There have not been too many changes in our everyday batteries in the last few years, so it is nice to see something different and useful…..Also good to see some improvements in rechargeable batteries. The colorful Energizer Duo chargers look slightly different because their plastic cases come in red, yellow or blue. They act a little different because they come with two plugs that offer two ways to recharge the batteries. The charger is small enough (3 ¾” x 1 ½”) to fit in a camera or laptop bag. It comes with a USB cable so you can recharge your batteries from your computer’s USB port. The USB end also slides into a regular DC adapter so you can attach it to a wall outlet as well. Since the USB adapter fits snugly into the DC adapter, you can attach both to the charger for storage. This is an excellent feature that will help lessen the possibility of lost pieces.

Having two ends for the device, give the device additional convenience and flexibility. It offers portability for the traveling power user as well as for digital photographers who have cameras that get their power from AA or AAA batteries. I can see myself using this in an airport or hotel room where there are never enough power outlets.

The device includes two Energizer AAA 900 mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries and retails for $13.99. You can download a small program from the Energizer website  that tracks the progress of the charging process and estimates the time remaining. (Both windows and Mac versions are available.)There may be an occasion when this is useful, but mostly it’s just an interesting widget. This type of progress meter will become truly useful when they can incorporate it right into the device itself. Let’s hope they can accomplish that sooner rather than later.

The device provides some pretty fast charging, revving up two AAA in two hours, two AA in four to five hours, depending on capacity. Energizer claims that their rechargeable batteries can be charged hundreds of times and hold their charge for up to six months.

Date of Review: 3-25-2008

Retail Price: $13.99