Charger Reviews

My family bought Cobra PR 3000 radios for a cruise in December 2003 and were pleased overall.

They are simple to use. The LCD display is excellent. Volume and voice quality were good. The CTCSS tones worked well to screen out the many other passengers who had similar radios.

They are light and small enough that it was never a chore to carry them.

We often used the call signal and vibration features to initiate contact, because those work better than a voice in noisy areas.(Too bad those features are missing from every higher-powered, commercial-quality radio I've found.)

On the down side, within 48 hours of use, the poorly designed pocket clips broke off two of the four radios.

And their power and range were less than ideal. At high power (2 watts), we could easily communicate between five decks. Reception was sketchier or non-existent when trying to communicate from the bow on deck 11 to the stern on deck 3.

Ashore, the radios worked well over about 1/2 mile of hilly terrain. Beyond that, little or nothing. They did much better over open water, of course.

Cobra does make a 3-watt model, which might perform slightly better. But the built-in stubby antenna on all Cobras limits their performance, from what I've read of how UHF radio works.

Commercial radios, which would undoubtedly perform better, cost at least $130 each and are far less user-friendly. Makers include Icom and Vertex.

I purchased two pairs of Cobra PR 3000 GMRS 2 watt radios for our ski trip this year. It's one of the best purchases I ever made. I looked at Motorola and Midland before purchasing these. They have more power than Motorola and better built than Midland. I like that most of the buttons are on the face and you don't have to do a lot of menu browsing. We skied at Alta and Snowbird Utah. The ability to talk over the slopes really amazed me. We tried them out in our neighborhood and they worked pretty well. We could converse for a half mile with no trouble at all through trees and houses. However if you go behind a hill the ability to converse is greatly reduced. At Alta Snowbird you are in a canyon with granite walls, so I think the signal is bouncing off the canyon walls, becuase we could talk for miles, even with ridges between us. At the frequencies and power levels of these radios you should get great reception if you are in line of sight without too many obstructions. But don't expect to go much over a half mile if you have a lot of obstructions. If you are true line of sight with no obstructions, you can go further than the 5 miles advertised. In a granite canyon like little cottonwood canyon they were great! We were in a group of 8 skiers and it was snowing hard and difficult to stay together. My 12 year old daughter got separated from us and called in to let us know where she was. It saved hours of anxiety for us and kept us from ruining our ski day. Same thing happened the next day with my 11 year old daughter. As far as I'm concerned it was well worth the price.

The batteries that come with this are made by Sanyo & are EXCELLENT !

Careful on 2 fronts:
1. The charger used to be made by Sanyo & is no longer true. They are made in china but the quality seems to be very acceptable.

2. Can charge 4AAs & only 2 AAAs. But you can all do 6 at the same time.

3. It charging time depends on mah rating. It charges in 1 hr for 800mah AAA. It takes 2 hours or so for 2100mah. But stil it is worth it !!!!!!!!!!!!

Well-designed rapid charger that does worldwide voltages (110/220V). Comes with four 2100 MA batteries. Batteries can be charged 1, 2, 3 or 4 at a time. It accepts a maximum of 4AA's or 2AAA's. A separate power cord that plugs into the side of the charger is provided, unlike the usual alternatives - either ungainly flip plugs on the back of the charger, or prongs that stick out an inch from the back of the charger - that are common in chargers of this size. The whole ensemble, including batteries, fits nicely into the accessory pocket of a large digital camera pouch with at least 2 inches (thickness) of space for accessories.

I like this charger, very small and portable. Sony shoud sell a extra battery / charger combo. I sure recommend it for taking vacations.

This charger takes up minimal space. The prongs for plugging into the wall fold in preventing snags. Excellent design. It also charges your spare battery in minimal time.
Highly recommend.

I was looking for a battery recharger without a cord -- and this was the smallest I could find. The sleek design also makes it easy to slip it into my small camera bag. Here is some additional information: the electrical plug on the back of the charger can be folded flat into the back of the charger. In addition, it can be plugged into the wall upside down or rightside up (this might be important if you have limited space above/below your outlet.) I have mine sideways, because that's how my countertop outlets are oriented. The unit is a little heavy and tips down a little -- but not nearly enough to pull it out of the outlet. If you want to charge 4 AA batteries at once the directions say it will take about 210 minutes. The "1 hour quick charge" is if you want to charge two AA batteries to 80% capacity. I wonder if other chargers that boast an 1 hour quick charge operate similarly. You can also use this charger to charge two AAA batteries. The unit does not accommodate four AAA at one time. However, charging two AA or two AAA batteries should take only 105 minutes. You can also charge two AA and two AAA at the same time. I expect SONY quality from this product as I continue to use it. Its size is about as big as a deck of cards and it weighs 4 oz without batteries.

