I'd hardly consider it "hotter" to get cells starting out with a lower capacity with some notion that it means, someday, they would then have higher capacity... it's all a bit backwards and would be true mainly within context of getting some poor batteries for comparision. Decent cells can be expected to degrade in capacity, this is clear but using appropriate charging and putting them through a couple recharge/discharge cycles after they've been dormant will result in a higher remaining capacity still.
These GP cells aren't all that great, note the infamous
Battery Shootout comparison puts GP's 2000mAH cells on par with other 1800mAH cells, and 1600mAH drifting down towards 1400mAH territory. These cells may do even worse, because this low a capacity is now only made in specially low-impedance cells for devices like power tools (these are not that type), and thus were probably sitting on a stock shelf aging to a lower capacity and remaining lifespan.
I'd be more likely to get these Lemars, 20pk of
2500mAH for $20 @ buy.com, or you can get Duracell 8 pk
2300mAH for $14 @ buy.com. I'm not a buy.com fan though, just happened to need something else there so i was perusing their battery choices- personally I find the way they oversell stock to be disturbing and I avoid them but if you're ordering stuff there anyway...
Those batteryspace.com powerizer cells are rather poor too, both aggresssively rated capacity (questionable capacity) and high self-discharge rate. They're no better than the Lenmars which are usually cheaper.
Otherwise, can't say enough good things about Sanyos and the Sanyo relabeled cells (energizer, sony, Panasonic, forget the other labels ATM) for their high capacity, low self-discharge rate and their wide availability so one can skip any shipping charges if a local discounter has what you need.
