expired La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger - USD $37ish Delivered Amazon.com
This was posted 9 months 11 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal
First post, be kind.
Been looking for a smart charger since getting some Turnigy and eneloops? This model has most of the features of the older deal here: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/75843 but charges at a max 700mAh, so is a little slower.
High AUD and pretty cheap shipping coinciding with about the lowest price in the last year according to camelcamelcamel make this the best deal about for a smart charger, imho.
EDIT: appears to be out of stock as the link now defaults to a 3rd party supplier and if you drill through to Amazon supplied it says "usually ships in 2 to 3 months".
EDIT 2: looks like more stock, but the price is slightly higher.
Comments (Closed)
lakers1222 on 14/08/2012 - 21:24 ¶The main difference is the bc-900 has the option to charge the batteries faster.

+2 votesI have a BC-700 and it's fantastic, one of the best gadgets I own. Really easy to use and reliable, it makes it easy to identify dead and dying batteries pretty much at a glance. IMO slower charging current means longer lasting batteries. The main difference is that you don't have the option of a faster charge.
+1 votePuff Braddy on 14/08/2012 - 20:11 ¶Does one need a plug converter to use this in Australian power sockets?

+3 votesYou can add these eneloops for just an extra $3 shipping (when using slow shipping method + group items for fewer packages):
http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable...
+3 voteszeppeybabey on 14/08/2012 - 20:33 ¶a refresh takes ages, days in fact. just leave it there, don't do anything, and when it's done it will display "full" on each individual battery indicator.
webbiegareth on 14/08/2012 - 20:59 ¶What do you need to buy to be able to plug it into a power socket?
+1 voteFreckleNuts on 14/08/2012 - 21:36 ¶http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=33...
But then 21k+ people might be wrong…
webbiegareth on 15/08/2012 - 07:24 ¶Hahaha thank you… I thought there might be more to it than that (like a voltage converter?)

You will find with most electronics these days that they can work with 120v (USA) or 230v (Australia) and all that is required is that the plug physically fit into the socket. If you are a real cheapo you can always bend the american plugs to fit in our socket - but I wouldn't recommend this haha.

kirynflare on 14/08/2012 - 22:04 ¶According to the manual I have for the BC-1000, it only does NiMH and NiCd batteries.
FreckleNuts on 14/08/2012 - 23:25 ¶Or if you're really tight, you could try this @ $7.79:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ultrafire-Charger-WF-139-14500-17...
IndecentExposure on 14/08/2012 - 23:41 ¶I have one of those and it works very well. It has overcharge protection. The only issue is that the beeping is ludicrously quiet which means you'll have to pay attention to the blinking lights when it's done charging.
+1 votedonkeykong on 14/08/2012 - 22:29 ¶I have both and various other Maha chargers as well. I prefer the MH-C9000 as the programing is more flexible. I could charge all four channels (batteries) at much higher current than the B700 at the same time.

I have same Q - I'm new to this more advanced type of battery charging but plan to get some eneloop/LSDs and want to maximise life from those and existing NiMH batteries I have.
As a newbie, will I really get the benefit out of the 2x cost C9000?
Does the BC700 have the same type of "automatic" modes which will automatically diagnose batteries that need discharge / recharge …..
Aside from the faster current what capabilities does the C9000 offer?
kirynflare on 14/08/2012 - 23:36 ¶If you have a 28 Degree Card, choosing USD and letting the card convert it for you saved me money last time I bought from Amazon :)
+1 voteFreckleNuts on 14/08/2012 - 23:50 ¶Good question.
Few things:
The Amazon exchange rate jumps around with fluctuations in the actual exchange rate – I know this as when I bought mine it was AUD33.40, but it now comes up as costing AUD33.53.
Amazon charges a fee for this, but doesn’t want to say exactly what it is, but it can be inferred. AUD/USD is 0.95269 (from http://themoneyconverter.com/usd/aud.aspx) & Amazon will variously charge you either USD33.92 or AUD33.53 (at time of writing), but if there was no fee you would have expected it to be 33.92x0.95269 = AUD32.31, so the % markup is about (33.53/32.31 -1) ~ 3.8%. This strikes me as a high fee, so no wonder Amazon doesn't want to tell us.
Thing is, my credit card charges me 3% on conversions from foreign to Oz currency, so there’s not really much in it for me at least … though if my calculations are right I was probably marginally better off paying for it in USD. Of course I did it in AUD cos it’s only now I worked it all out…..
Using PayPal adds another level of complexity…
My brain hurts.
FreckleNuts on 15/08/2012 - 00:06 ¶A little correction with (3) above, the conversion would actually be from Oz currency to US currency, given my money is in AUD and i'd be seeking to pay for something in USD.
Goddamn i can be pedantic.
FreckleNuts on 15/08/2012 - 00:27 ¶I don't get it.
If you had AUD set in Amazon, what additional currency conversion can there be?But i think you're right, for most people paying in USD will probably be best given the Amazon fee appears to be so high.
FreckleNuts on 15/08/2012 - 01:01 ¶OK. Now i get it. You may have been hit with the international transaction fee regardless.
I use a pre-paid credit card: http://auspost.com.au/personal/where-to-buy-loadandgo-card.h...
As far as i can tell they just charge me a 3% conversion fee, and a small $0.09 transaction fee.
Bankwest Platinum credit cards don't charge international transaction/FX fees (similar to 28 degrees). Unfortunately Bankwest cards charge an ATM withdrawal fee from the credit card even if your account is in credit (unlike 28 degrees).
All things considered, 28 degrees is a better card for foreign transactions and getting cash out at foreign ATMs (when you have your account in a credit balance).

is this the same deal?
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/78408/amazon.com-la-crosse-t...
FreckleNuts on 15/08/2012 - 00:48 ¶For those wanting a comprehensive review of this thing, and comparisons with the BC-900 & BC-1000 & Maha PowerEx MH-C9000, look no further than the various reviews/FAQ's by NLee the Engineer:
http://www.amazon.com/review/RK62EGS3P082I/
http://www.amazon.com/review/RZCMBYAN3QKN3I was waiting for the MH-C9000, but at this price point for the BC-700 I went in…and you never know with Amazon - tomorrow the BC-700 might be back up at $46.

