Best AA NiMh available in the UK ???

Everyone raves about Maha Powerex but I've yet to find anyone who stocks them in the UK, so was wondering which batteries people found best which are readily available.. these are my findings so far in an E10..

Varta 1300.. Excellent, seem to outperform a lot of 1600s, their 1800s must be blinding but I can't find a supplier for Varta, I bought this set on holiday..

Hahnel 1800.. The best I've used yet, if the Mahas are better than this, I want a set!.

Uniross 1600.. Lousy, they even go flat standing after a few days in the kit bag!, Uniross with all fairness to them replaced them with 1700s

Uniross 1700.. Far better, in fact quite impressed!, as good if not better than the GPs

GP1700.. Not as impressed as I expected to be, don't seem to last any longer than the Uniross, highly rated battery manufacturer in reviews, maybe the 1800s are closer to their rated milliamp/hour, these are more like 1300Ma/Hr

I've got 2 sets of Uniross 1700s (8 batteries in total) and have been using the Uniross 'slow' charger that was bundled with one of the sets.

For my type of usage I find them pretty poor allthough I suspect that would be the same for pretty much all NiMH batteries. As you discovered with the Uniross 1600s, my 1700s go flat after just 2-3 days in the kit bag.

If I use them right after charging then they do last pretty well though but the slow Uniross charger doesn't allow 'top-up' charges so is pretty inflexible. I think they might have brought out a more intelligent 'fast' charger now though.

Having said all that my usage pattern (2-3 days of constant use followed by 2-3 weeks of not using my camera at all) is much better suited to the non-rechargable Lithium CR-V3 batteries. They last a VERY long time and don't fade when not in use. OK, they're expensive but I'm still on the set that came with the camera!

Michael.

Adam-T said:

Everyone raves about Maha Powerex but I've yet to find anyone who
stocks them in the UK, so was wondering which batteries people
found best which are readily available.. these are my findings so
far in an E10..

Varta 1300.. Excellent, seem to outperform a lot of 1600s, their
1800s must be blinding but I can't find a supplier for Varta, I
bought this set on holiday..

Hahnel 1800.. The best I've used yet, if the Mahas are better than
this, I want a set!.

Uniross 1600.. Lousy, they even go flat standing after a few days
in the kit bag!, Uniross with all fairness to them replaced them
with 1700s

Uniross 1700.. Far better, in fact quite impressed!, as good if not
better than the GPs

GP1700.. Not as impressed as I expected to be, don't seem to last
any longer than the Uniross, highly rated battery manufacturer in
reviews, maybe the 1800s are closer to their rated milliamp/hour,
these are more like 1300Ma/Hr

Click to expand...

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http://www.amarelo.jazznet.pt/photos/

I have 3 sets of Jessops 1500 ni mh, and they certainly don't go flat standing. I leave a set in my old 3030, which I rarely use now that I have my E20, and even after a month or so they are still working. I have never changed batteries more than once in a day, but then I'm limited by my memory cards to about 150 pictures in one go.

Since getting the third set, I've never run out (famous last words!)

I have a slow charger, I leave them overnight - I wonder if they are better, albeit annoyingly slow.

Fleurie

Michael Brown said:

Adam-T said:

Everyone raves about Maha Powerex but I've yet to find anyone who
stocks them in the UK, so was wondering which batteries people
found best which are readily available.. these are my findings so
far in an E10..

Varta 1300.. Excellent, seem to outperform a lot of 1600s, their
1800s must be blinding but I can't find a supplier for Varta, I
bought this set on holiday..

Hahnel 1800.. The best I've used yet, if the Mahas are better than
this, I want a set!.

Uniross 1600.. Lousy, they even go flat standing after a few days
in the kit bag!, Uniross with all fairness to them replaced them
with 1700s

Uniross 1700.. Far better, in fact quite impressed!, as good if not
better than the GPs

GP1700.. Not as impressed as I expected to be, don't seem to last
any longer than the Uniross, highly rated battery manufacturer in
reviews, maybe the 1800s are closer to their rated milliamp/hour,
these are more like 1300Ma/Hr

Click to expand...

--
http://www.amarelo.jazznet.pt/photos/

Click to expand...

Michael Brown said:

I've got 2 sets of Uniross 1700s > For my type of usage I find them pretty poor allthough I suspect
that would be the same for pretty much all NiMH batteries. As you
discovered with the Uniross 1600s, my 1700s go flat after just 2-3
days in the kit bag.

