Hi

Of course you can charge the batteries on other ways. Have a look at http://www.sounddevices.com/download/guides/xl-charge_en.pdf

Cheeper chargers you can maybe find in onlineshops, have a look with google. Also there are chargers you can plug-in in the car, I don't know the name in english, the thing you could light your cigarette, you know. But be carfull, not all of the cheep chargers brings the correct/enough power to load the battery in usefull time. For my 788 I use external SWIT-Batteries. I use http://www.proav.co.uk/Swit-Shop/NP-Style-Batteries/sc10151.aspx the NP ones but probably older than this. With a SWIT-Adapter and sound devices power-plug you can connect it directly to the recorders power supply. With that, I can record with 6 Channels for about 4 houres. If the external battery is empty, you can change it without digging the internal recorder's battery out. If you have a second SWIT-Battery, you can connect it and load the empty one or use the internal. I'm quite happy with the SWIT's, you have to be careful if it get's cold. Instead of lithium batteries, they discharge if they get too cold. But I used them at my recording-trip in Tibet this year (have a look at my site: https://www.soundeffects.ch/news/new-sound-recordings-from-china-and-tibet.php ) and had not too much problems. Put the battery in your jacket to keep it warm if the recorder is off and take it in your sleeping bag like a teddybear. They like it and keep charged.

Best

Guido

When my AC power adapter for my SD 722 was damaged, I started looking at replacements and alternatives. I found a very reasonable wall plug charger for the NP-1 style batteries that are compatible with the 722 on Amazon. It's quite compact and fits well in my Petrol bag and includes a car cigarette lighter adapter as well, which I have yet to use but may be handy if you're out in the middle of nowhere and need a boost. The charger has a little light on it that is red as it's charging and turns green when it's finished. I've been using it for quite a while and am pretty happy with it.

The XL-B2 batteries are exactly the same as the Sony NP-F style batteries used in camcorders, so any charger that can charge these will work with the XL-B2's. You can probably pick one up from any large electronics store or Amazon eg. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eclipse-Battery-Charger-NP-F330-Camcorder/dp/B002QX4EHY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342938806&sr=8-1

Hope this helps.

Late to the party on this one, but I also have two wall plug NP style chargers that I use to keep my batteries in rotation. As soon as one is low, I'll swap a new battery in and start charging the dead one. It helps keep me continuously functional on location (if there's AC available). Of course, I also have enough batteries to run me for about 24 hours wihtout a recharge. Which is another reason why I have two of the chargers. That gives me a total of 3 if I count my 744T. It would just take too long to charge all of the spares otherwise.