I recently bought a replacement digital camera. Takes AA batteries (majority of our stuff takes AA). I have had previous rechargables (NiCad, NiMH) and even that old charger that would recharge alkaline....Ok so I'm dating myself....

There are now a variety of rechargables. Can anyone suggest a GOOD one to go with. The camera is used a lot in Ice Rinks so cold may be an issue but only for an hour or 2 max. Majority of time it is warm/hot weather. I'd like a decent run time on the battery. I'm planning on having one set in camera with 1 for back up. I would buy more later if the set is good. I'd rather spend good money now to save later, though I don't want to get too expensive.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Things to avoid completely. Please do not give massive technical data....I'm not an engineer. Good 'field use experience' is more valuable to me. If the 'system' for charging also has multiple ways to 'charge' (ie. 110v, 12v, solar, iGo, USB) even better but 110 v is primary.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sanyo Eneloops for the batteries. Seems to be a pretty broad consensus that they are one of the better batteries out there. They are one of the low self discharge NiMH batteries, that won't go dead from sitting in the drawer (well, they will, just not in a month or two, it will take a couple years).

One of the Powerex/Maha chargers would be my choice, though there are probably as good as or better chargers. Couple years ago I had found a pretty comprehensive review of chargers available (how full they were able to charge, how long, how hot they got, explained the charging methods, etc), but I can't for the life of me find it again

Sanyo also has a new eneloop that is a little lower capacity but has even better cold temperature characteristics.
I have 1650mAH sanyo NiMH from 1999 that I still use in kids toys.
Avoid any fast chargers, those 15 minute battery cookers, with low self discharge nimh you can just carry extras knowing they are always ready. I've taken eneloops that sat for 6 months to a year and ran them through 450+ pictures in our camera, Lithium just under 500 so close enough in performance to make lithium unneeded anymore.
Avoid chargers that charge in pairs, any charger should charge each battery independently. Avoid ones that just trickle charge (take 8 hours or more), charging too slow or too fast isn't best for their health.

Second the recommend on maha.

I am another satisfied user of Eneloops - ultimately the cheapest way to go, as well. I agree also with Eugene comments about chargers - avoid the simple ones.

Another vote for Eneloops -- have gotten them at Costco.

Dunno I tried rechargable sonys and they died in the camera bag NOT inside the camera withen 10 hours before I could use them. That was the first and last time I used um.

+1 for Eneloops. Just get a good charger that does NOT charge batteries in pairs and does NOT have a charge rate above 1000mA. Trust me, your batteries will last far longer.

Eneloops are the only way to go for rechargeable AAs and AAAs.

The charger in the sets sold at Costco charges only in pairs.

High charge rates cook batteries; slower charging is better. Charging in pairs is bad if the two batteries have dissimilar charge states. If you only use them in pairs, it's acceptable in my book to charge them the same way.

before low self discharge they did that, the low self discharge fixed that issue.

Eneloops are pretty much the top of the heap. I'm very pleased with mine.

I've also had very good luck with Duracell's pre-charged AA/AAA line (white tops, made in Japan). These are widely believed to be rebranded Eneloops. I stock up when they come on sale at $7-8 for a 4-pack.

The value of a single channel, intelligent charger cannot be emphasized too strongly. I have a Powerex/Maha and like its advanced functions. But the one I use most is a Duracell CEF23DX4N with the 12VDC plug; I now have three of these, and they can be had for under $20.

With these good chargers, I am able to revive and use cells written off by others as junk. That's perfect in my belt light, which sees a lot of use. And since I have a 12VDC solar panels set up, I can charge my batts off-grid (and that's mostly what I do every day).