you can charge an odd number of batteries? 1 at a time or 3.

I have some FRS radios that use 3 batteries, and I think it would be easier, and perhaps better for the batteries, to charge the set of 3. Some chargers won’t handle that.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers,
Ray

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/nexcell-battery-charger-review.html

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