Need advice picking a charger
 

I've read a few threads and searched some but I just can't find a clear recommendation.

No more than $150
included power supply (110-120vAC)
At least 4S charging and balancing, would be nice to have a little more here, but not needed.
Some sort of temperature alarm/cutoff.

What other features should I look for? I've been out of the loop for a bit.

Thanks

What type of charge rates are you looking for?

I'm not sure. I'm trying to research the subject now but there is a daunting amount of information to sift through to figure it out.

This charger will sit next to my PC and I will only rarely be waiting on it to charge. Most of the time I'll likely start charging batteries one at a time after a day out bashing or goofing off at the tracks in the area. That being said, I don't want to be stuck waiting days for 4 4s packs to discharge, balance, and charge. I can be a little flexible on price if it's going to put me past a feature break point.

What capacity batteries do you have?

5000mAh +

I see that 1C would be a 5Amp charge rate on these batteries. Still unclear on what rate means with regards to time.
1C for a 5000mAh battery would charge in 1 hour, maybe?

I would seriously concider a quad charger.

I have one and it is awesome.. can charge 4 x 4 cell lipo's at once

It would be a little over your budget as a power supply is required..

I scored a 20A power supply from Dick Smiths (I'm australian) for a little under $100

The charger was about $150

Look for something with at least 80-100 watts or more per channel for 4S charging. The common 50W per channel chargers are quite slow on a 4S, can't achieve even close to a 1C charge rate.

This charger works well http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ger-w-Balancer

Having owned it what are your thoughts on quality and features?

I owned a Dynamite, previously and was pretty happy with it.
I'm not sure if Dynamite is a dependable brand or not, so how does the Thunder Power compare to this one?

I'm not familiar with that one. I have had 4 different Thunder Powers over the last few years and have been happy with them and never had an issue with any of them.

Here's a pic