ORIGINAL: Campy
The most "bang for your buck" will most likely be a regular lipo charger and a separate balancer such as a "Blinky" (or comparable). I know the Blinky can be used both during the charging process or after the battery is charged to balance the cells in the battery.
I use a "LipoDapter" running off my Astroflight 110D and plug the Blinky in while it is charging.
The "LipoDapter" is not for everyone. I already had the 110D and didn't want to spend the extra money for a dedicated lipo charger. It is a "work around" that, for me anyway, does the job at a very reasonable cost.
When you refer to "Blinky" are you talking about the eflite balancing charger with the red and green leds on it (or comparable)? I have one of these and also have the larger 4 LED version that came with my Eflite Blade 400 helicopter.
Are you saying these can be used as a stand alone balancer? I am thinking of purchasing the Electrifly polycharge 4 that will charge 4 packs at once. Will I be able to plug in the blinky to the balance connector of the pack while it is charging on the polycharge and have it balance the cells? Also can the blinky be used independently as a stand alone balancer after you are done charging the pack? And if so is it necessary to use the balancer every time you charge or only every few charge cycles?
Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks