2017 Update:
Costco's Kirkland car batteries were once the darling of experts and car owners -- the best bargain battery around, boasting a super-long life and an equally super warranty. Unfortunately, Costco has quit selling them. The stores now offer Interstate brand batteries in their place. Interstate is a well-respected name in the car battery arena. In professional tests, several Interstate batteries score either at or near the top of their size groups. Even the ones that don't get great overall scores receive high marks for their ability to survive repeated charging and discharging cycles at high temperature.

However, the batteries that have been reviewed by experts are those sold at independent Interstate dealers, and are not the same as what you will find at your local Costco. Source: Best Cheap Car Batteries - Reviews - 2017

Car and Truck batteries I found IN NJ with good ratings from Consumer Reports, Oct., 2006, Nov. 2007: (See consumer Reports for more details)

		Rating by BCI Group *
Brand	Cost	65	34/78	75	35	24	Store
NAPA Performance Select 8465	$79	82†					Napa
NAPA Select 84xx	$86		67†	66†
NAPA Legend 7535	$60				64†	55
AutoCraft TITANIUM 65-2	$80	81†	66†				Advanced Auto parts
Duralast xx-DL	$70	70†		54	63†		AutoZone
Duralast Gold 34DT-DLG	$80		63				AutoZone
EverStart MAXX-xxN (North)	$70		60	71†		67†	Wal-Mart
EverStart MAXX-xxS (South)	$74	77		44		39	Wal-Mart
AC Delco Professional 75-7YR	$90			72†
Interstate Mega-Tron Plus	$90	75	63	44	49	74†
DieHard Platinum 50090	$180		91				Sears
Optima RedTop SC34U	$150		76
DieHard Gold 330xx	$90	66		48	56	40	Sears
DieHard SUV, Truck and Van 39990 (South)	$100		72
DieHard SUV, Truck and Van 39990 (North)	$100		66
DieHard WeatherHandler 300xx	$65			53	42
Kirkland Signature 12869	$45			48			Costco

* Battery Counsel International (BCI) Group size:
65 (most Ford corp.), 34/78 (large Chrysler, Jeep Wrangler) and 75 (midsized Chrysler) were tested in Nov. 2007; 35 (other Japanese) and 24 (Acura CL, TL, Honda Accord) were tested in Oct. 2006 CCA - Claimed CCA (Cold Cranking Amps)/ CR test results 1-5
See more on size codes below.

† - Quick Picks
CCA ranged from 540 to 880
Claimed CCA was not always correlated with actual CCA one battery had a 800 CCA but only average tested value while another with 770 CCA had the top tested value.

Deep Cycle:
These batteries are better for uses that require auxilary power over extended periods e.g. to run lights, radios, etc. on boats or Recreational Vehicles (RVs), Campers, trailers, etc.
and for hobbies such as telescope tracking motors, Radio Control planes, ..., backup power systems and solar power systems. P> A 440 Ah battery will put out about 80 Amps (rvforum.net/SMF_forum

RC - Reserve capacity, Ah - Ampere Hour
Ah = (RC /2) + 15.5
My car battery is rated at 800 CCA, 1,000 Charging Amps and 105 RC. Trojan Battery Company

Marine Batteries Deep Cycle/Starting (A hyprid combination of starting and deep cycle used in Boats and RVs)
Brand	BCI Group	Store	Ah	RC	Cost
EverStart		WalMart	115		$69
Optima Yellow 34/78		Pep Boys		120	$200
Optima Blue 34		Pep Boys	55	120	$210
Energizer 27M	27	Pep Boys	120	180	$80
Energizer 29HM	29HM	Pep Boys	125	210	$115
Kirkland 24DC	24	Costco	115		$60
Exide				180	$85
Exide Orbital 34XCD Xtreme Cycle Duty Battery	34		55	100	$190
Interstate SRM-29	29			210
Interstate SRM-4D	4DDC			390	$170
DieHard		Sears		180	$85
DieHard M-2		Sears	80	135	$80
DieHard M-3		Sears		135	$100
DieHard 29HM		Sears	115	200	$120
DieHard Platinum		Sears	100	205	$250
True Deep Cycle - Commercial (Backup power, floor cleaning machines, wheelchairs, etc.)
Brand	BCI Group	Store	Ah	RC	Cost
Trojan SCS 225	31	Solardyne.com	130		$258
Heavy Duty	31	Pep Boys	(110)	195	$145
Interstate 4D-XHD	4D		(160)	295	$130
Interstate 8D-MHD Commercial	8D		(240)	450	$160
Everstart			105		$65
High Capacity Deep Cycle batteries Good for renewable energy systems because allow more charge/discharge cycles.
Sonnenschein SB12/130 (Exide)			130		$
Deka 8A31DT	31	Apex	116		$309
Deka 8A4D LTP	4D	Apex	216		$571
Trojan L16H (6v)		Trojan	345- 420		$?
Rolls 5000 6 CS 17PM (6v)		Rolls	546		$635
Rolls 5000 6 CS 25PM (6v)		Rolls	820		$1315
Golf Cart Batteries
Interstate U12VGCUTL Golf Cart - 78 plates			155	292	$xx
Trojan T105		Trojan	185- 225		$?
Deka MK 8AGC2 (6v) *		Apex	200		$308
Exide E3600 (6v) *		Apex	220	390	$165

* Marine/RV Batteries typically last for 150 cycles, Deka golf cart batteries last 750 cycles and Exide last around 475 cycles. Source: Deep Cycle Batteries at SolarRay.com.

