When we had our first child, there was an explosion of devices that required AA and AAA batteries in our household. I decide to start looking into rechargeable batteries. Around that time, Jeff Atwood, published this post. It was then that I learned of the wonders of "pre-charged" AA and AAA batteries. I also ordered the referenced La Crosse charger, but to be honest, I was never satisfied with it. Very bulky and it has an annoying bug that if a battery is totally dead it won't charge. Since then I've been on the look for something more consumer friendly. And that I found.

Note: The secret to being successful at replacing standard AA and AAA batteries with rechargeable is to have a lot of them. I probably have about 36 AA batteries and the same AAA. I keep them charged and ready to use in our kitchen drawer. Everything in our home that takes batteries is using these things now. I have a few recommendations for batteries at the end.

What is it?

The Sony BCG34HRE4KN is a compact charger that will charge AA and AAA batteries. It's novel in that it will charge just 1 battery or 3 and not require that you charge in pairs.

Why did you get it?

There is this guy (NLee on Amazon) who reviews almost every battery and charger. His review for this charger "Perfect combination of Smart Charger and low-self-discharge cells" [5 stars].

That was enough for me to get this. I no longer use the La Crosse charger except to "test" or "refresh" batteries that seem to be challenged.

How has it made your life better?

Compact charger
Fold in plugs
Can charge 1, 2, 3 or 4 batteries at once in any combination of AA and AAA
Each cell is monitored individually
Pretty fast charger
Battery status per battery

Are you going to keep it?

Most definitely. I don't know why Amazon has marked this item as Discontinued. I can't seem to find what the replacement model is, but I'd suggest you get this before it's gone

If you are looking for some quality pre-charged batteries I'd recommend (also recommended by NLee)