I bought a small digital camera and wanted a compatible battery charger to go with it. This one does the job: it is very portable, specially compared to other chargers available. It also works with voltages from 110 to 240 V, so if you are taking it in an overseas trip you don't need to worry about that. It comes with only two batteries, so you will probably want to buy an extra pair since the charger's capacity is for four batteries.

The most obvious comment to make is on the price. It's so inexpensive that I would recommend it to anyone who has even a casual interest in racing games. It really does make a world of difference when playing these games (and you become a much better driver too!)

The software was easy to install and it plugs into a serial port (usually with the sound card.) The calibration worked fine so I haven't run into problems with the cars drifting in one direction or another. I have to warn people that this was made back in the Win95/98 days and I'm not sure if it'll work properly with Win2000 or XP. You may want to pop an email to Thrustmaster just to make sure before buying.

Because of the low price, you may think Thrustmaster cut corners. As far as the wheel is concerned this is not the case. It has a nice grip and just enough resistance to make you feel like you're leaning into the turns. Let go of the wheel and it snaps back into place. It's designed to "clamp" on to a desk and the grip is nice and solid. Two buttons and a rudder pedal are on each side of the wheel. These can be programmed for additional functions such as gear shifting, looking behind, horn, etc...

The one area Thrustmaster where really skimped out is on the flimsy pedals included with the set. First off they're so small a small child can't fit their foot on them. Plus they're too close together to be considered realistic. Finally, the base is so lightweight that your attempts at stepping on the gas may send them flying across the floor. I have to hold the base down with one foot while depressing the gas pedal with the other. Annoying. I'm considering disconnecting them and just using the rudder pedals for acceleration (or super-gluing the pedals to the floor.)

I originally bought this back when Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed was still popular but never hooked it up for some reason. I guess it's because I was able to get by using the keyboard. EA's latest release, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit II has such bad driving physics that it's virtually unplayable using a keyboard. Hooking this wheel up, however made a world of difference (it's actually playable now), so I'd recommend it to anyone who plays these or other racing games for fun. If you're a real racing enthusiast, you may want to bypass this for a wheel with quality pedals.

Hope the review helped!

I bought one of these a year ago for my 2 year old son (who is now 3). He loves it. It allowed him to play on the computer before he was was adept with the mouse or keyboard. I am certain he would give this 5 stars. His favourite automobile games are Sierra Viper and Need for Speed Porche. He enjoys it still.

Summary: I give the radios 4.5 stars, and the charger only 3 stars. The radios compare favorably with high-end FRS radios, but at a mid-range price. (For what it's worth, I've never seen an FRS radio I would give 5 stars.)

I bought this set for me, then gave them to my nephews for Christmas. (I plan to buy myself another set soon.) The sound quality is excellent, and my nephews have used them with no dropouts while hiking and camping in the mountains (on Boy Scout outings).

The radios are designed as fairly traditional "walkie-talkie" radios, with a knob for volume and with the PTT on the side rather than on the face, so your don't talk to your thumb (as on those with the PTT on the face of the radio). Other features are accessed via menus and the LCD display.

The display is clear and easy to read, with one exception. The top row of indicators is very close to the upper bezel, so you may have to tip the radio away from you to read the top row.

The radios have only one call tone, but that's all that's needed. The digital coded squelch (DCS) and the more common CTCSS tone squelch make it easy to ignore undesired signals. (When using DCS, remember to wait 1 second between pushing the PPT and speaking, to allow the other radio's receiver to recognize the DCS.) The CTCSS codes are the same as on all the other radios with Tone Squelch, so they are interoperable. The DCS codes are uncommon, but are great when using just the 75515 and/or 75517 radios.

The VOX works well, but takes some practice to use properly (as VOX always does). Setting the VOX level is a bit finicky--it's done via the menu system--but it seldom needs to be changed once set.

The advertised "1694 codes" is actually the standard 14 channels, with 38 CTCSS codes and 83 DCS codes ( (38+83)*14=1694 ). Sometimes marketing dweebs just have to turn information into gibberish.

What's missing? A "silent" or "vibrator" ringer option in place of the audible call signal. Also, the charger is not "smart". It doesn't detect full charge and switch to trickle-charge, so you can't leave the radios in the plugged-in charger. Instead, charge them up, then unplug the charger to use it as a simple stand. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a smart charger for these radios. (Doesn't mean there isn't one, though; just that I didn't locate one.) The radios also lack the "voice security" (voice scrambler) offered on some FRS radios, but the only practical purpose of that "feature" is to encourage people to transmit "private" information to the world.

The radios work great. As with all products that use rechargeable batteries, you get little advance notice as to when the batteries are about to die on you. The only thing I don't like about this product is the charging time for batteries. 10 hours for NiCads and 16 hours for NiMH. You cannot leave the radios in the charger after they are charged, so you have to keep track of time.

