Did You Fly??

This is a great deal folks if you happen to be in a store and see these at a lower price that's great BUT if you drove ANYWHERE to get them you just lost money. These are delivered to your door and if you have Amazon Prime (as I do for years) 2 day shipping is free. You need to think the whole thing through before you give a deal like this 1 star. I love having to go no farther than my front door to get them. Just for the record nobody is questioning the quality of the product which is 4/5 stars easy. IMPORTANT NOTE: It seems that from time to time Amazon changes the seller for these and not all are on Amazon Prime so look closely if that is important to you. One week it is and the next week it is not. Still a great product.More detail ...

Good Batteries Bad Charger

This package (CEF14DX4N) includes four new Duracell 'Pre Charged' NiMH AA cells plus a simple charger. The batteries are similar to the Sanyo eneloop low-self-discharge cells. In fact based on their identical technical specifications and physical shapes of (+) and (-) terminals I am convinced that the Duracell Pre Charged AA is actually SANYO eneloop AA underneath a different wrapper. Therefore all the good things you heard about eneloop apply to Duracell 'Pre Charged' too.



The 'value charger' (CEF14) included here however is not a good value because:



1. It is a timer-based dumb charger meaning that it doesn't detect when cells are full charged. It simply charges at 360mA for 6 hours and turns off. You have to wait until your cells are fully exhausted before recharging otherwise they will be over-charged. With a 'smart' charger you may choose to top-off your rechargeable cells any time.



2. It can only charge either 2 or 4 AA cells in pairs. This is very inconvenient if you have appliances that require odd number of cells.



3. It can only charge two AAA cells and you cannot charge any more AA cells at the same time.



My advice is to get the CEF23DX4N package for just a few dollars more. It comes with four Duracell Pre Charged cells (2xAA + 2xAAA) but the included charger (CEF23) is far superior in every aspect. It even operates from your vehicle battery and doubles as an USB charger too.



[Update on Dec 24 2008]

I was only half-right when I boldly proclaimed that "Duracell Pre Charged AA are rebranded Sanyo eneloop cells" in my original review. It turns out that the first batch of Duracell AA cells I bought from Amazon are made in Japan and those are identical to eneloop (both mechanically and electrically). But lately I bought some more Duracell AA from a warehouse club. Those are made in China and they are identical to the Rayovac Hybrid.



[Update on Feb 15 2010]

I have confirmed that the new Duracell 'Value Charger' has several improvements over the old model:

- Works from 100-240V AC (instead of just 120V AC)

- Able to charge 4 AAA at a time (instead of just two)

- Semi-smart charge termination (stops when BOTH cells are fully charged)

The only remaining drawback is thet it charges in pairs only.More detail ...

An eneloop by any other name...

[Updated Dec 24 2008]

I was only half-right when I boldly proclaimed that "Duracell Pre Charged AA are rebranded Sanyo eneloop cells" in my original review. It turns out that the first batch of Duracell AA cells I bought from Amazon are made in Japan and those are identical to eneloop (both mechanically and electrically). But lately I bought some more Duracell AA from a warehouse club. Those are made in China and they are identical to the Rayovac Hybrid.



[Original review follows]



Judging from similarity of technical specifications and physical shapes of (+) and (-) terminals I am convinced that the Duracell Pre Charged AA is actually SANYO eneloop AA underneath a different wrapper. Therefore all the good things you heard about eneloop apply to Duracell 'Pre Charged' too.



My own testing has shown that the capacity of eneloop AA cell is slightly above the claimed 2000mAh and it is able to retain at least 85% of its charge after 5 months in storage. The Rayovac Hybrid AA starts with slightly higher capacity at 2100mAh but it 'only' retains 80% capacity after 5 months. For all practical applications both are equally good. Just pick whichever brand (Sanyo Rayovac or Duracell) is on-sale and you can't go wrong.



One small problem with the Duracell 'Pre Charged' cell is that: it looked too similar to the well-known 'Copper Top' alkaline cell. So there is a good chance that people may mistaken it for a disposable cell. Personally I prefer the distinctive-looking white case of the eneloop cell.

More detail ...

Great Wipes But Ingredients Keep Changing Wipe Size Decreased Over Time and You Get Fewer Wipes Now

Note added 11/28/09: I've revised my 04/26/09 review with new information and changed my rating from five to four stars.



I ordered these wipes from Amazon in mid-2008 in early 2009 and in late 2009 but the wipes were different each time. See Customer Images.



In mid-2008 the front of the mostly-green package was beige and had "seventh GENERATION baby" on the "leaf" logo. The text on the front was in English only; the back was stamped "MADE IN UK." The ingredients were "Water Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose (plant-derived cleaning agent) Glycerin (vegetable oil derived) Citric Acid (provides stability and pH balance) Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E acetate) Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate (food-grade preservatives)." The weight of the package was 1 pound (although it's possible that some moisture leaked out as the measurement was taken in early 2009). There were 80 wipes per package each 6.8"x7.5".



In early 2009 the front of the mostly-green package was blue and gray and had just "seventh GENERATION" on the "leaf" logo on the front. The text on the front was in English and French; the back was stamped "MADE IN USA." The ingredients were "Water Polysorbate 20 (cleansing agent derived from sugar) Glycerin (soothes and cleanses skin vegetable oil derived) Citric acid (provides stability & pH balance) Potassium sorbate (a natural preservative) Aloe Barbadensis Gel (helps heal skin) Tocopherol acetate (Vitamin E acetate helps heal skin)." These ingredients were rated 2 (a "low" hazard) on a cosmetic safety database on the Web. The weight of the package was 1-1/4 pounds when received. There were 80 wipes per package each 6.8"x7.5".



In late 2009 the packaging had changed completely with an overall light lime color instead of green. The baby on the front was sitting in the grass looking at a stacking ring toy. The text was all in English; the side was stamped "MADE IN USA." The ingredients were "Aqua (water) glycerin (vegetable oil derived) citric acid (provides stability and pH balance) cetyl hydroxyethylcellulose (plant-derived cleaning agent) aloe barbadensis extract (aloe) tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E acetate) sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (food-grade preservatives). ... The wipe material used in this product is a blend of rayon (naturally derived) and polyester (PET)." The weight of the package was 1 pound when received. There were 70 wipes per package each 6.8"x7".



Common to all three versions: (1) Although all the packages said "unscented" there was actually a slight odor perhaps from the citric acid and aloe. (2) We've used all of them without problems like diaper rash. (3) I don't agree with reviews such as "There is hardly any moisture now" suggesting that the water content has decreased over time. The current wipes feel just as moist as the previous ones. Although the package weight decreased between early 2009 and late 2009 the number of wipes and their size also declined so that the weight per unit area remained about the same. I will say that the weight per unit area (.0048 ounces per square inch) is lower than for other brands of wipes (e.g. Kirkland from CostCo at .0057 ounces per sq in) suggesting a lower water content than other brands have.



However comparing the three versions I do have two major concerns: (1) THE INGREDIENTS KEEP CHANGING. Can't the manufacturer stick with one formula? (2) THE COST PER SQUARE INCH OF WIPE HAS INCREASED ABOUT 22% from 0.086 cents in early 2009 to 0.105 cents in late 2009. The reason is that you pay the same price as before but the wipe size decreased and you get fewer wipes now.



For the reasons above I changed my 4/26/09 rating from five stars to four now. Consider buying these wipes from Amazon.com!More detail ...