BATTERY CHARGING TIMES

In the Philippine market, almost all retailers of the GE X5 / X500 include, as a freebie, a set of four AA-sized Samya Brand NiMH Rechargeable Batteries and a matching Samya Brand AA and AAA-sized Battery Charger, which come from a Chinese manufacturer.

These are ample to provide for power to the camera, but since the Samya Battery Charger is NOT of the automatic type (which shuts itself off after completing the battery charging cycle), you would have to time the battery charging process, manually, yourself, for each and every battery charging instance, following this guide:

Battery Capacity (mAh) / Battery Charger Output (mA) = Battery Charging Time (h)

Thus, taking the Samya Batteries, with a 2100mAh capacity as an example, and the Samya Battery Charger, with a 160mA output, the battery charging time would be as follows:

2100mAh / 160mA = 13.125 hours Battery Charging Time

But since Battery Chargers are NOT 100% efficient, we add another 20% to the battery charging time, just to ensure that the batteries get a full charge. Thus,

2100mAh  / 160mA = 13.125 + 20% (equivalent to another 2.625 hours) = 15.75 hours total battery charging time

Therefore, we have to charge the Samya Batteries, using the Samya Charger, for 15.75 hours for each and every time their charge runs down so that they are no longer able to operate the camera.

The problem is, that with a PARTIALLY DISCHARGED battery, you are not able to know how much charge remains, and thus, are not able to compute for proper battery charge time, when using the Samya Charger. The above formula is applicable only when the batteries are in the fully discharged state.

Automatic Battery Chargers, on the other hand, are able to determine how much charge the batteries would need, even if only partially discharged, and have the added advantage of shutting itself off, after completing the battery charge cycle, preventing battery overcharging, which could damage and/or shorten the battery's service life.

Another important thing to know about rechargeable batteries is that they normally lose their charge (even if not used) at the rate of about 1% per day. Therefore, to get the best performance, it would be best to charge them no longer than a day before your intended use for them.


Low-Self-Discharge (LSD) Batteries, such as the excellently performing Sanyo Eneloop Batteries, on the other hand, are able to retain 75% of their charge, even when left unused for three long years, and could be recharged 1,500 times.  Together with the matching Sanyo 2hr. Quick Charger, the Eneloops make for a good choice to power the GE X5/X500, and other digital devices that require AA sized batteries.