Where to buy Xtar VP2 at a good price (including shipping)?

Anybody knows where this can be had? Gearbest does not stock it.

maybe MTN/RMM when he gets back? If I remember the price was decent- was thinking about picking up a 2nd one.

I pm you…

I bought mine at the XTAR Direct store. I think I paid 50 dollars for it; but now they’re 35, which is extremely reasonable, for this excellent charger.

Here’s a link I started on EDCF:
http://edcforums.com/threads/xtar-vp2-and-vc4-nitecore-i4-v2-and-d4-chargers.121077/

It helps that the XTAR store is right here in Huntington Beach, maybe five minutes away from here :-). I always deal with Allan. Very friendly service.

I got mine open-box from Amazon. Great deal at $28 shipped. Other than used, M4D M4X’s code is probably one of your best options.

Replied to PM M4D M4X. I live in Mauritius and our currency has depreciated about 20% against the dollar. Sours up so many deals…That means for a $50, am in fact paying about $10 more in rupee terms! I got a deal at $36 shipped. Waiting to see if I can get slightly lower. Else, I will settle for this and get it next month or just buy a nitecore i2/i4…

Edit: Amazon/Mtronics would be a problem to ship where I live :slight_smile:

I would recommend getting the VP2 and not one of the Nitecore chargers, even though it costs more. The VP2 is a great charger.

Hum……Slight problem….I’m seeing the US plug everywhere…I need the EU/UK plug (220 volts main in my country)

maybe put your location in to help us out next time :stuck_out_tongue:

My bad :stuck_out_tongue:

Hmm . . . I do see now that GearBest took it off their website. That's where I recently picked mine up at a steal of a price after emailing May requesting a coupon code.

-Garry

I have two Nitecore i4 V2 chargers (they were my first 18650 chargers. I’ve had them for maybe three years, and they’re still going strong). I later picked up some D4 chargers, an XTAR VP2, and most recently, two VC4 chargers. All are excellent.

Mountain King - the XTAR VC4 might be a viable solution, for you. U.S. Retail is only 30 dollars on that charger. It is USB-powerable. Charge rate is 1 amp/hour (using the two outside channels), or 500 mAh,using all four banks. If you already have a solid USB power source/charger that can supply the amperage to the cable, you’d be good to go! I use an Anker The VC4 will also charge NiMhsEneloops!

I use an Anker 5-port USB Charger, which has 5 smart ports, and easily powers my two VC4s and two Anker Lithium Ion Batteries (a 13000 mAh, and a 10000 mAh battery), along with my old iPhone 4 (which has been relegated for use my digital clock lol.)

Here’s a link to the UK Amazon site:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Desktop-Charger-PowerIQ-Technology-Samsung-White/dp/B00EJA28ES

Two questions about the Xtars and one about Opus,
(1) Is there a difference, aside from # of slots, between the Xtar chargers with 4 vs 2 slots?
(2) What is the difference between the Xtar VC2 and VP2?

My charging requirements are relatively basic, with a focus on safety and best practices;
not advanced testing or analytics.

(3) Opus is another charger which is often recommended on this forum, is there a reason to consider it, instead of the Xtar?

Thanks

johnnie

There are a number of fundamental differences between the VC2 and VP2 chargers; but maybe it would be good to know these things, from you.

Do you need a charger that charges lithium ion, and NiHm (Eneloop) batteries?

Would you be okay with a charger that is USB-powered, or do you need something that has its own self-contained power supply/plug/wall wart?

How quickly do you need to charge the batteries?

Do you want/will you need to be able to mix different chemistry batteries and charge them at the same time (lithium ion in one slot; NiMh in another, for instance)?

Will you be charging LiFePO4 batteries with this charger?

Both, the VC2 and the VP2 have their strengths - and their quarks. Same with the VC4 and the VP4. When you buy a VP4, you are not buying a VP2 with four channels and all of the same capabilities of the VP2 (unfortunately). When you buy a VC4, you’re not just buying a VC2 with twice the charging bays.

Why can’t these guys just keep things simple?

I’ll try to go ahead and explain the differences, and maybe this will help you make a decision. If I stated something wrongly, please holler at me, and I will be sure to correct it.

Right off the bat, not counting all of the other differences between the two chargers, other than the price, the VC2 only charges at a rate of 500 mAh/hour, for each of the two banks. The VC4 doubles that charge rate (1000 mAh, if you use the two outside charging bays only, and 500 mAh, for all four banks, if you use the inside ones, too That means, double the charging speed on the bigger VP4 charger (with just the two outside bays, used).

The VP2 is capable of charging LifePO4 batteries, and even the larger 18700 batteries.

The VP2 can actually be used to charge your smart device, using a battery installed in one of the wells, and the USB plug on the back. This could be handy, if you need to charge your smart phone, for instance, and you don’t have a dedicated charger with you.

The metering systems are radically different on the VC and VP series lights - probably much more than you’ll ever need to know, if you’re trying to keep things simple and just charge two batteries at a time, safely; but I’ll explain them, anyway:

The metering on the VP2 is clearer, and easier to read from different (wider viewing) angles, whereas you almost need to be right on top of the VC chargers to read them clearly.

