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La Crosse Technology BC700 Alpha Power Battery Charger | 
| Brand: La Crosse Technology
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $32.99
You Save: $16.96 (34%)
Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 2244
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 2 x 3 x 5
MPN: BC-700
Model: BC700-CBP
UPC: 757456990866
EAN: 0757456990866
ASIN: B000RSOV50
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Promotion: Save $10.00 when you spend $50.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout. Terms and Conditions
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Battery charger for NiCad and NiMH AA and AAA rechargeable batteries | | • | Features 4 modes: charge, discharge, recharge and test | | • | Charges both AA & AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously | | • | 4 separate LCD displays for simultaneous readouts | | • | Overheat-detection to prevent over-charging |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The La Crosse Technology BC700-CBP battery charger works with all NiCd and NiMH "AA" and "AAA" rechargeable batteries and can actually increase the power capacity of some older rechargeable batteries. Choose the Discharge Mode to completely discharge the batteries energy and then recharge it to full capacity in one cycle. The Refresh Mode restores the maximum capacity of your batteries by utilizing a 20 cycle discharge and charge mode. The BC700 also offers a Test Mode that determines the true capacity of your batteries. Includes power adapter.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 35 more reviews...
 Handicapped version of BC900 August 30, 2007
NLee the Engineer (Nashua, NH)
167 out of 175 found this review helpful
Just in case you were looking for the La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger: please be advised that ths is NOT the same charger.
Except for the color, the BC700 looks exactly the same as the better-known BC900. However, it is actually a "handicapped" version of the old charger. Its charging current can only go up to 700mA in three steps (200/500/700). The BC900, on the other hand, can go up to 1000mA for 4 cells, or 1800mA for 2 cells. Also the BC900 package includes eight NiMH rechargeable cells (4 AA and 4 AAA), eight C/D cell adaptors, and a carrying case. The BC700 does not come with any bonus items.
This is not to say that the BC700 is a bad product. Quite the contrary, it is better than any other NiMH AA chargers in the market except for BC900 and Maha MH-C9000. If you can find it at a substantial saving (like maybe 30% off from the price of BC900), it is still a good buy. But as it is right now, I recommend getting its older brother instead.
[update on June 13, 2008]
Recently the price of BC700 has settled to a level much lower than that of BC900 (mostly because the price for BC900 has increased sharply), so it is now an excellent buy - especially if you intend to buy some low-self-discharge NiMH cells separately. It seems like my original rating (3 out of 5 stars) was unnecessarily harsh. [...]
 Great charger but....... March 3, 2008
Highlander (Canton, Ohio)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
This is a great charger and when I bought it it was about $15 less than the BC-900. Now the BC-900 is less than this charger. The difference between this charger and the BC-900 is the lack of the faster charging speeds and the accessories. Definitley buy the BC-900 and the accessory package for less money. It seems they are constantly playing games with the pricing on these two chargers. The BC-700 charger does a great job of reconditioning batteries and the charging speed is usually between 2-3 hours for the different capacity batteries that I have. (1800mh - 2650mh). Time is not an issue for me as I have about 10 sets of AA's and can just keep swapping them out. From what i've read the slower charging speed is better for the life span of your battery any way.
 Best charger I ever owned April 29, 2008
Nuknuk (Springfield, VA United States)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
I have owned at least 8 chargers in the past, Maha's, Panasonic, etc. It is nice to see that this charger shows you the mAh on the LCD panel as the battery charges up. Most chargers you only see an LED indicator to signal when charging is done.
Compared to the specs of BC-900, BC700 can only go up to 700mAH (the max) which means it is somewhat slower than the BC900. But the faster the battery charges, the hotter it gets. And one of the worst enemy of rechargeable batteries is heat. Less heat means longer life.
Pros:
- 3 adjustable charging speeds
- Will show you the actual capacity in mAh. This is good so you know which battery needs to be refreshed. You always want to use batteries with the same capacities in pair or in a group.
- 4 independent charging stations with individual LED readouts. "AA's" and "AAA's" can be charged in different combinations. Don't you hate those gadgets that only use 3 batteries like portable radios? (walkie-talkies). You end up with 1 un-used battery if you bought a 4-pack. How will you charge it if your charger only charges in pairs?
- Reasonable price for an excellent charger
- Small and light. Better portability
- Multi-volt up to 240v. Very useful if you travel a lot to other countries.
