Roger Long wrote:
When I bought the AGM batteries for my boat, I looked at the Optima's
but the battery shop told me they were identical inside to the much
cheaper ones I bought. I figured they were just fancy packaging and
hype.

Recently, while pondering a friend's charging problems, I thought back
to what Larry has posted about AGM's suffering from the lack of
electrolyte circulation to help cool them. This makes me wonder if
the Optima's case that wraps closely around each cell is more than
just styling. The increased surface area and getting the case closer
to the cell bundles should promote better cooling. The question is
whether the difference is significant in the real world. I'm sure it
still wouldn't bring them close to wet cells in cooling effeciency but
it might help.

This is what they look like in case you wonder what I'm talking about:

http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/

I replaced my starting batteries with Optima's, bought at discount
from the Pep Boys for about $100. I'm not sure where I could have
gotten them much cheaper. Given the low charging current (they're fed
by a EchoCharge that's only going to put out a few Amps most of the
time) I don't think overheating is a problem. Since these batteries
are tucked out of the way, I appreciate the zero maintenance and low
self discharge.

My house bank is Trojan T-105's - the most bang for the buck.