They don't really suck, its just that most folks previously have been using chargers that suck.

NiCds are perfectly serviceable batteries and have very good and long life times i.e. up to 1500-2000 charge/discharge cycles. They can also deliver large Amperages i.e. a D-Cell can delivery upto 30A.

They can also be stored for years completely discharged then brought back to life with a decent charger.

The downsides are the overall capacity, self discharge rate and the memory effect. But no worse that Lead Acid technology. But saying that I have a couple of Fusionmax 800mA 1.2 NiCds (I don't know where they came from or even remember purchasing them) which are dated 09/2008 (I'm guessing that was the end of life date as NiCds haven't been available for sale for quite a few years in Europe) running quite happily in a TANK007 TK-566 Flashlight.

Don't throw away your NiCds just yet as they could be become quite useful in 10 years time if the supplies of Lithium and other rare metals become scarce.