Cons:
Now I have to stop myself doing impulse buying on NiMh's because I enjoy using this charger too much..
New improved version of BC-900 June 2, 2008
A. Jackson (Atlanta)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I don't know why a company would adopt such a confusing model number scheme, but in terms of capabilities, this is far superior to other models by LaCrosse and Maha.
The BC-700 can charge up to 2500 mAh capacity -- it does so in relatively faster steps of 200/500/700 mA currents (these are not capacities). Unless you are in a really big hurry, let the charger work at the default current of 200 mA, otherwise, you are stressing your batteries. This charger has saved several sets of 2000+ mAh batteries for me that previous had developed a low capacity problem in a Maha charger.
Compared to my old Maha, it's nice to be able to see the capacities and voltage of the batteries. Having a device like this and a couple dozen AA and AAA NiMH batteries saves me several hundred dollars per year.
Make sure you glance through the documentation so you don't misunderstand the various modes.
TIP: you must make selections on the charger within 8 seconds of inserting the batteries, AND hold the mode button for 5 seconds when changing modes.
Buy this La Crosse BC-700 because this is newer model (instead of older model La Crosse BC-900) August 16, 2008
c681
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Trying to decide between this La Crosse model BC-700, or La Crosse model BC-900? It sounds logical that the higher model La Crosse BC-900 would be the newest model than this BC-700, but that is not true. In truth, this BC-700 is the newest model, and the BC-900 is an older model. Found this out after much Internet research. (I guess this BC-700 is named "700" because it has three charging option rates of 200, 500 and 700 MAH, and its maximum charging rate is "700" MAH. In contrast the older BC-900 has five charging rates, including these three 200, 500, 700 MAH, and has two more charging rates of 1000 and 1800 MAH.)
(Also, first Amazon review of this newer BC-700 is dated August 2007, of its about 30 Amazon reviews. Whereas, the first Amazon review of older BC-900 is dated February 2005, of its about 400 Amazon reviews.)
I decided to buy this latest and newest La Crosse BC-700, instead of the older La Crosse BC-900. This BC-700 charger is working very well and stays very cool and does not overheat, and my NiMH batteries stays cool while charging at the slow default 200 MAH rate.
While researching Eneloop batteries, I saw this La Crosse BC-700, and the BC-900 battery chargers (and also the Maha MH-C9000 battery charger). I initially ordered the La Crosse BC-900 because BC-900 sounded logical to be newer, and this BC-700 sounded logical to be the older. But after much Internet research, I found out that this BC-700 was newer, and the BC-900 was older, and I had time to cancel the older BC-900. Also, I found out that the older BC-900 has people writing about previous problems with burning or near-accidents, probably caused by the high end charge rates of 1000 MAH and 1800 MAH of the older BC-900. Also, the older BC-900 problems of newer and older hardware firmware v.32, v.33, v.34 internal chips, and other problems. I believe La Crosse engineers had good and safety reasons to make this newer BC-700, and eliminating the higher 1000 MAH and 1800 MAH charge rates of the older BC-900. I have stopped using my old "fast" chargers (such as my Energizer PS4 1-hour "fast" charger), and will only charge my new Eneloop batteries using the Eneloop slow chargers, or the low charging rate of this newer La Cross BC-700. (The current BC-900 version is v.35, and I believe the mentioned BC-900 problems are now resolved and are history, and no longer an issue with the current version BC-900. But I still prefer this newer BC-700.)
FYI, when I plug in the AC adapter to this BC-700, the following numbers appear in each of the 4 LCD windows slots (and disappears after a few seconds):
Slot #1: 84.
Slot #2: 83.
Slot #3: 700. (Probably stands for BC-"700".)
Slot #4: 36. (Maybe this is the firmware chip version "3.6" ?)
Right now I like using this BC-700 regular "Charge" at 200 MAH mode. And I like using the "Test" mode to label and sort out my good and bad NiMH batteries. Also, I do not need the "free" items of the older BC-900 of the "free" carry case, nor the "free" NiMH batteries (since I converted to the Eneloop NiMh batteries).
Update Oct 2008:
My BC-700 is still working well and keeps cool and does not overheat, at my preferred default 200 MAH charge rate, for maximum NiMH battery life. I recommend this BC-700 which is the newest model and chip version, instead of the older BC-900.
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