Funny Item Review: Energizer USB Charger

A week ago, I followed Shockrave on his quest for a new printer. He settled for a brother HL2140 from Officeworks - which I think is a decent laser printer. On the other hand, something else caught my eye:

The Energizer USB battery charger. It's no secret I'm a big fan of Energizer USB rechargable batteries, I have over 16 of them littered all over my apartment in many many devices. It's a nifty little device that charges battery via USB, and it even works with those USB adapters you may have laying about. While to most people this may not be a big deal, to me it is - when I travel, carrying one USB AC adapter and several USB cables saves a lot of space. (I chose the green coloured one simply because that felt like the most "Energizer Rechargable" brand oriented.)

The cable coils nicely around the device and the USB plug tucks in neatly into a slot built into the charger. Some of you may not value this simple aesthetic yet functional design, but I do.

Fully uncoiled, it looks like this:

Like other Energizer chargers, it supports charging AA and AAA batteries (it actually comes with two 900mAh AAA batteries.

The AAA batteries charge using the familiar fold down piece.

Curious about what it looks like inside underneath the batteries?

This charger can charge just one battery. (Handy for those who use rechargeable in mice like the VX Revolution  that only use one battery.)

Once you've loaded the batteries, and closed the cover:

Then, download their software, plug it into the computer and:

(The timer did correct itself to 4 hours after a while. Not sure why it went down all the way to 9 hours 14 minutes.)

I'm not going to lie, it was an impulse buy, and serves little purpose to me now. That being said, if I need to charge only two batteries, this is a lot more convenient than the slightly bulkier travel charger I bring around. It serves its purpose, and like most Energizer chargers, the batteries don't get as hot as some other chargers do - and if you like having a small USB device that can charge batteries lying somewhere in your room near your computer - don't hesistate to pick one of these up. :D