On Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:56:35 +0000, Timothy Murphy
wrote:

But I was wondering what it means
if you get a flashing red light when a battery is inserted.
Does it mean that the battery is useless?
I get it occasionally even with new batteries.

It means that it thinks the battery is dead. Mine does the same from
time to time, I have to put them in an old Uniross charger which
brings them back to life as far as the Lidl charger is concerned.