This charger is safe for my eneloops, but it also surprised me by making my older Energizer Recharge batteries much more handy. The Recharge batteries don't hold a charge in the drawer very long (why I switched to eneloops), but I can set four of them in a La Cross and trickle charge them so whenever I need them, they're ready! No more dying flashlights lined up on the counter waiting for an over night charge. (Now with two BC-1000 I can have 8 batteries on trickle charge)
But let me give some tangible key points why I love this charger so much:
PROS:
1) It's SMALL and COMPACT -> not as compact as an Apple charger, but about the same size as a "dumb" charger. Light as a feather.
2) The display and electronics are a ton of fun! You can view anything you want with a simple tap - current voltage, time spent charging each battery, mAH added to each battery - and the differences between batteries are dramatic!
3) It's simple to operate. I only recharge batteries, so I just hit one button to select the initial current. It does all sorts of stuff, but I haven't needed it.
4) Accessories - it comes with 4 NimH rechargeables and some C and D adapters, plus a cool carry case I don't use. But it imputes awesomeness.
5) Awesome, incredible customer service! Two months into it, one of mine went haywire. I contacted La Cross, and they immediately replaced it on RMA. I did have to pay shipping to them, but otherwise, not so bad.
CONS:
1) It *would* be nice if there was a selectable backlight to the display. However, I found this a transient wish. Initially, seeing the battery stats was so cool I wanted to be able to see it all the time, even at night. Now I'm fine seeing it just when other lights are on.
2) Changing the charge current takes some acclimation. All the batteries get the same charge current. You have a short time when initially putting in the batteries in which to hit the current button to select a charge rate greater than 200mA. (That default is actually the healthiest, but I punch it up to 500mA). The manual says you have 8 seconds. It seems you get a bit more than that, maybe 30 seconds, but it's a bit stressful. Else you have to unplug it and replug it and you can then set the current again. Not a big deal, but can't in good conscience call that a good user interface.
3) I still need to keep one dumb charger, because for the Energizer RECHARGE batteries (but not with the eneloops), when they get used up, their voltage is too low and with a couple of my oldest Energizers, the La Cross doesn't see the battery (NULL). (Other reviewers sometimes noted similar things with old batteries. ) But I found just 30 minutes in a dumb charger raises the charge to the point where the LaCross can then take over, so I don't need a different smart charger to handle this case. (I cheerfully recharged two of my oldest NIMH Energizer batteries recently - ones my daughter drew hearts on - and they worked beautifully.)
This was *THE COOL* batter charger for me. I recommended it to all my friends. I chose it over the other leading charger because of it's compact size, lack of a blinding blue light, and simple user interface. I have never had the slightest heating issues with the batteries - it does its job flawlessly. Most batteries charge really, really fast, probably because Nimhs tend to look empty early in devices because they have a lower scaled voltage... IN a dumb charger, it still cooks them for 8 hours, but in the Nimh, it's more like 10-90 minutes and they're topped up again.
If having something be cool high tech makes it more enjoyable to you, I can't recommend this more.
LAST COMMENT: I tried to decide whether to get the BC-700, BC-900, or BC-1000, since honestly, there's no features I need in the BC-1000 that aren't in the BC-700. I finally decided that since the BC-1000 was the latest model and had new circuitry to prevent overheating, why risk it for a $20 price difference at most?
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Thanks so much to the person who commented on this review with a tip that wasn't in the instructions:
YOU CAN CHARGE INDIVIDUAL BATTERIES AT DIFFERENT CURRENTS! I tested it out, and here's the way it seems to work:
1) Put in one or more batteries and set the current on them.
2) Wait 8 seconds - you will see the display for those batteries flash. At this point, the current for those batteries is set.
3) Put in one or more additional batteries - you can now set the current on those new batteries independent from the first.
4) Wait until the new batteries flash, then repeat!
This is a cool feature. I found it a little annoying waiting for each battery to "set" - just as found it stressful to insert all batteries before the current "set" - need to come up with some button press to "seal in" the current selection.
UPDATE: Much thanks to the person who commented on this review with information not in the manual:
YOU CAN SET BATTERY CHARGE CURRENT INDIVIDUALLY! (I tested it out.)
Turns out the process I described above works with one or more batteries at a time. After an initial battery or set is in for 8 seconds, the display flashes, telling you the charging current is now "set" for those batteries. Insert additional batteries at this point and you can independently set their charging current in the same manner, and continue... Cool feature, but again, wish you could just press a button for "freeze charge current and continue"...
