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We go through a lot of batteries with our projects and gear here at MAKE, luckily, rechargeable batteries are getting really good, better each year. Extremetech has a bit about the new ones from Duracell, they're pretty close to Alkalines - "The new NiMH batteries will include 2,650 mAh AA cells and 1,000 mAH cells, which will appear on market, drugstore, and supermarket shelves. A 4-pack of Duracell 2650 mAh AA NiMH batteries will carry a suggested retail price range of $9.99 to $12.99. The Duracell 15-minute charger, which comes with four 2400 mAh AA NiMH batteries, will carry a suggested retail price of between $27.99 to $39.99, according to the company." - Link.
Pictured here, the previous generation - 1800mAh's...
Related:
Battery review - Link.
NiMH batteries are great, I just got 4 2500mAh Energizers on special for AU$15. I've only got a slow style charger, but I think the fast chargers are actually better for battery life with NiMH.
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2650mAh? How about 2700?
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/maha_2700_rechargeable_batteries.php
or even 2900?
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/accupower-2900mAh-rechargeable-batteries.htm
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Yeah, I did a bunch of research before I bought my last batch of batteries, and it really paid off. There's a great shoot-out here:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
and although it's a little out of date, I took the info to the Thomas Distributing site mentioned below and found the newer versions of the batteries that did the best in the competition, and made sure to pick up the charger they recommended as well. Very happy with the results.
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Since there is no standard testing procedure, mAh ratings that companies give to their batteries often amount to little more than an advertising gimmick(like AMDs XP processor numbering scheme). Only way to kow for sure is to scientifically compare competing brands using a consistent procedure performed by an independant party.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=79302&highlight=sanyo+nimh
This is the most thorough and professional comparison of rechargeable batteries that I've seen. And appears to be updated quite frequently.
I bought a bunch of Sanyo Industrial 2300mAh batteries a while ago based on the tests done there. Looks like many newer models have come out since then, but Sanyo's latest model is still on top. I recommend them.
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I'd love to be able to trickle-charge one or two AA/AAA batteries off my USB port.
Anyone heard of such a thing?
Andrew.
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I highly recommend the two comparison sites above. As far as charging goes, you need a smart charger. Maha is one company that makes them. They will charge until full and then either shut off or trickle charge. Over charging is bad for NiMH batteries.
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Is there such a thing as lithium Ion AA batteries?
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Andrew (above) asked about AA / AAA trickle chargers using USB, and Yes, there is such a thing; last year I bought one from ThinkGeek (disclosure: I work / have worked Slashdot, both are owned by VA Software). Works, but pretty slow. Still, it's good for what it is, and quite small.
Looks like TG isn't carrying them any more, but (detailing aside) it's physically identical to this:
http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=5281
Cheers,
timothy
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I've been using a pair of Ray-o-Vac quickchargers for a while, but I broke one's charging unit, and the other has given up the ghost after a few years of decent service. Ijust bought one of these and am quite impressed with it (and Amazon's price was as good as anything I found elsewhere):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00077AA5Q/104-7242841-1920724?me=A16021BDEPIY71&v=glance&vi=reviews&n=286168
It's got many more features than I'm likely ever to use, but the defaults are sane, and I really like the info-heavy display. (Compared to the typical charger, where you have ... an LED. Maybe two.)
Now what I'd like to see is a charger with a USB port for even more info, dancing HTML-based charts, etc.
timothy
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"Now what I'd like to see is a charger with a USB port for even more info, dancing HTML-based charts, etc."
YES! lets do this. sounds like a nice instructable. A 18f2455 USB PIC, a few FETS, some LEDS, JOY! Get some nice stats from the USB as HTML or from a simple VB program.
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