Just Maha LCDs.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Maha-LCD-Fast-Charger-Sanyo-Enelo...

This is probably better value than the BC1000 kit, as I found the batteries supplied were overstated capacity.
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/75843
If you need the adapters for C and D cells, faster charging and a bag the the upgrade may be worthwhile. Sort of like optioning a new car. Bonnet protector anyone?
FreckleNuts on 15/08/2012 - 10:53 ¶My order said 27 Aug - 7 Sep 2012.
I think they're getting hammered, esp as the deal is also listed elsewhere including slickdeals.net
woodvaliens on 15/08/2012 - 09:59 ¶Thanks for the heads up on this one OP, just placed my order using Amazon currency convertor at $33.53 delivered. As it is such a long lead time before delivery (says it may be delivered anywhere from Oct 17th to Jan 7th 2013, I understand that paying with their currency convertor locks in today's exchange rate, if I elected to pay using my Commbank MasterCard in US $, the exchange rate is the one that is on the date they despatch.
Have I got that right? From using mainly UK Amazon I pay in UK Pounds with anything that is available now, anything that is awaiting stock several weeks away I use their convertor and pay at my Dollar level on the day.
I know the AU to US $ has been moving around a bit lately, but I think the rates at the moment are in our favour.
wakkawalla on 15/08/2012 - 10:07 ¶how do i pay with paypal? (i have enough PP USD credit)
if not, is it disadvantageous to pay with commbank's debit mastercard? (I dont have a 28degrees)
cheers
loneranger on 15/08/2012 - 10:59 ¶Hi,first time user on Amazon.com. Where do i click to find out postage and handling fees. Thanks in advance.

I hope this is as good as a charger like this: http://www.amazon.com/IMax-Digital-battery-Balance-Charger/d...
As thats what ive been using to charge anything.

I notice the BC-1000 is still available for $USD57 shipped. According to CamelCamelCamel this is its lowest price also:
http://camelcamelcamel.com/La-Crosse-Technology-Battery-BC10...
+1 voteI am tossing between this and the 1000 that comes with batteries http://www.amazon.com/La-Crosse-Technology-Battery-BC1000/dp...
+1 voteJust use this deal then and you get batteries as well :D
http://www.amazon.com/La-Crosse-Technology-Battery-BC1000/dp...
FreckleNuts on 15/08/2012 - 13:05 ¶With Amazon.com as seller it's now saying 2-5 months.
Show's over brothers & sisters…Amazon ticks me off sometimes - having to dig down to see if the other sellers will ship to Oz, and even when they do it's often at ludicrous rates.

http://www.shipstoaustralia.com.au/ is handy for searching amazon for AU deliverable stuff.
donkeykong on 16/08/2012 - 00:38 ¶I have just ordered the BC1000 with a few books, and another headphone.
FreckleNuts on 16/08/2012 - 22:58 ¶I'm pretty sure this deal is back on:
Amazon shown as seller.
Price now USD 29.79 (up from USD 26.93), which is still a good deal.
When i go through the order process it says: "Estimated delivery: Sept. 7, 2012 - Sept. 13, 2012". Though on the product home page it does say "Shipping this item to your default address may require an additional 2 to 3 weeks to process" - not sure if this is in addition to the timeline provided on order.
Total price now incl delivery is: USD 36.78 (or at time of writing AUD 36.37).
If you missed out, i'd still go for it…
+2 votesGeez, I spent the time to post this deal again (updated) because this one was expired due to no stock. The price was slightly different and I linked back to this deal for reference.
Then my post is deleted as a dupe, this one magically gets a price change and is unexpired. The edit from the original post that mentions that stock is only available from a third party is no longer true and should be removed.
Wish I didn't waste my time now, I'll know better next time :-)
I think I'm going to go for the Maha/Powerex MH-C9000 which I've found for about $60 delivered.

Just got this e-mail from Amazon:
Hello,
We have good news! We're able to get this part of your order to you faster than we originally promised:
"La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger"
Previous estimated arrival date: September 24, 2012 - September 26, 2012
New estimated arrival date: August 28, 2012
Just purchased one as it still said "In Stock". After payment was told delivery is estimated at Nov 2 - Jan 20, 2013. When I refreshed the product page it now says delivery to my location can take an additional 2-5 months. Delivery address was in Brisbane so hopefully will get another e-mail shortly as zzyss did that delivery is now earlier than expected.


I went a different way. I ordered the Maha/Powerex MH-C9000 (not from Amazon) for about the same shipped price as the La Crosse BC-1000 (from Amazon). I like the reviews of the Maha (for features and build quality). Got various eneloop sets that each come with battery boxes. That's me set for rechargeables for the forseeable future!
FreckleNuts on 28/08/2012 - 01:02 ¶Some useful info on the BC-700, including pdf of manual (though it is slightly different to the manual that came with mine):
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FreckleNuts on 15/08/2012 - 01:27
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zeppeybabey on 14/08/2012 - 20:33
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Cobalt_ on 14/08/2012 - 20:19
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kabigon on 14/08/2012 - 18:36
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jdr on 19/08/2012 - 22:20
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Glad to be of assistance ;)