Probably not much of a coincidence, but I was researching smart chargers about twelve hours ago and ended up going for Panasonic's flagship (bc55). (As depressing as always, one bloke with a credit card can out-do any other organisation's economies of scale when importing anything into Australia.)

I've re-embraced eneloops partly for cost (already covered by OP) but also because they perform better (last longer, fail less frequently) in cold weather. This bites me each winter with a bunch of residential grade irrigation computers that use 2 x AAA. Confidence / reliability also factors in - when those things die I might not notice for a couple of weeks, until some plants start to look unwell, but aggressively replacing all the alkalines every six months (they usually last 9-12 months) worries me more from the rampant waste perspective than cost.