maemo.org - Talk - Product review & recommendation

This is NOT an advertisement - It is an honest, objective and
hopefully informative PRODUCT REVIEW which may be of interest to
anyone who uses lots of household batteries for whatever purpose(s) -
games, toys, cameras, musical instruments, etc.

Specifically, this is a review of the following product available
from:
http://www.batteryspace.com
(24-Pack) AA 2300mAh High Capacity NiMH Rechargeable Batteries.

I've ordered many different products (rechargeable AAA, AA, C, D & 9-
Volt NiMH's) from Batteryspace.com over the past several years, but
the product I use most frequently is their AA-size
2300mAh "POWERIZER" High Capacity NiMH Rechargeable Batteries.
They are currently selling a 24-count package for just under $30
(free shipping if ordered by 12-31-05) which is by far the best value
I've found anywhere online or elsewhere (please let me know if you
find something of equal quality and reliability for less!).
Now, that may seem like a fairly hefty price for 24 AA-sized
batteries, but keep in mind that these are NOT normal one-use,
disposable alkaline batteries - these are RECHARGEABLE NiMH batteries
which are good for approximately 1,000 (ONE THOUSAND) USES/RECHARGE
CYCLES!

I use a universal charger which I purchased for under $20 that allows
me to charge any/all brands and sizes (AAA, AA, C, D, and/or 9-Volt)
of either "NiMH" or "Re-Chargeable Alkaline" batteries.
Batteryspace.com sells many different brands/types of chargers as
well.
Before I discovered, Batteryspace.com, I purchased several bundles of
Re-Chargeable Alkaline batteries at a discount store. These are
somewhat less expensive than NiMH's but are becoming harder to find,
are not much cheaper and are only good for approximately 100 (one
hundred) uses/recharge cycles, thus in the long run, they are not of
comparable value to rechargeable NiMH batteries.

I use the rechargeable AA-NiMH's in everything from electronic games,
toys, RC-vehicles, flashlights, musical instruments, cameras, etc...
and have found them to be very reliable and dependable in all uses.
Over the past several years, I have only encountered 2 or 3 bad cells
(cells that won't hold much of a charge), but that's out of the
original 48 that I purchased and after having recharged each of them
well over 15-20 times. Given the price of normal alkaline batteries
on the market that will hold anywhere near 2300mAh duration of
charge, (Duracell or Energizer for example) I'm way ahead financially
even if these things were to all fail after only a few uses - which
of course they don't!

Several caveats and helpful suggestions follow:

1) Don't ever mix NiMH batteries with other types of batteries in any
kind of gadget! (such as regular alkalines or rechargeable alkalines
which shouldn't be mixed with one another either).

2) Don't get NiMH batteries wet or expose them to extreme heat or
open flame! (they can supposedly explode and/or catch fire if you do -
yes, that's right - water CAN cause fire! Ever see what a handful of
pure, raw , harmless, silly-putty looking chunk of potassium does
when dropped in water? It dances on the surface like a burning UFO!
way cool to watch, but you probably don't want your kids' toys doing
this if they accidentally get submerged inside a toy in the bathtub,
swimming pool, etc.)

3) NiMH rechargeable batteries tend to lose approximately 20-25% of
their charge per month when sitting around at room temperature, so
don't charge them too far in advance if you can avoid it. Don't
refrigerate them either - this won't help slow the process and will
actually hurt the batteries over time. (I keep mine in 2 separate
boxes; 1 for pre-charged/ready to use, and 1 for dead/need charging,
and I only charge the dead ones when the pre-charge box runs low).

4) While general single-use household alkaline batteries are 1.5V,
these are 1.2V. (same goes for AAA, C & D rechargeable NiMH's as
well). When using 6 OR LESS of the AA's in any one gadget, I have
not noticed any appreciable degradation in performance whatsoever.
When a gadget requires using MORE THAN 6 AA-sized batteries however,
there is a slight reduction in output/speed noticeable but generally
not enough to worry about considering that after a few uses, normal
alkaline batteries will generally cause any gadget to run slightly
slower too. In fact, the NiMH's may start out with less voltage (1.2
v 1.5), but they seem to maintain their peak output for a longer time
than normal alkalines maintain their peak output - i.e.. the 1.2V
output doesn't "drop off" as quickly/noticeably as does the 1.5V
output of most normal alkaline batteries. The larger the battery
size, the more noticeable is this reduced voltage effect. Thus, I
would not recommend using rechargeable NiMH's in gadgets which
require 4 or more C or D size batteries - you can try it, but you'll
probably find as I have that the thing (whatever it is) will just run
too slow for comfort. (sometimes 3 C's or D's don't work so good
either, but it really just depends on the gadget). This doesn't
really become a problem with the AA-size rechargeable batteries until
you put them into something that requires MORE THAN 6.

5) Make sure to educate your family members to LOOK BEFORE THEY TOSS
batteries (you don't want them throwing out rechargeables!). Use a
special container or location in your house where kids, spouses, etc.
can put ALL dead batteries when in doubt - instead of the garbage can!

To sum up, all in all I have been extremely pleased with my discovery
of the AA-sized "POWERIZER" 2300mAh NiMH batteries and would
unequivocally recommend them to anyone I meet for everyday household
and/or professional usage. I have gradually weeded out my "junk
drawer" of all regular alkaline batteries and keep only a couple of
packs of a good quality brand of the larger size (C & D) alkalines
around just in case I need 4 or more on short notice for any one
particular gadget.

I would estimate about 99% of my battery usage is now accomplished
using exclusively rechargeable NiMH's of various sizes, and about 65%
of that is using the AA-sized NiMH's in a multitude of uses!

As the incomparable genius FZ hisself once said, "...TRY IT! - ITS A
WAAY OF LIFE!......YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT!"
In fact, I guarantee you'll be so glad you did, you might actually
think you've taken advantage of yourself, in which case you'll be
glad you saved enough money in the process to buy yourself a pizza
afterwards!

Much more info on batteries is available at many sights on the web,
but here is one I've found that is amongst the most concise:
http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/
It provides good comparisons, explanations and overviews of the many
different types of batteries available for household use.

Happy Charging!