Still worth buying 2nd gen Eneloops?

[Chloe]

I’m thinking of getting a pack of 2nd gen AAA eneloops. Price of 3rd gen is around the same from Battery Logic, however, there are these rebranded 2nd gen that Marcl found which are quite a bit cheaper.

This FAQ explains the change in capacity figures:

AA eneloop batteries have a typical capacity rating of 2000 mAh.
AAA eneloop batteries have a typical capacity rating of 800 mAh.

However, due to a recent EU battery capacity directive, all rechargeable AA and AAA NiMH batteries must now state a minimum capacity on the battery sleeve and not the traditional typical value. What this means is that a standard AA eneloop battery now states a minimum capacity of 1900mAh (down from 2000mAh) and AAA eneloop batteries will now state a minimum capacity of 750mAh (down from 800mAh)

The second generation of eneloop batteries have maximum 1500 recharge cycle. This revision holds 85% of the charge after one year and 75% after three years.

The new 3rd Generation eneloop batteries can maintain approximately 90% of their charge for 1 year and will now retain up to 70% of their charge for a staggering 5 years. This new AAA eneloop battery version is known as HR-4UTGB

I already have a set of Philips 750mAh but they are not low self-discharge and my cordless phone seems to think they aren’t charged when I have precharged them and checked with multimeter. I’m not sure if this is a firmware issue or a problem with the batteries. They were fine for my Tank007 TK-703.

What do you think? The savings only seem significant if buying huge quantities. But I don’t forsee needing more than eight. :~

Too many choices!!

[Wilson]

My second generation Eneloops claim to cost $0.04 USD for each of the 1500 advertised charges. That amounts to $60 USD, plus the original cost of the battery. If I assume the same charge cost for the third generation, the TCO (total cost of ownership) is $72 USD plus the original cost of the battery. The unknown variable is the time factor (expected life of cell). However, general expectation is that newer equipment is better than old equipment (the third generation will be around longer, maybe ).

We are not told:
Is that 4 cents for a completely discharged battery? Or 2 cents if the battery is only half discharged?
How much am I paying for electricity?
What about the efficiency of the charger?
What if I charge at 300 mah versus 800 mah? Does the higher charge rate shorten battery life?
Is the performance on the third generation consistent for the entire 1800 cycles?
Will the third generation reveal some problem going forward?
Etc, etc.

For me, the second generation is/was a good deal. The third generation doesn’t seem to be a jump from the Pony Express to e-mail.

[Chloe]

Thank you, Wilson. Well, I gave in and bought the branded eneloops. There is a small chance they will send 3rd gen, but I’ll try not to be too disappointed if they don’t.

I wonder how much it costs to charge a pair of batteries 1800 times…