The La Crosse Technology BC700 Alpha Power Battery Charger has four modes and charges all NiCd and NiMH AA and AAA rechargeable batteries. The four modes include charge discharge (discharges the batteries and then recharges them) recharge (discharges and recharges up to 20 times to bring old batteries back to life) and test (displays the battery capacity). BC-700 Battery Charger " Features: • All modes automatically default to 200 mA charge on the BC-700 Battery charger • Charge both AA and AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously and will charge all Low-Discharge batteries. Sanyo Eneloop Uniross Hybrio Nexcell EnergyOn Accupower Acculoop and other future low discharge batteries. • Hhas Four independent channels - Charges 1 2 3 or 4 rechargeable batteries at a time. • Overheat detection to protect over-charging and LCD shows capacity for each battery when charging is complete • Charge Mode - allows a range of user selectable milliamp settings from 200 to 700 for faster charging times. Within 4 seconds after rechargeable batteries are inserted charging automatically begins at 200mA or you may select 500 or 700mA charge rates for faster charging times. • Discharge Mode - reduces memory effect by discharging rechargeable battery completely before recharging to full capacity. User selectable. • Refresh Mode - discharges and recharges up to 20 cycles or until rechargeable battery is refreshed to full capacity. User Selectable. • Test Mode- First charges the rechargeable battery to full capacity then discharges completely to measure rechargeable battery capacity for display in mAh or Ah and then recharges each rechargeable battery to full battery capacity. • UL approved BC 700 charger also has safeguards that sense rechargeable battery polarity rechargeable battery temperature and defective rechargeable batteries. • World Voltage capable - Operates on 100~240V AC Input.

• Battery charger for NiCad and NiMH AA and AAA rechargeable batteries


• Features 4 modes: charge discharge refresh and test


• Charges both AA & AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously


• 4 separate LCD displays for simultaneous readouts


• Overheat-detection to prevent over-charging

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Handicapped version of BC900

Just in case you were looking for the La Crosse Technology BC-900 AlphaPower Battery Charger: please be advised that ths is NOT the same charger.



Except for the color the BC700 looks exactly the same as the better-known BC900. However it is actually a "handicapped" version of the old charger. Its charging current can only go up to 700mA in three steps (200/500/700). The BC900 on the other hand can go up to 1000mA for 4 cells or 1800mA for 2 cells. Also the BC900 package includes eight NiMH rechargeable cells (4 AA and 4 AAA) eight C/D cell adaptors and a carrying case. The BC700 does not come with any bonus items.



This is not to say that the BC700 is a bad product. Quite the contrary it is better than any other NiMH AA chargers in the market except for BC900 and Maha MH-C9000. If you can find it at a substantial saving (like maybe 30% off from the price of BC900) it is still a good buy. But as it is right now I recommend getting its older brother instead.



[update on June 13 2008]

Recently the price of BC700 has settled to a level much lower than that of BC900 (partially because the price of BC900 has gone up) so it is now an excellent buy - especially if you intend to buy some low-self-discharge NiMH cells separately. In light of this the criticism in my original review now seems unnecessarily harsh. Too bad I'm not allowed to change the star-rating for this product.



[Update on April 7 2010]

I hope my overly critical review above did not discourage anyone from buying the BC-700. As of this moment it is the best value if you are looking for an advanced battery charger/analyzer. This is because:

- The BC-9009 has been recalled recently due to excessive overheating/meltdown incidents.

- The Powerex WizardOne Battery Charger-Analyzer is more powerful but costs twice as much as the BC-700.

- The newest La Crosse BC500 has severely limited functions compared to the BC-700 (see my review for details) yet it costs more.More detail ...