Yes, the two detection methods tells me that my charger is equipped to auto detect battery type and number of cells, balance, charge and discharge:

Lead acid.....SLA.....Gel.....Nicad.....NIMH.....Lipo.....LiFe.....Lilo.....etc

It also gives me control of the charge rate, which I can select to suit the capacity and type of battery I am currently charging.

It can carry out any number of charge/discharge cycles while recording the results to the pc.

The only way to truly know the health of a battery is to give each battery an independent ID and to keep records of it's declared and actual (measured) capacity.

If you are seriously interested and not just nitpicking I can upload some of the results. :)

I have the Ultralast which is the same as the Universal Battery Charger 2nd listed on the comparison chart that 2 I mentioned; and it will charge just one of any battery you want. It is a timed unit but I've never had any issues with it, most of my bats are almost dead when I recharge anyway. This unit will recharge NiCads and NiMhs, AAA,AA, C, D and 9v, and I also been able to recharge Alkaline as well as standard heavy duty bats (on the NiMh setting). NiMhs are alot more forgiving if you overcharge even as much as 12 hours over vs the old NiCads; this according to the Interstate Battery store I bought the charger from.

Once the battery is charged the led light goes out, you remove the bat and unplug the unit, this resets the timer, then you put in another bat or 2 or 3 or 4 and charge those.

The only ones that the discount stores sell these days will only charge in pairs, thus it you try to fool it and put in a good battery along with a dead one it will over charge the good one or not charge at all; the cheap discount store ones will not trickle charge. I bought the Everready charger that could charge all sorts of batterys but would only charge in pairs and charge the good one along with the bad, and no trickle charge-though that feature is not a big deal unless you want to leave a battery in the charger for months at a time. I took it back because it wouldn't recharge just 1 bat.

I went with the Ultra charger from TigerDirect and am very pleased. It can charge any number (up to 8, of course) of AA/AAA cells in any combination. It charges and monitors each cell independently.

Unknown, I am serious and I am not nitpicking. The OP asked about charging a single cell. I offered a suggestion, which I personally know will work well and will not shorten the lifespan of the cell. I do keep records of my battery packs. They really do hold up well using the charge method I have described. Respectfully, you are mistaken when you say that using an unterminated C/10 charge regime will damage a cell.

Equally respectfully, if I was trickle charging a single NIMH cell and had the choice I would still choose a C/20 charge rate and even then I would not have it unterminated.

An unterminated C/10 charge WILL damage a cell. Probably quite quickly, if you are lucky it might take longer. This is fact, whether it suits you or not.

Different makes and capacities, possibly different can construction (re. venting) could all contribute as to whether TERMINATED C/10 is safe for any particular cell.

It's worth considering that the Panasonic NiMH charging manual states clearly that Duracell recommends - I think that pretty much sums up whether an unterminated charge is a good idea.

Any unterminated charge of greater than C/20 will damage the battery.

Again respectfully - there is a lot more information freely available, so please feel free to do your own research.

:)