whoa, there's been LOTS of talk of how to power up the speedlights and I soooooo appreciate it....
after reading many helpful posts and taking into consideration my own experiences, bad habits, preferences, etc, here's what i decided/found/just now ordered....

wanted to provide the link in case it can save anyone else a bit of time:

placed order thru Thomas-Distributing and was pleasantly suprised with free shipping for:

eneloop hybrids currently on sale

with THIS 8-cell smart charger (it's about $10-25 cheaper here than I found other places this morning and seems to have lots of OSP fans)

hi neighbor! i used the eneloops at a wedding recently and the recycling time is outstanding compared to the standard alkaline AA's. you won't regret getting them.

Thanks Amy. I love that charger, it works great! I was curious about the eneloop's since they are only rated at 2000mah and the powerex are now up to 2700. It also seems the biggest benefit to the eneloop would be realized only with the first use.

Phil, have you used a stronger re-charge battery than eneloop?

Thanks for pointing those out! I noticed they're selling them at Costco here in town, I'll check some out.

One of the main reasons I don't use rechargeables as much as I should (buy 36 energizers at a time) is the power drawdown from sitting. Drove me crazy. Also with the 1DmkII batteries as well. When I know something hasn't been used since it was charged, I expect full power, and those things would be at half charge after a week of sitting in the bag...

This sounds like a big improvement to me.

nate, i haven't had any other experience with rechargables with my flashes, so I don't have a good comparison for you.

but the eneloops come fully charged and supposedly maintain their charge longer, so you don't have to keep charging them. but maybe it's their marketing that got to me.

oh, and i got them at costco, so it was a good deal lol

Since I have heard so many good things about that charger, I will be buying it soon, however, I'd like to ask a question. Before every event I charge all my batteries the night before and currently I am using the Duracell 2650 mAh rechargeables, which are just shy of the 2700 mAh Powerex batteries. A set of 5 (I use the 5th battery on my SB800 for faster recycle) last me from the bride getting ready until the reception, at which point they still have juice but I change them anyway.

Now with this kind of use (recharging them the night before), what would be the befefit of the eneloop batteries? And isn't 2000mAh significantly less than 2700mAh for recycle performance?

mAH is the size of the gas tank. Nothing to do with recycle time.

That's a good point. And another reason I switched back to disposables. Alkalines start out at 1.5 amps and degrade from there. rechargeables start out at 1.2 amps and hold fairly steady. So in my experience the recycle time is less with fresh alkalines than with rechargeables. Now keep in mind that I haven't bought any new rechargeables in about 2 years, so the tech may be better now.

And none of that matters much if you use an external battery pack with your strobe, which is the real answer if recycle time is your concern...

+1

Bill, this is the same reason I went back to AA alkalines after charging batteries, then by the next weekend, pretty much drained. Now I recycle my flash batteries for the kids game systems, mp3 players, tv remotes, etc. I usually pull them out of the flash when it starts to slow down, so there is plenty of juice left for other non-critical, low power applications.

Bill, you're thinking of volts. 1.5 volts. 1.2 volts.

I get as many shots out of a set of my 2700mAH 1.2 volt batteries as I did out of a set of duracell or energizers. My rechargeables are less expensive overall, and better for the environment. I'll stick with the rechargeables.

Mike, if your rechargeables were pretty much drained by the next weekend, you were either running into a problem of old batteries, or they must not have been getting a proper and full charge from your charging unit.

I bought the MAHA unit that was linked in the OP's post and have had no issue with any new battery running down within a week. In fact I still have some old batts that I have used several weeks after charging, and they are quick to recycle. Maybe the tech has changed enough in the past 2 years that the problem you experienced is gone.

quick shout out re: the battery company i placed the order with (Thomas Distributing out of Illionois....first time i've used them);
i placed that order over the lunch hour and have already received the fed-ex info reporting "it's on the way" (it was picked up by fed-ex + logged at 4PM...sheesh)

LOVE that!

I definitely agree with you about Thomas Distributing. My experience there was wonderful as well.

Chris - I hve the PowerEx and the 8 battery charger as well and wonder if I'm not using it right. Do you just put them in and let them charge? I know there is a way to do a deeper charge but can't find where I put my manual. The batteries just don't seem to hold out as long as non-disposables, and they are fairly new.

How do you use your charger?

Hey Mark.

I frequently run the slow charge cycle, and do a conditioning cycle about once a month. I've had no issues with my powerizer brand of rechargeables.