If you live in a family, as I do, that is a heavy user of AA or AAA batteries you should consider the joy of rechargeable batteries.

For instance, we have a Canon A70 PowerShot digital camera that seems to "eat" batteries. Not only was it costly to buy new batteries, I cringed everytime I threw the old batteries in the garbage, knowing that these discarded batteries are bad for the environment.

I recently mended my ways by buying a Monster PowerCell battery charger ($37.95), which comes with four rechargeable AA batteries. One nice feature of the Monster PowerCell charger is that it charges both AA and AAA batteries.

To make sure that I have an extra set of batteries on hand at all times, I also purchased an extra four Monster AA PowerCell batteries ($18.95).

My quick "back of the envelope" calculations show that, at a usage rate of six batteries a month, the charger and the additional rechargeable batteries would have paid for themselves in a year. Since the Monster PowerCell batteries are good for 1000 charges, I will be saving money for many years to come. Not only that, I have now stopped discarding batteries which cause environmental damage.

Here's to smart power for the holidays!

-Tim

P.S. These products qualify for Free Shipping under Amazon's Super Saver shipping program.