Ah, the digital evolution… or is that revolution. Sometimes it is hard to tell. It seems that no matter how advanced something is there is always something low tech holding it back. For today’s electronics like digital cameras, MP3 players, cell phones, etc. it is the power source. While different types of batteries have come in to play since the lowly alkaline hit the market including Ni-Cad, NiMH and Li-On batteries the one thing that hasn’t really caught up until recently is the chargers, batteries chargers. For the longest time it would take 5 or 6 hours or even more to fully charge rechargeable batteries. In a world where everything is becoming more instant from ATM’s for instant cash, to digital cameras for instant pictures and MP3 players for instant music and cell phones for instant communications the only thing that wasn’t instant is when it came time to charge the batteries for these “instant devices”.
However, over the last year or so we have seen some big advancements in battery charging technology. Myself I think the quick pace of digital cameras has made this happen. When it became clear that the lowly alkaline battery just couldn’t handle the power drain of digital cameras something else had to come along and had to become better. Now not only can you fully charge two NiMH AA batteries in less than 10 minutes, you have chargers now that with the use of interchangeable plates can charge nearly any size or shape battery you can imagine. Finally, the power for our “instant devices” is getting much closer to being instantly available too.
So now not only do our devices run longer, we can charge them and get back to putting them to… well whatever use we use them for. Recently when I started looking for chargers for my various “instant devices” including a digital camera and a portable storage device for that camera (basically, a portable battery powered hard drive with memory card slots) I came across a company called Lenmar. After doing some research on their products and reading only good things about them I decided to go with their products.
What I got was two chargers. One for AA/AAA Ni-MH batteries (MSC815), which when using special AA batteries (Pro-H Batteries) can charge two of them fully in 8 minutes flat, now if you don’t have the special batteries it takes about 15 minutes to charge 1 to 4 AA/AAA batteries fully. Because charging batteries quickly causes a lot of heat build up the charger is equipped with a fan to help keep things from getting too hot, you can hear the fan running but it isn’t all that loud. I doubt it will be a problem for people and it is nice to know the charger won’t have a melt down.
I also got a charger that uses interchangeable plates (MSC1LX) so that I can rapidly charge the batteries for my Panasonic digital camera. It can charge a battery fully in 30 minutes. That is much faster than the cheap-o charger that came with the camera. As I said this charger uses interchangeable plates for charging the batteries. You just slip in the plate you need, put in the battery and walk away. 30 Minutes later your battery is charged. The charger comes with 5 plates to fit 3.6 to 7.4V Sony, Canon, Panasonic, JVC, RCA and Hitachi batteries. It can charge digital camera and camcorder batteries. If it doesn’t include the plate you need you can by others separately for a reasonable price (around $6.00).
Besides battery chargers Lenmar also makes batteries for digital cameras, camcorders, cell phones as well as a range of standard batteries from AAA to D cells. I got two of their batteries for my Panasonic digital camera and have used them quite a bit without any problems. They work as well as the Panasonic brand ones.
Now about the chargers, they care cool looking and easy to use. Simply plug them in, put in the battery or in the case of the one for the digital camera and camcorder batteries you install the plate for your battery and then install the battery and the unit gets to work. When the battery(ies) are charged it turns off, simple and easy and fast.
I can’t recommend the Lenmar line of products enough. These are top quality products that work as advertised. They are easy to use, versatile and fast. There prices are also quite good.
