AA and AAA Batteries

gotasmoke

I'm looking for the best place to get good quality batteries, not just the cheapest ones that don't last.

muffler

Argos have 8 Duracell AA batteries for €3.49. You wont get them much cheaper than that

fdevine

Don't laugh but I saw a comparison test online somewhere and Ikea batteries outperformed a lot of branded ones

Not sure this is the test but worth a read....

http://www.batteryshowdown.com/results-lo.html

ltdslipdiff

Groupon or Pigsback are doing a special on Duracell AA/AAA's at the mo.

cunstunt

fdevine wrote: »

Don't laugh but I saw a comparison test online somewhere and Ikea batteries outperformed a lot of branded ones

Not sure this is the test but worth a read....

http://www.batteryshowdown.com/results-lo.html

a word of warning about Ikea batteries - we find that sometimes they are a bit shorter than other brands and don't fit in properly and then the toy etc. doesn't work.
Has happened a few times with rc cars, games etc and once we change the batteries to any other type, it works fine.

Might just be us but we've stopped buying Ikea batteries cos of the hassle this causes......

limericklad87

bit of tin foil will sort that out

flutered

i have seen a display of batterys at maplin, they were claiming that they were on offer, i forget the prices, but then maplin and bargains dont go hand in hand usually, these were in big boxes, no mention of them online

ozmo

The Deals Kodak Extra have been shown to be the best value (duration per euro)

You need get the 'Extra' ones though (4 or 6 pack) not the 8 pack of standard Kodaks which are rubbish.

IKea are great too - but they can add a lot of weight if that matters - very heavy!

flutered

got the aaa in dealz limerick 2 packages all duds

muffler

flutered wrote: »

got the aaa in dealz limerick 2 packages all duds

You get what you pay for.

Dades

I've always found the Dealz Kodak ones fine. That said, I use them in kids toys. More often than not toys are left on draining the battery so buying pricier batteries would be a bigger waste.

Other cheap AAA ones I've got in the 2 Euro store were often dodgy and full of duds, with the exception of the Ford brand ones which were fine.

Lizheen

Ikea all the way. Great value - and long-lasting.

ozmo

muffler wrote: »

You get what you pay for.

Not always - I can confirm what this video - and many others - says

http://www.batteryshowdown.com/results-lo.html

Reviews Dealz (UK Poundworld) stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I4liMndTsI

Ikea and Deals "Kodak Extralife" are best value.

There are several Duracel - the basic ones usually on sale are actually not that great - but all have cost/mAH way too high
and all cheap zinc batteries are junk because they leak.

We went rechargeable for a while - great for xboxes and things like that - not so good for toys where you never get to see the expensive rechargeables again.

Kaskade

I am a photographer and I buy my AA and AAA batteries in Dealz. Without a doubt the best value for money. don't last quite as long as duracell but in everyday user there is no noticeable difference. I have never once had a dud, but I reiterate what was said above, you have to buy the 4/6 pack of extra (alkaline) batteries and not the huge pack of zinc ones. They are not fit for anything other than the bin.

rubadub

I use the dealz recharegable AA and AAAs, they have low capacity compared to most you would get, but they are cheap and are fine for remote controls.

Good rechargeables are ansmann and energizer. I think ansmann are often under spec'd, i.e. capacity tests higher than what they state. However they are expensive so even if a say 2600mAh ansmann is actaully the same as another said to be 3000mAh, the 3000mAh might be cheaper and so better value.

I often end up buying them with bundled with chargers as its only a few euro more. I reckon I have about 5 chargers now.

mikewest

http://www.maplin.ie/p/maplin-extra-long-life-alkaline-value-aa-batteries-100-pack-n43cy

http://www.maplin.ie/p/maplin-extra-long-life-alkaline-value-aaa-batteries-100-pack-n42cy

€22.45 for 100 AA or AAA

Cheapest I could find and last as long as any other Alkaline

air

I've been using Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables exclusively for years. Disposable single use batteries should be taxed to the hilt in the same manner as plastic bags, no excuse for them.

Cantona's Collars

Which! tested batteries and found Lidl's branded ones outperformed Duracell.It was on one of the consumer shows on BBC recently.

rubadub

zerks wrote: »

Which! tested batteries and found Lidl's branded ones outperformed Duracell.It was on one of the consumer shows on BBC recently.

any links to that? The duracells could still be better value for all we know. Someone wanting to skew results can easily do it.

There are a fair few models of duracells.

12 "simply duracell" AA are a fiver in dealz
http://www.dealz.ie/duracell-aa-alkaline-batteries-12-pack

12 "duracell ultra power" AA are 16.49 in tesco
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=284213999

Looking at the links before the dealz ones seem a far better buy, the ultra power ones outperform they just a little more, while over 3 times the price.

air

air wrote: »

I've been using Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables exclusively for years. Disposable single use batteries should be taxed to the hilt in the same manner as plastic bags, no excuse for them.

Been using the same Eneloop batteries too. Super charge from them and they don't lose charge when not in use.
Saved myself a fortune over the years

air

Agreed, I'd always been a fan of rechargeables but normal NiMh cells were a pain, no good for remote controls etc as they would self discharge in a few weeks. The Eneloops and similar are a total game changer, probably last as long if not longer than Alkaline in low discharge environments and good for over 1000 cycles.
A tax on Alkalines definitely needs to be introduced to save consumers from themselves. It worked on plastic bags and incandescent bulbs, hard to see why they don't follow up with these.

ozmo

I bought a pack of 10 Maplins AA Rechargable
- the highest mAh they had 2500mAh - cost about 22 Euros for 10 batteries.
- but I left them unopened on the shelf for a year - when I tried to use them they were all dead out of the pack - none of the 10 would charge with any of my chargers - either my cheap or fancy chargers.
It wasn't mentioned on the pack - but I guess they have a shelf life in the packet Turned me off rechargeables.

air

Try connecting a good charged battery in parallel with one of them for a few seconds and then bang it into the charger, it might be enough to get it going.

Alfie1

Lidl have Tronic Ni-MH rechargeable batteries on Thursday, €3.99 for 4 pack of AA or AAA, 2 pack of C or D & single 9V also available http://www.lidl.ie/en/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=49174

rubadub

Alfie1 wrote: »

Lidl have Tronic Ni-MH rechargeable batteries on Thursday, €3.99 for 4 pack of AA or AAA, 2 pack of C or D & single 9V also available http://www.lidl.ie/en/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=49174

I guess the mAh capacity will be the same as in this picture.