Silverfox: What I meant was that with NiMH, it has many characteristics of the R123, such as the flat discharge curve and possible damage from over-discharge. It has one bad characteristic over the R123, that being the high rate of self-discharge.
With all that, we have still learnt to live with the NiMH, such as keeping an eye on the power level, recharging regularly or at the slightest sign of weakening. So if we have learnt to do this with NiMH, why can't we learn to do it with R123s? The only thing is that if we mess it up and over discharge them, they are more prone to damage and more expensive to replace than NiMH.
Hallis: That's AU$20. After currency conversion it would still be slightly more expensive than the price at Fry's. But add s&h charges, plus maybe money order charges and it is soon even. Perhaps if Shannow had more than just the R123 to buy, it might be worth while.
Definitely the ones from JSB are the best value for money being that they are almost as cheap as the unprotected R123, yet feature the protection circuit.