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This Item  La Crosse Technology BC1000 Alpha Power Battery Charger |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | $33.48 | $39.38 | -15% $11.88 Typical: $13.98 | $14.25 | $59.30 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Sunday, May 19 | Get it as soon as Sunday, May 19 | Get it as soon as Sunday, May 19 | Get it as soon as Sunday, May 19 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 21 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
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| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Powerowl | Amazon.com | DC Workshop |
| input voltage | 240 volts | 240 volts | 5 volts | 5 volts | 240 volts | 240 volts |
| battery charge time | — | 3 hours | 1.5 hours | 10 hours | 4 hours | — |
| weight | 1.5 pounds | 0.26 pounds | 225 grams | 0.35 pounds | 0.09 kilograms | 0.65 kilograms |
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The REAL difference between BC-900 and BC-1000
I purchased the La Crosse Technology BC1000 Alpha Power Battery Charger, not because I needed another advanced battery charger/analyzer (I already own the La Crosse BC-900, BC-700, BC-500 and the Maha MH-C9000), but because people kept asking me: "Is there any difference between BC-900/9009 and BC-1000?" So here it is, to put the issue to rest...[Exterior]Except for the color, the BC-1000 looks and feels EXACTLY the same as my old (circa 2006) BC-900. Even the boxes they came in have identical illustrations on them. Check out the customer images I uploaded to 'Customer Images' section and you'll see what I mean.[Electrical Spec]The specifications are EXACTLY the same for both chargers, namely:- Operations: Charge, Discharge, Charge/Test, Discharge/Refresh- Charging Current steps for 4 cells: 200mA (default), 500mA, 700mA, 1000mA- Extra Current steps for 1-2 cells: 1500mA, 1800mA- Acceptable battery capacity: 300-3000mAh (my previous testing showed the BC-900 can actually charge up to 3700mAh)[AC Adapter]Again, the two AC adapters looked identical except for the colors. Both are rated for 100-240V AC input, and 3V 4A output. There is, however, a small difference in their open-circuit output voltages. The BC-900's adapter measures 3.0V, while the one for BC-1000 measures 3.17VDate code on the back of BC-1000 adapter says '4710', which means 47th week, or November of 2010,[Firmware Version]My old BC-900 has firmware version '33'. The new BC-1000 shows '37', which is the same version for BC-9009 sold since middle of 2010.Note: firmware version is the number briefly displayed in the rightmost column, after you plug in your BC-900 or BC-1000.[Quirks]Sadly, the same limitations for BC-900/9009 are carried over to the BC-1000:- If you put in a completely depleted cell (battery terminal voltage under 0.5V), the charger cannot recognize it and the display says 'null'- If you were previously charging at 500mA, for example, you cannot subsequently increase the charging current for a new cell to higher than 500mA. You need to remove all cells in order to reset the maximum limit.If I stopped my comparison right here, I would have concluded that the BC-1000 is nothing more than the BC-900/9009 with a cosmetic update. But wait, there's more to the story...[Interior]After I removed the base from my BC-1000 (by the way, don't do this unless you know what you're doing), I was surprised to find a very different printed circuit board inside. There are significantly more components on the BC-1000 board compared to that on the BC-900 (refer to my uploaded picture in 'Customer Images' section):- The BC-900 has just one 'glop' covering the controller IC- The BC-1000 has two 'glops' on its PCB, suggesting that there is an extra controller. Given the past history of 'meltdown' problem with BC-9009, the most likely function for this controller is to monitor temperature during charging.- The BC-1000 also added four bulky thru-hole diodes ('B220' 2A 20V Schottky diode) on the PCB. Again, the most logical explanation is to burn off excessive power during charging, to prevent other surface mount components from over-heating and suffer a thermal runaway.[Conclusion]The BC-1000 may look exactly like the older BC-900 and BC-9009 from outside, but there is significant design overhaul that took place inside. Note that I cannot testify that BC-1000 has solved all thermal-related problems, because I have never witnessed any over-heating problem before. But as an engineer, I know that no company will accept a design change that ADDS cost to an existing product - unless it is absolutely required to fix a problem.Assuming the alleged 'meltdown' problem is really solved, one question still remains: is the BC-1000 a better value than the Maha MH-C9000 (currently available in the same price range)? Personally, I think the user interface of BC-1000 is much better, but other people may disagree. So it comes down to whether you can make use of the bonus items (4xAA + 4xAAA cells, 4xC + 4xD-cell spacers) in this package. If you can use some of them and feel that they are worth paying $10 for, then go for the BC-1000. Otherwise, you may want to consider the BC-700 at half the cost.[Update on May 11, 2012]For general questions on La Crosse chargers, check out my "BC-700/900/1000 FAQ" under BC-700 product page.http://www.amazon.com/review/RK62EGS3P082I/[Update on Feb 19, 2013]I have tested the AccuPower IQ-328 and found it to be practically identical to the BC1000 - down to the same bugs. It is worth considering at its present price (around 60% that of the BC1000).[Update on June 21, 2013]I tested the BM200 Battery Charger Analyzer and found it better than BC1000 in many ways - except for problem with over-heating when charging 4 cells at 1000mA. Read my review on it for details. The same problem exists in IQ-328, by the way.[Update on Jan 31, 2014]There is a newer model of the BM200 called the BT-C2000. It solved the thermal problem of BM200, and offered several improvements over BC1000. It is a good deal since it is currently priced lower than the BC1000.
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