The VC chargers readout will automatically dim down after xx amount of minutes (I don’t remember if it’s five minutes, or what). You can brighten them up again by tapping the on switch in the middle of the charger, or by inserting a battery in the charger.

You can shut off the metering completely, by pressing and holding these buttons on both, the VC and the VP chargers. Do the same thing to turn them back on, but only the VP2 will remain on at full brightness, without dimming automatically.

The VP metering stays at full brightness, indefinitely, unless you decide to defeat the metering, manually. Personally, I like this better. I don’t like displays automatically deciding, for me, when to dim.

The VC4 can also charge a pair of 26650 batteries and 18650 batteries simultaneously; but you need to put the 26650 batteries in the wider, outside bays.

Because of the increased width of the outside bays, and the decreased width of the inside bays of the VC4, compared to the VP2 (removing the inside batteries is a little harder (less space to stick your fingers in between the batteries. This is my only pet peeve about the VC4 charger, other than the auto-dimming. Aside from that, I absolutely love the chargers.

I was seriously considering buying the VP4, when it was released. I thought it would be everything that the VP2 was, but with additional charging bays; but I was dead wrong. I realized, in reading the specs, that most of the wonderful features that made the VP2 so unique, would not be included as the standard feature set of the VP4. That sucked…so I skipped the VP4, altogether, and ended buying a pair of Nitecore D4 chargers (which I also love, very much, in many respects, and were more reasonably priced. Bear in mind, the VP2 was priced at $50.00 USD, at the time. Quality-wise, I’d say the D4s are every bit as good as the XTAR units, in all respects.

All of these chargers are made from fire retardant materials. All of them terminate the charge cleanly and reliably.

Then, XTAR released the VC4s and they were only thirty bucks, and I couldn’t pass them up :-). I already had a nice USB smart hub charger, so I was set.

Really, all of these chargers have strengths that make them all worth having at least one each, on-hand. Between all the chargers, I can charge 26 18650 batteries at a time. This saves me a lot of time (since I have 33 lights which run on 18650 batteries, and since I like to charge them, in waves, periodically.

The VP2 will allow you to switch the charge rate, by choosing from .25, .5, or 1 amp/hour. The VC2 charges at .5 Amps/hour…no change…The VC4 drops from 1 amp/hour to …5 amps/hour the moment you put a battery, or pair of batteries in the inside slots (slots 2/3).

The metering on the VC series is a little bit more complex. It uses a tachometer-style readout, to shows you the change rate (all channels), and the individual charge rates for each battery. Also, the VC charger slowwwwly ramps up the charge rate (It doesn’t jump straight to the 1 amp/hr, or .5 amp/hr rate), and gives you a readout of exactly what that rate is, for each channel, as the rate rises.

The VC series is gentler on charging batteries, than the VP2, which just charges at the fixed rate (although, oddly - the VP2 claims to have a soft start function,but I’m not sure how effective that actually is); but the VP2 will allow you to choose the lower charge rate, which is nice. Probably six of one, half dozen of the other, when all is said and done. This slowly-ramping charge rate could be useful, if you’re trying to condition over-discharged batteries, and bring them back to life. Also the VC series will take a completely depleted battery, turn it back on (so to speak), and at the end of the complete charge, will flash 3 times every ten seconds, and the word “FULL” will display, to let you know that a) the charge is complete, and b) what the the actual capacity is for each battery, once bringing it back to life, from fully-discharge. Essentially, it analyzes that particular batteries full charging capacity. This only works if you have completely discharged the battery, though - which I don’t really recommend anyway. Lithium ion batteries don’t like to be completely discharged. It shortens their overall life cycle.

Bottom line - if you’re in a hurry, and you don’t need a charger that’s capable of also charging your NiMhs/Eneloops, go with the slightly more expensive VP2, all other differences aside, and you can’t go wrong.

As for Opus chargers, I’ve never heard of them, until you made mention of them, in this forum; so I couldn’t really comment on them, one way, or another.

All of the options you mentioned david will suit me fine I suppose. I will soon have 2 lion cells ONLY and honestly, it is the insane exchange rates that is holding me back. Maybe by the time I decide, opus 2.2 will be out :smiley:

HKJ had just posted a superbly thorough review of the VC4, with top notch pictures and graphs. Check it out!

In fact I was impatiently waiting for his review of it and even asked him when he would publish it! I was literally refreshing forums on the day he said he would post it :stuck_out_tongue:
The $30 price tag got me sold but then that usb cable only and that I have to buy a plug to get it to work without using PC just about kills the deal….$30+10 = 40 when I can get a VC2 for $36-38…

You can also get a Nitecore D4 for 25 USD so the choice is up to you. How much do you want to spend and what do you need. Excellent, and really helpful post of David above.

Kind regards

Nice, detailed comparison!

Indeed a very sound, detailed and helpful post by david57strat. I re-read all of it. First read was at work and had some disturbances. The questions asked are of course helpful and I have duly considered them. Now to decide what I will need later. What I need now is simple (good cc/cv charger, 2 cells only, max 4 hours to charge 2 3200MAH cells). I am also trying to future proof myself IF need be.