I saw that on yahoo auctions too but it seemed too complicated so I moved on lol
Hahaha. yep..
I ran some tests on the capacity of old Eneloops vs new (standard) Eneloops, and I thought the findings very interesting.
The old Eneloops are from June 2006, so 12 years old. The new ones are just a few months old, fresh out of the package.
First, the new ones. I did discharge capacity tests on four AA’s and four AAA’s. (At a 250mA discharge, down to 0.9v.)
For the AA’s, the first cycle average is 1917 mAh.
The second cycle average is 1972 mAh.
So, cycling increased their capacity by 2.9%. Not much, but perhaps worth doing if you want to squeeze the most out of them.
For the AAA’s, the first cycle average is 754 mAh.
The second cycle average is 778 mAh.
A 3.2% gain in capacity by cycling. So, similar to the AA’s.
Finally, I ran capacity tests on eight AA’s that are 12 years old. Probably around 200-300 cycles on them.
The average was 1852 mAh. The lowest value was 1797 mAh.
That means that Eneloops only lost 6.1% capacity after 12 years of use! Assuming they had the same initial capacity as my new cells, after a couple of cycles.
I was expecting 20–30 loss in capacity, but they’re holding up extremely well. They can still be used for high-drain lights, though their internal resistance is noticeably higher than new cells.
With results like that after 12 years, I expect I’ll still be using them after 20 years.
I have NiMH cells that are a bit older than 2006 (which is when I switched over to Eneloops), but all of them have internal resistance ridiculously high, so are only useful for very low-drain applications. Their capacities average around 1000mAh.
Thanks for those tests, very positive for Eneloops. I purchased Eneloops from Costo eons ago when they were sanyo's and remembered they all failed early. Yesterday I was reading reviews on amazon.ca and the reviewers that gave one star, 2% of them, mostly had the same experience with the new Eneloops as I did in the past. it seems a certain percentage of these batteries are duds and Panasonic does not stand behind them and has no written warranty on them. Am I wrong or is it true that Panasonic does not warranty eneloops?
@walkintothelights: That is awesome. Enough proof that they are the best NiMH batteries in the world. lol. So only a minor % they lost over the years.. show me any other brand that has that.
@klrman: I haven't heard of too many eneloops failing within a few years except for the PRO or heavy used ones. Other batteries would probably have died way earlier in thos situation!
I just watched some comments on Amazon, and they confirm my suspicion. 1. they don't know anything about batteries. 2. they use a bad charger, 3. they dont know how to charge them. 4. they probably don't know what happened to the application they used them in. (water, reversed inserted etc)
I may be wrong, but I'd like to see those batteries with my own eyes, or read from a reputable source that eneloops die within 1 week or don't hold a charge.. that is just unbelievable. The people who complain are generally not very convincing.
Really the people who are giving them 1 star are just regular people who don't know how to use batteries in general. :D
I almost want to copy some of the comments here for critique, but I may sound even more like a @$$^(^&( :D
But I need to add that I saw some cases that they definitely have a point!
I still have and use Costco AA Eneloops from 2008 in my 6-cell lights (one a Fenix TK40 with MC-E and a ROP-Lo Mag2D) . Well they are used as standby emergency lights but they still give a voltage reading of 1.3+ volts after sitting on the shelf or cabinet for 4months plus.
aaaaahhhh.......probably me years ago 
I got the Sanyo's from Costco at the time and used whatever charger I had at home. As I look through my old chargers today, I'm pretty sure it was my Rayovac PS33 charger which probably cooked them too much?
hahaha. Sure, me as well :) My first 'real' charger was a Voltcraft 1PLC (or something) which is equal to the BC700 Lacrosse, but it died on me. I still have another one I gave to my parents (which they didnt know how to use) and replaced it with a BQ-CC55 charger for them... just pop them in and be done with it.
I just updated the different PDFs on the website with the overviews..
all regular eneloop batteries 2005-2018 and all eneloop limited editions 2009-2018
I’ve found that my 11 year old eneloops are mostly still well over 1900. Although mine did start out higher than advertised. Out of a batch of 16 I only had two at 1720 and 1767. Not bad at all. I used them mostly in my 2 x AA flash lights, my camping lantern and my hand held GPS. They have been constantly in use. My AAA’s of the same age have had very little use and they are still above the rating on the label. They have saved me lots of money over the years!
Exactly!
It's a little investment that pays back 100%!
I don’t know what the best deals on Eneloops are right now, but I’ve been ordering them from Horizon Battery on eBay. I just got some in the mail and they are still the made in Japan version, all 12 tested above 2000, most where 2050MaH or so. I have some of my 10, 11 and 12 year old ones that measure about the same. These batteries last a long time at rated capacity. I paid $24.95 last week for mine, looks like they are $28.79 now: Horizon Battery
I put four AA’s in service back in 2006 to power my handheld Garmin I mounted on my dual sport motorcycle, those batteries are still in use and still holding a full charge today. I keep two in the Garmin all the time and two are in reserve in the bike’s luggage. Those batteries have been cycled many times, I saved a lot of money using the Eneloops over alkyleaks. I started using these in 2006, those were my first set I bought. Haven’t thrown any away.
The two that are in the 1700’s I let get discharged for too long in my Fenix torch that I lost for a couple years or so. Found it under a car seat covered in dust stuck under the carpet partially, the batteries were very low. So those two were abused, the light was low on power when I lost it, but the batteries are still usable today in my computer mouse. Tough little suckers.
Tough little suckers.. That's an excellent conclusion.
I've seen horizon battery mentioned a couple of times. It looks like they are probably a trustable source to get them from. Do they ship worldwide?
They do appear to ship to many countries. On eBay I think its US only, but they have international shipping options on the website :Horizon Eneloops
The prices on eBay have been less in the past for US buyers, but right now the prices are a little lower on their website. Probably best for US buyers, they are located up in New Jersey.
I actually paid $24.76 for 12 AA’s during a sale on eBay. They are in packs of 4 wrapped in clear plastic. The prices went up last week, they are around $27 now with shipping. Still a good price for 12 Japanese batteries that will last for many years.
What charger do you test them in?
Those were put on a 4 slot LiitoKala Lii-500. I had it on the 700 mah setting.
Hmm… I’ve never tried testing my Eneloop capacity on Li-500. I guess I should try it. On my Opus, none of them go above 1900 mAh.
I just passed the 100 likes on the eneloop101 facebook page. Soon I will do a giveaway, so if you want to join, go over to https://www.facebook.com/eneloop101/ and like the page..
Liked! 
The giveaway has started..
Like the FB page, and join the giveaway by guessing a number between 1 and 100,000
closest number wins
https://www.facebook.com/eneloop101/