Sony BCG-34HRMF4 Battery Charger with LCD Display and 4 AA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries
by Sony
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Our Price: $73.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony BCG-34HRMF4 Battery Charger with LCD Display and 4 AA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries
Customer Review: Surprisingly low quality for a Sony product - charger AND batteries
Summary: 1 Stars
I don't easily give 1-star ratings, and I'm surprising myself by doing this for a Sony product...
I bought this combo for our excellent Canon SX-10IS camera at work, thinking at that price and with the Sony name you probably can't go wrong...
On the upside, for roughly 30 bucks usually you don't get a set of brand-name batteries, and a charger with single-slot control (all the cheaper chargers only charge 2 cells at a time, so they'll overcharge or undercharge if you give them mismatched batteries), and microcontroller (the cheap chargers will only shut off with a timer boiling your batteries if they're full before the timer runs out).
Anyway, the batteries stink in that two of them give me only about half their nominal capacity.
And the charger stinks in that inevitably, if you just leave the batteries in, after a while one of the slots' LCD starts flashing fast indicating a defective cell. This happens with both the lousy Sony cells and my (good) Energizer cells.
The charger I have at home is a La Crosse Technology BC-700, a fantastic little unit that has served me well for 5 years now, with much better features and the ability to test cells for capacity (this is why I know that two of the Sony cells are bad...)
Customer Review: What good is a "high capacity" rechargable that won't hold a charge???
Summary: 1 Stars
The Sony BCG-34HRMF4 Battery Charger with LCD Display and 4 AA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries that I bought July 8, 2009 from Amazon for $31 is a hugh disappointment, to say the least! I bought these along with the Canon Power Shot SX1IS, a really great camera! But the Sony 2700mAh rechargeables will not hold a charge for 24 hours. The first 3 chargings worked fine.....and then, the batteries would no longer hold a charge...all gone within 24 hours! I used the vaunted "refresh" function of the Sony charger. That made NO difference. How frustrating. Of course, by that time the Amazon return window has expired. Ever try to get a "warranty" response from Sony? Forgedaboudit! On the positive side, it only cost me $31 to learn "NEVER buy ANYTHING by SONY". If they cannot market Sony branded batteries that work, or at least stand behind the defective ones that will not hold a charge, why on earth would I EVER consider buying a $4,000 TV with that same brand name?? Also, in the future, I will be more careful about Amazon's little "return window". My recommendation to not waste your money and time with Sony rechargeables, and to be cautious in buying anything other than books from Amazon.
Customer Review: Doesn't charge fully -- what use is it?
Summary: 1 Stars
Other reviews are right -- this charger does NOT charge fully!
I've tried the charger with the included Sony batteries as well as other brands, batteries that have worked fine in other chargers. They will appear to be charging fine, but will go from half-charged to fully-charged (per the LCD display) very quickly. Then when you test the batteries again later, they are only 25-50% charged. This is not simply an effect of the unit not recognizing a "full" battery. When I put in a battery charged on my old cheap charger, it shows fully charged. Likewise, I've confirmed on devices that show battery charge level that the AAs out of this really are coming out only partially charged.
Somehow the unit is reading the batteries as "charged" even though their not while charging, but reads correctly when you first put batteries in. Maybe it's an issue of the heat, I don't know, but it's not a problem other chargers have.
The LCD is neat, the refresh function works, and shape is good and it feels well built. But who cares? IT DOESN'T CHARGE BATTERIES FULLY!
Since this appears to be a common defect I highly recommend people avoid this charger.
Customer Review: High hopes quickly dashed
Summary: 1 Stars
I had purchased this Sony Charger almost a year ago for use with my digital camera and after that year of "use" I am still as disappointed as I was after the first week.
Pros: The only one I can think if is that Sony really could have made a fantastic product and didn't or chose not to.
Cons: The charged batteries only remain charged for maybe two days before going dead. They could be in my camera, in the charger or laying next to the charger on the table they will always be stone dead. Needless to say this makes the batteries relatively useless and considering that that was the sole reason for buying the charger, to have charged batteries when I need them, it makes the whole situation very annoying.
I had originally purchased this product because it was so highly rated and seemed like it would be perfect for my needs. I'm not telling you not to purchase this product, but just be warned that you could end up with useless piece of junk that makes you never want to buy anything Sony again.
Customer Review: I Guess the Charger is Okay, the Batteries are Terrible
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm going to chime in here. When I bought this item in September, the reviews were glowing. However, had I known the batteriese would be worthless, I might have thought twice. The batteries have an extremely short life when in use. They also lose their charge after a few days if they are simply waiting in my desk drawer. This should not be. I remember having a GE Charger in 1988, and I never had these problems. You would think with the advances in technology, rechargeable batteries would improve, not get worse.
I can't honestly vouch for the quality of the charger itself. I have not tried any other batteries in it. I see that people simply bought different batteries, and it was fine. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
Anyway, if you buy this...proceed with caution, and be prepared to shell out some extra cash for new batteries. I have all but lost faith with Sony. The last three items I bought that were manufactured by them have ended up being terrible.