RayOVac Platinum Rechargeable NiMH Batteries and Charger

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I got tired of buying the expensive lithium batteries for the camera so bought these a few months ago at WalMart.

The charger came with 2 AA and 2 AAA batteries. It was <$15. I bought two packs of 4 AA batteries as well. Each pack was $7 or $8.

This is what the WalMart website says about these batteries.
•Low Self Discharge technology
•Batteries hold their charge 3x longer than standard rechargeable batteries
•Platinum batteries are pre-charged and ready to use right out of the package
•Batteries can be used in any device and in any charger
•Ideal for high-drain devices

I did not try to use them out of the box. I recharged them all first. I think the package claimed 60% of the charge remains after a year on the shelf and can be recharged 300 times.

I have been using them in my digital camera. I replace the used batteries with freshly charged ones after each use so the batteries are always fresh. Recently I started using them in my Garmin GPS. Also gets replaced after each use, although since I have only 10 AA batteries I don't have a set to rotate through both devices and have to recharge some before replacing the 2 in the GPS. I think next time I am at WalMart I will get another pack.

I numbered the base of the batteries to make sure I rotate them in pairs and even out the use.

So far so good. They only take a few hours to recharge. You have to recharge them in pairs but being as they are always used by me in pairs, that does not bother me any.

There is a red light for each pair that comes on while it is charging that pair. The red light goes off when it is done charging. One time one pair the red light turned off and the other pair the red light was blinking when I checked it. The instructions do not cover what a blinking light means. I just unplugged the charger and plugged it back in and it seemed to charge normally.

They are not the expensive Eneloops, nor is the charger one of the expensive chargers that are out there, but for my needs, these seem to be working fine.

The instructions claim the charger works with both NiMH and Ni-Cad style batteries.

I am not currently using the AAA batteries for anything.

ETA 12-1-11
I posted a link to my review on an AR15.com forum. there was some discussion about these  batteries that may be useful. I don't know how long the link will work. AR15.com has a goofy system of storing older posts.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_18/652377_RayOVac_Platinum_NiMH_Rechargable_Batteries.html

ETA 12-3-11
I was going to try some Duracell white tops that are purported to be Eneloops but WalMart did not have any today. They only had black top Duracell NiMH batteries that are not of the low self discharge style, so I bought another pack of the RayOVacs to use with my GPS, as the Li batteries in them gave up the ghost recently. $10. Don't know if they went up in price or if my memory of what I paid before was faulty.

ETA 12-13-11:
In addition to using them in my camera, I am now using them in my GPS. My GPS has a setting to select what kind of batteries are being used, so I selected NiMH. I have not had any problems since switching from disposable Li batteries. I change them out after every use, just like I do with the camera. Yesterday the GPS was on for over 6 hours. Still had 2 bars left. Don't know quite what that means. But it had not discharged to the point where the device refused to turn on the backlight, which is when I was changing out the Li batteries previously. I rotate the batteries in pairs through the devices in whatever order I happen to change them, so I am not using any particular set with either the camera or the GPS.

ETA: 12-26-13
I have had good luck with them so far. No real problems to report. I even found a use for the AAA cells. I put them in the outdoor sensor for an indoor/outdoor thermometer. They lasted longer than the batteries that came with it. We got the thing about last Christmas.I don't recall doing so but my wife says I changed out the batteries that came with it before installing the NiMH AAA cells in it. I think it was back in the summer some time. They just quit the other day. I recharged them and put them back in.

I have noted that they do not do well in extreme cold. I had some in the camera out in the car recently in near zero temperatures. They just did not work. They seem fine above 15 or 20F though. The ones in the temperature sensor seemed to work OK during the extreme cold of late so maybe as long as they are being used they will work in the cold. The ones that would not work in the cold seemed to work OK once it warmed up and I have not observed any issues with recharging them.

ETA: 03021-14
Bad news on the AAA cells. It appears one of the AAA cells that was outside in the cold this winter failed. It won't take a charge.