I was able to use these radios in Disneyland and with the digital codes available, I heard no interference from other yokels also with radios. (Even though they could still hear me.)

This package does everything it is suppossed to do. I've used the radios mostly in very rugged, deep canyons and have had no problem communicating. They have surived brief dunks when their owner has lost his footing fording streams. The radios seem to hold a signal better than some of the other brands I've tried. The recharger can be used with the included AAA NiCad batteries when they are in the units, or you can take the batteries out and charge them w/ another battery charger. This is great if you need to rotate battery sets so you have constant use of the radios. The units also work with regular AAA and rechargeable NiMH batteries, so you have lots of options. The automatic power stand-by feature is a big plus and significantly extends the working life of the batteries. The only negative I have is that the call button is too much, it sounds like a fire alarm going off. If you're looking for a pair of FRS radios with a charger look no further, this is the best setup for the price.

Rayovac has a one hour charger with 4 independeent charge circuits (can cahrge unqually used batteries or uneven capacities without over/under charging some of theM)) for the same price as this (w/ batteries). GP has 2000mah batteries. These batteriees are 1700mah. Acessories that I've had interest in that has olympus brand is 50% more expensive than generic brands of the same quality. Olympus has great cameras. Buy the accesories from another brand, cheapeer, higher quality. Oh yeah this is a dumb charger also. That means batteries get overcharged and that substantially reduces their life. You can buy rapid (4-5 hrs charge time), dumb chargers for [$$$]

While I don't own this charger, the college I teach at has an Olympus camera that came with it. It's quite small, works well, and is a pretty good deal considering it comes with a set of batteries.

Most of the negative comments I've seen here are due to the fact many people don't understand the qualities of NiMH batteries. These batteries work well in devices that draw a lot of power, but don't work well in all devices. They lose about one percent of their charge daily, so I wouldn't use them in a flashlight unless you plan on recharging them at least once a month whether you use them or not.

NiMH batteries are only 1.2 volts, but that's not a problem in most devices since they hold that 1.2 voltage till they die. An alkaline battery drops slowly from 1.5 volts, and continues to drop slowly till it dies. Problem is, while a NiMH battery can hold a steady 1.2 volts for a long time, it drops in voltage very quickly when it does die. That means if your device has a low battery indicator, it may give you little warning. However, most digital cameras are setup to use NiMH batteries, and their battery indicator is adjusted for this.

Also, a NiMH battery must be recycled a few times before it works at full capacity. I put a brand new charged battery in an MP3 player and it ran for less than 2 hours. On the second charge it ran for over 7 hours.

So, why not five stars? There are better batteries and chargers on the market. The newer AA batteries are rated at 2000 mAh, and there are faster, better, "smarter" chargers on the market (MAHA, Rayovac, etc.)that can charge both AA and AAA batteries. Still, I've had good luck with this compact charger and the batteries, and recommend it. I also know for a fact the school has abused the heck out of both the charger and batteries and they are still working fine.

By the way, make sure and get a second set of batteries for your camera. When you come across Elvis, the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot all having a picnic, I guarantee you the batteries in your camera will be dead.

This charger accepts any input voltage from 100-240 V, so it operates anywhere in the world. There may be others out there that can do this also, but I have not found any. Even the exterior packaging on these chargers do not list the line voltage.
I have taken the charger with me throughout the world and it works flawlessly. Unlike some of the universal chargers for camcorders which tend to overheat and undercharge batteries when operated on 240V, this one works fine. It is not as fast as some of the "smart chargers", but you should always carry an extra set of batteries with you when you are out for the day anyway.
The only reason I did not give if 5 stars is that the design is not super compact. The line cable unplugs, but takes extra space in your luggage.

The Nokia Charger works great compared to many chargers I have used before. I previously had an analouge Motorola phone and had one of those chargers that plugged into an outlet in your house and would take all night to charge for a usage of under 8 hours. It became a real pain. So I went out and bought a Nokia 5120i and bought this charger. My phone didn't lose power for days, but when it did, I plugged in the charger and it started the job. When you plug the large end into the cigarette charger in your car, there is a little light that comes on to let you know that there is power going through the charger. Than you plug the small end into a hole in the phone. If your phone is on, you will recieve a message saying "Charger Connected" and than another message 5 seconds later saying "Charging." Then the charger starts the job. If your phone is down to the last quarter of energy, it will take approx. 30 minutes to charge full. THATS FAST. If you have 3/4 of the energy it will take about 2-10 minutes to charge full. And the battery will continue to last for a long time. Just keep charging whenever energy is lost. I have had this phone and charger for over one year and have had no problems. One complaint of many people is that the cord is too short. Well for me its not. I have a Chrysler Concorde and the phone reaches fine. The cord will stretch between 1 to 2 1/2 feet. So that should answer your question. If you have any other questions, I recommend that you contact Nokia.

Charging my phone in the house with the charger that comes with it takes several hours. By using the car charger the job is done while I travel to work and it is available to use at the same time. Others have said they wanted the cord to be longer but I found it to be perfect for reaching the outlet in my PT Cruiser and my husband agrees in his Dodge Dakota. This is a great product that I would highly recommend.

I bought this charger primarily for road trips. It takes me about 1 1/2 hour to charge my phone, and hence you might not need it that much if all you do is commute. It does however add the advantage of unlimited talk time in your car, whenever you do need it.

The charger has a very solid feel, and it appears to be very good craftsmanship. It has proven to be very durable. I've owned and frequently used this charger for more than 2 1/2 years now, and I've never had anything go wrong with it. In my opinion, it works better than you could expect after that long of a time. It's been kept in my car permanently since I bought it, and by that has been exposed to excessive Arizona heat for weeks on end. With the desert heat comes the cooldown at night, so the temperature difference it's been exposed to has also been great. The charger has a convenient, little light to show you when it's charging.

The charger's cord is a "feisty" one, so don't expect it to be too cooperative if you try to stretch it very far.

All in all a charger you should expect to charge your Nokia phones (no surprises there?) for a long, long time, no matter what you put it through. The charger is very reliable and durable, and I highly recommend it. 5 STARS!!!

This unit is quick and extraordinarily simple to use: put in the battery, plug it in. That's it. The indicator glows red for "charging" and green for "charged." There is nothing else to it. The prongs fold away so you can carry it in your camera case without worrying about them scratching anything. The only improvement I could suggest is that it have space to charge two batteries simultaneously.

This little charger is great. There are no wires to deal with or ways to screw up your battery. Just pop in the battery plug it in and your set! So small I even lost it!

This charger came with my Canon Powershot S200 camera, and I've been using it very frequently (taken close to 10.000 pictures with 3 different batteries in the last 12 months). I've been using it with 2 Canon brand batteries, and one generic battery, all of them without a single problem.

I've taken it abroad and used it with 240V without any problems. All you need here is a pin converter (cheap at any travel store) and not a voltage converter.

It's plastic and hence very lightweight, which kind of gives a cheap feel to it, but it's been amazingly durable. The prongs fold into the charger and out of your way, so it's very portable. It's a bit big - about the same size as my camera.

It does sometimes make a very high pitched continuous sound when charging, something that can often be remedied by giving a bit of a nudge, or by just adjusting it in its socket.

It charges my batteries in about 2 hours. A red light goes on when inserting a battery for charging, and it turns green when the battery is done charging.

Pros:
* Built in voltage converter - runs on both 120V/240V (with a pin converter).
* Lightweight (plastic)
* Prongs fold into charger
* Has turned out to be amazingly durable.

Cons:
* A bit big
* Sometimes you'll experience an annoying high pitched sound when charging.
* Does not feel very durable

All in all, I would highly recommend this charger. It's come in very handy at home, and when traveling abroad.

Alkaline batteries would last a week in my child's toy. I am lucky if these rechargable batteries last a day. They spend more time in the recharger than in the toy. Save yourself the money and the grief. Do not buy this product.

My neighbor and I bought this charger but I returned mine and I think she is going to return hers also. It seems a little dated because it charges the batteries for a fixed amount of time (both NiMH and NiCad). So if your battery is only slightly discharged it'll still charge it for the same time as if it were totally dead. It also can't charge batteries individually which my Rayovac charger can. The only downfall of my Rayovac is that it can only charge AA and AAA which is all I need. I paid 25 dollars for the Energizer and the Rayovac was only 10 dollars... BIG difference. If you can find a Rayovac recharger at your local store get it! I even got 16 NiMH batteries for 25 dollars - PLUS they're ALL 1600mah (higher the rating the more power). Just thought I'd let everyone know. Alohaz

For the money, you'd be hard pressed to purchase a better battery charger. This unit from Energizer (which is apparently really getting into the rechargeable market) can charge any consumer-size battery--AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V--in either NiCad or NiMH chemistries.

It charges standard cells in about 4-6 hours and 9V batteries in about 9-10. This rate isn't as fast as some "quick chargers," but doesn't make the batteries hot and is really slightly better for them. When it's done, it keeps them on "trickle charge" so that they're at 100% capacity when you remove them.

For any batteries except 9V, you have to charge in pairs; many NiMH chargers have this restriction, however. You also cannot charge NiCad and NiMH at the same time.

Overall recommendation: If you're looking to stop wasting money on alkaline batteries and need a NiMH charger for household use, buy this one. For those few people who really *need* to be able to charge batteries in one hour (which are really only very high-intensity digital camera users), however, spend extra for a quick charger.