UniRoss Universal 320 Charger

Review Summary: Not very impressed

Review:

I bought this charger as I now have a collection of NmHI batteries
(AAA, AA, C and D) with large capacity. My trusty old intelligent
charger takes 2 days to do the C size ones. This UniRoss 320 is not
an intelligent charger,it appears to be timed - you select the time with
a switch depending on a table provided. After a couple of uses it
did not seam to charge the batteries completely so I measured the
charge current with a digital meter. It was much lower than stated in
the specifications. Therefore - it does not do what it is supposed to
do and charge batteries in 8 hours (for 2500 Ah - C size), but would
require 32 hours. My batteries are even higher capacity so it would
take longer and multiple attempts with the timer. Maybe I had a
faulty one ? I took it back as it was clearly not a fast charger and
does not charge any size of battery at the rate specified.
Has anyone else found this - you would probably have to check the
charge current with a digital meter to check this
So not impressed - bought the energizer one instead.

Review Summary: Like Uniross 120 Universal charger, but faster...

Review:

See my previous review of the Uniross 120 Universal charger.

This charges at a rate of 320mA, versus 120mA for the slower one. Means a set of 2500mA nimh AA's will take about 8 hours (if charging from flat) and 1300mA nimh AA's about 4 hours again from flat.

Worth spending a little more on this for the faster charge times.

I personally don't use C & D cells, but if you do it is very slow indeed (5,000mA C/D nimh around 15.5 hours) and the highest capacity ones available (10000mA C/D nimh) over 31 hours!

OK for AAA/AA's which I think are most common, but as for C/D and PP3 (9V), you would possibly want to buy something faster.

Review Summary: Not easy to use and not pretty

Review:

I have the original version of this charger which looks like the Amazon photo. It is as ugly as other reviewers suggest.

The biggest drawback is that you have to switch it off and then on again at the mains every time you put new batteries in it. If you have a tidy, plugless desk like mine then this is a real pain. In the end I used my Christmas tree socket remote control. Not good.

To add insult to injury, I recently purchased an updated version - blithely assuming they would have fixed that niggle. They haven't. Worse still, the moveable contacts that hold the batteries in place now have pointy bits which dig into your finger. They are spring loaded so you have to push them quite hard to get your batteries in. I can't believe they went to market with this design.

I should also mention that you have to charge the batteries in pairs, you can't use the PP9 charger if other batteries obscure it's slot and you have to manually select between NiMH and NiCd battery types. In fact on the newer version the switch says "A" and "B" which means you have to turn it upside down to see which setting applies to your batteries.

The old version was bad. The updated version is an insult.

Review Summary: Reliable, once you work out how to use it.

Review:

This charger looks neat in the photograph but it is quite chunky - larger than I was expecting - around 25x12x5cm.

It works very well, once I worked out how to use it. I found the instructions very unhelpful and had to work out how to operate this item myself.

It is fairly straightforward to use - but I would not recommend this item for anyone who has never used rechargeable batteries before.

Review Summary: Bulky, but reliable (a good balance in my book)

Review:

I was quite surpirsed when I bought this charger at how big it was! It looks almost pocket sized in the pictures but that is far from true.

However, what it loses in size and transportability, it gains in reliability and speed. I have two sets of 4 AA rechargable batteries for my digital camera that charge very quickly indeed (and an array of all shapes and sizes for the kids to use). You can certainly get a good 2hr camera use on 1hr charge. Or a very quick charge in 5 minutes to prevent tantrums when a favourite toy is inoperable.

The settings are simple and the led-out tells you when your batteries are charged. I only seem to be able to charge two or four at a time, but this is rarely a problem.

I also find it invaluable for charging an array of children's toys which incessantly require new batteries.

A nice tool for your kitchen shelf.