Tong Family

We have so many of these little AA and AAAs around it is incredible to me that we ever need to buy any new ones. But sadly, the cupboard is bear (and we want to get these for work as well). So what to get?
The LaCrosse BC-700 is a terrific battery charger. Relatively expensive at $50, but wow does it do a good job charging and it has a display so you know what is going on. Now if only it was an IP device 🙂
For the batteries themselves, Wirecutter did a review of reviews last year and concluded the Eneloop (Sanyo, but now Panasonic owned) were the best. The main criteria it seems is capacity and most importantly number of recharge cycles. Some of these have as few as 500 cycles, but others are 2,000! So they will last four times longer.
In terms of Eneloops, there are a few flavors:

If you love Sanyo’s ever-so-practical Eneloop rechargeable batteries, you’ll be smitten with its two latest AA additions. First into the battery compartment is the 2400mAh Eneloop Pro; it’s loaded with twenty-five percent more juice than the standard model, and is a perfect match for your power-draining Nikon Speedlight — not quite as formidable as the 2,500mAh XX series via engadget.com

And although the XX has more capacity, the regular Eneloop have 3x the recharge cycles:

You can find Eneloop on Amazon in two different mAh ranges: 2,000 and the “XX” 2,500. (The 2,000 milliamp batteries are called the “1500? but that’s not their capacity, it’s the number of times you can charge them.) A four pack of 1500s will set you back $11 whereas the higher-capacity XX will cost around $17. But the differences extend beyond capacity. As previously stated, the 1500 is certified for 1500 cycles, but the XX is only good for 500.wirecutter.com

The conlucsion is that the Eneloop standard is probably the best long term choice as you lose 20% in capacity, but gain 3x in recharge cycles.
Where can you buy them:

• Amazon has them for 12 AA for $27 which is a pretty amazing deal. Or Amazon has 8 AAA for $19
• And to charge them, NLee, really the best review says the Opus BT-C2000 is the best. $39 on Amazon.