Topping the charts at 2500Mah, Kodak's flagship NiMH offering has quietly eclipsed alkaline batteries as the leader in portable power for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, NiMh batteries now cost about 50% more than a set of alkalines. Secondly, they can be recharged with inexpensive battery chargers like the dependable Energizer CHM4AAWB NiMH/NiCD Battery Charger.

I bought my Kodak's over a year ago to supplement my Energizer Rechargeable AA 2500Mah NiMH batteries. I keep two AA flashlights in my cabinet at home for use in emergencies. Two fully charged Kodak's were placed in a flashlight and let sit for two months until a power outage. When I turned the flashlight on, I was surprised to find no light! The Energizer product offering is more stable in storage though. I left two Energizer AA's in another flashlight and they worked fine two months later, providing a bright light to use during the power outage at my house. For this reason alone I could not give these batteries a perfect rating. After two failed recharges, I had to throw away the two dead Kodak's.

Two of the batteries found their way to my office where they get recharged about twice a week while being used in my Sony D-NF340 Personal CD Player.. The CD player will play two rotations of my MP3 CD with these batteries. The small case on these Kodak batteries allows me to easily pry them out for recharging.

Care And Charging
I have been a heavy rechargeable battery user my entire life. The #1 rule of the road is to give your new set of NiMH batteries a good charge as soon as you buy them. The reasoning is simple; the batteries have been on the shelf for as long as six months and have lost their charge due to natural depletion.

To avoid a dead set of batteries, always recharge your NiMH batteries within 6 hours of depletion, recharge sooner if they were subjected to fast discharge. Just like Lithium-Ion batteries in laptops, these batteries have a high risk of losing their ability to recharge if discharged at high rate and left unattended.

Scientific studies have proven that using fast battery chargers (1 hour or less) decrease the lifespan of NiMH batteries. I have used a slow trickle charger for the past year and the batteries have the same usage time as they did when new. Quick charging is always harder on the batteries, because of the higher current, which causes more heating, which degrades the chemistry of the battery faster.

Finally, never let your AA's overheat. You will damage the sensitive electrolyte inside, degrading their ability to hold a charge.

Appearance
The outside case is marked with the words "Kodak" in bright, yellow, bold lettering against a green background and yellow border at the top of the cell, making them easy to spot in a drawer. The batteries have a smaller case than most AA batteries making them easier to fit in tight AA compartments as well.

Summary
The highest capacity AA rechargeable NiMH you can find on the shelves of retail stores today, period. I have used my current set of 4 batteries in heavy rotation for the past year with two performing flawlessly and two in the trash because they could not hold a charge in storage. They perform flawlessly after several recharges in my CD player.

Web References
Wikipedia NiMH discussion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_metal_hydride_battery
NiMH Battery Guide: http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/
Details on NiMH battery performance: http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/nickelmetalhydride_appman.pdf

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