Click to expand...

I would Email Uniross stating the problem, the Vartas, GPs and Hahnels don't go flat in the kitbag and 2-3 days is inexcusable, the 1700s they sent in replacement for my 1600s have been a lot better, I use a Varta 2Hr fast charger I bought from E-bay..

http://www.mahaenergy.co.uk/index.shtml

It's really Nevada UK, nice bunch of chaps, they stock the chargers as well. BIG tip, best batteries on the planet are U/S without a decent charger. I bought a MAHA MH-C204F and it's given my existing NiCads a new lease of life.

I also bought 2 sets of PowerEx 1800's and compared to my Uniross 1700's - well, the 1700's are being relegated to CD Player duty.

Adam-T said:

Everyone raves about Maha Powerex but I've yet to find anyone who
stocks them in the UK, so was wondering which batteries people

Click to expand...

--- SNIP! ---

Jim Attfield said:

It's really Nevada UK, nice bunch of chaps, they stock the chargers
as well. BIG tip, best batteries on the planet are U/S without a
decent charger.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot - that was exactly what I wanted to hear!

Hi,

Ive been looking for a decent charger for my E20 for ages, having now got 3 chargers i'm a bit reluctant to buy another.

However i was tempted with this PowerEX charger, till i found they wanted £36 INC del, (slap my hand why don't you).

Ive never found a charger as good as the one i gave away when i sold my C2500L, made by Olympus, 3 HOUR RAPID CHARGE.

Guess I'll keep trickling for now.

regards
Lee

Lee H said:

Hi,
Ive been looking for a decent charger for my E20 for ages, having
now got 3 chargers i'm a bit reluctant to buy another.
However i was tempted with this PowerEX charger, till i found they
wanted £36 INC del, (slap my hand why don't you).
Ive never found a charger as good as the one i gave away when i
sold my C2500L, made by Olympus, 3 HOUR RAPID CHARGE.
Guess I'll keep trickling for now.
regards
Lee

Click to expand...

Dear Lee,

It may seem dear but have a look at the review...

http://www.steves-digicams.com/maha_c204f.html

Kind regards

Hi Lee,

£36 inc del is not such a bad price considering how good a job it does, and how well it will treat your cells.

The Radio Control Car guys will pay anything from £60 to £150 for a charger - they know how critical it is and what a false economy a mediocre charger is. Mind you, those can take flat 1800's to 110% charge in 20 minutes or so!

Go on - make the leap, you won't regret it.

Jim.

Lee H said:

Hi,
Ive been looking for a decent charger for my E20 for ages, having
now got 3 chargers i'm a bit reluctant to buy another.

However i was tempted with this PowerEX charger, till i found they
wanted £36 INC del, (slap my hand why don't you).

Click to expand...

--- SNIP!---

Jim Attfield said:

£36 inc del is not such a bad price considering how good a job it
does, and how well it will treat your cells.

The Radio Control Car guys will pay anything from £60 to £150 for a
charger - they know how critical it is and what a false economy a
mediocre charger is. Mind you, those can take flat 1800's to 110%
charge in 20 minutes or so!

Go on - make the leap, you won't regret it.

Jim.

Lee H said:

Hi,
Ive been looking for a decent charger for my E20 for ages, having
now got 3 chargers i'm a bit reluctant to buy another.

However i was tempted with this PowerEX charger, till i found they
wanted £36 INC del, (slap my hand why don't you).

Click to expand...

--- SNIP!---

Click to expand...

--
Richard

richard said:

Jim Attfield said:

£36 inc del is not such a bad price considering how good a job it
does, and how well it will treat your cells.

The Radio Control Car guys will pay anything from £60 to £150 for a
charger - they know how critical it is and what a false economy a
mediocre charger is. Mind you, those can take flat 1800's to 110%
charge in 20 minutes or so!

Go on - make the leap, you won't regret it.

Jim.

Lee H said:

Hi,
Ive been looking for a decent charger for my E20 for ages, having
now got 3 chargers i'm a bit reluctant to buy another.

However i was tempted with this PowerEX charger, till i found they
wanted £36 INC del, (slap my hand why don't you).

Click to expand...

--- SNIP!---

Click to expand...

--
Richard

Click to expand...

Have a look at WWW.budgetbatteries.co.uk
--
Richard