KRSW

That used to be the case... There's now low-self-discharge NiMH batteries out there.

I use Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries exclusively now. At this point the last time I bought alkaline batteries was about 2 years ago for my hurricane pack, which is now also being gradually switched over to Eneloops. So far the Eneloops are available in AA & AAA sizes and come pre-charged. I've intentionally bought gear which uses these two sizes exclusively. I even use the Eneloop batteries in my remote controls and wall clocks. Right out of the package (and not being charged by me), the AAs lasted 9+ months in a wireless mouse, which is better than I was getting with alkalines. Battery lifespan of these seems to be on-par or better than the alkalines they've replaced.

Costco has a great price on them as of late. I believe it's 6 AA and 2 AAA batteries for $15. They also have a slightly different package with a crappy charger, C/D cell adapters, 8 AAs and 2 AAAs for $25. Amazon.com sometimes has decent prices (but not always). I also have bought them from Thomas Distributing.

That said, I've also had dreadful experiences with some rechargeable batteries. The Energizer rechargeables are particularly terrible when it comes to self-discharge. Literally, I've had one discharge to 50% in 2 days. It appears that in an effort to have the highest mAh rating, they've made the plates to thin that they disintegrate within the first 5-10 charge cycles. Some of their "2500 mAh" batteries only charge up to 1500 mAh now.

Another important component is having a quality charger. The cheap ones will cook your batteries and won't charge them to 100% either. I have a mixture of chargers that I use. A charger which charges each battery individually is essential. In my laptop/overnight bag is the USB charger, which is slow (USB ports only have 500 milliamps) but gets the job done. For travel, I carry a LaCrosse BC-900, which is small, comes with a nice travel case and has all of the bells & whistles. At home, I have a Maha C800S 8-cell charger and a Maha C9000 4-cell charger/analyzer. All except the USB charger were bought at Thomas-Distributing (5% off with Gift Certificate Code GCNE561).

Admittedly, the C9000 is overkill, but it served its purpose and helped me discover the problem with the Energizer rechargeables and the crappy Nuon alkalines we used to use at my workplace. We've since switched to Eneloops and a Maha C800S charger there as well.

If I only had one charger, it'd probably be the 800S. If I had two, the BC900 + 800S. The C9000 is an excellent charger, but now that I have reliable batteries my need to analyze/recondition the batteries has been eliminated (for now). It's also the most expensive charger I have, which makes the 8-cell 800S look like a bargain.