A boating forum says: "The Walmart Everstart 27DC-6 is highly rated in several boating forums in dual setups." However, forums.iboats.com has some bad reviews. Same with Optima, some love them others say since Johnson Controls bought Optima their quality has gone down.
Boaters like Trojan's for trolling motors.
Off road vehicle enthusiasts seem to like Exide Orbital.

See:
Deep Cycle Battery FAQ

Size (Group) codes:
Batteries come in all different sizes. Many have "group" sizes, which is based upon the physical size and terminal placement. It is NOT a measure of battery capacity. Typical Battery Counsel International (BCI) size codes are group U1, 24, 27, and 31. Industrial batteries are usually designated by a part number such as "FS" for floor sweeper, or "GC" for golf cart. Many batteries follow no particular code, and are just manufacturers part numbers. Other standard size codes are 4D & 8D, large industrial batteries, commonly used in solar electric systems.
Some common battery size codes used are: (ratings are approximate)

Group	Amp Hours	RC †	Volts	Size (in.)			Cars ‡
				L	W	H
Group 24	70-85	90-140	12	10 1/4	6 13/16	8 7/8	Acura CL, TL, Honda Accord
Group 27	85-105	118-162	12	12 1/16	6 13/16	8 7/8
29HM	115	200	12	13	6 3/4	9
34		103-110	12	10 1/4	6 13/16	7 7/8	large Chrysler, Jeep Wrangler
34/78 *		104-120		11	7 1/4	7 4/5
35		100	12	9 1/16	6 7/8	8 7/8	other Japanese
65		130-165	12	12 1/16	7 1/2	7 9/16	Most Ford
94R		130	12	12 7/16	6 15/16	7 1/2	Chrysler 300
Side Terminal
75		80-100	12	9 1/16	7 1/16	7 11/16	midsized Chrysler
78		110	12	10 1/4	7 1/16	7 11/16
Deep Cycle - Marine
24M		95-258		11	6 9/10	9 1/2
27M		160-302		12 4/5	6 4/5	9 1/2
Commercial
4D	180-215	250-295	12	20 3/4	8 3/4	9 7/8
6D				20 3/4	10	10 1/4
8D	225-255	380-450	12	20 3/4	11 1/8	9 7/8
31		160-190	12	13	6 4/5	9 7/16
Golf cart & T-105	180 to 220	165-225	6
L-16	340 to 415		6
Lawn and Garden
U1	34 to 40	35-56	12	7 3/4	5 3/16	7 5/16

Height includes terminal

† - RC - Reserve capacity is the time a starting battery can sustain a 25 amp load before cell voltage drops to 10.2V.
Ah - Ampere Hour - A unit of measurement of a battery's electrical storage capacity. Output in Amps x hours before the battery needs recharging.
Ah is measured in 5, 20 and 100 hr. rates. Ah = (RC / 2) +15.5

‡ Cars - These are general guidelines. Check your model for the exact battery. For example some early (1970-2005) Chrysler, Mazda, Subaru and Toyotas used Group 21 batteries. A mazda miata requires a Group 51 size battery even though most others use a Group 35.

* To reduce inventory costs, dual terminal "universal" batteries that will replace several group sizes are becoming more popular and fit 75% or more of cars on the road today. 34/78 and 75/35 are the most common ones.

Sources:
www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm
battery-usa.com
Battery Type Information

Johnson Controls (JCI) (http://www.jci.com/bg and http://www.autobatteries.com/) makes many of the common batteries, Sears Die Hard Gold, Auto Zone (Duralast Gold), Eveready, Costco (Kirkland Signature), Pep Boys (ProStart & Energizer) and Optima.
Enertec [Grupo IMSA] (Mexico), www.enermex.com/ makes EverStart (Wal-Mart) and Duralast for Johnson Controls.
Exide makes Champion, Exide, Napa, and some EverStart batteries.
See: Manufacturers & Brand Names at scoop0901.net

Comparing Deep Cycle Battery Types (www.solarray.com/TechGuides/Batteries_T.php)

* Cycles (to 80% Depth of Discharge) is how many times you can drain most (80%) of the energy from the battery and recharge it completely. Eventually the battery will lose its storage capacity and need to be replaced. In a normal solar system, the battery is only discharged about 10 to 20% a day, so it can last many more cycles than if it is drained totally every night (as in an Electric Vehicle).

All batteries lose strength just sitting on the shelf, so it's best to pick one no more than six months old. Most have a shipping code on the case. Some use a letter for the month ("A" for January) and a number for the year ("7" for 2007), and others use a numeric date, such as 1/07.

Battery Web Sites:
Optima Yellow
Interstate
Trojan Battery Company (Renewable Energy, Recreational Vehicle, Golf and utility vehicles, Marine)
Rolls
Exide Orbital
Exide GNB Industrial Poswer

Battery Distributors:
DC Battery Specialists
Apex
www.eBatteriesToGo.com
BatteryMart.com
Exide Specs at LaBatteries.com

Links:
Batteries in Home & Garden and Auto section.
Battery Charging
Solar Power
Power Inverters
Battery Basics: A Layman's Guide to Batte | BatteryStuff Articles
Home Electronics Batteries
Solar Ray: Deep Cycle Batteries
Deep Cycle Battery FAQ
Apex Battery
Battery Cable size
Battery Equaliser claims to disolve existing sulphation and prevent new deposits from forming
Jump Start Jump Start Batteries