Hi. Have any of you found a particular type of battery or a particular brand of battery that lasts longer than others? Batteries are so darn expensive! Over the next few months, I need to use my tape recorder away from home for recording class lectures, so I am using AA batteries. Recently I tried those Lithium batteries. I found that they last slightly less than one day longer than regular alkaline AA batteries. Have you found anything better?
If you're going to go through them that frequently, you could consider Nickel Metal Hydride (NMh) rechargeables. They don't develop the memory problem (or not nearly as much) as NiCads do, so you could charge them each day after you get home. They should last for a day between charges (I'm guessing here). They also have 1 hour chargers for them. I use them for our digital camera, and the kids' toys.
Rechargeable NiMh. They last long, self discharge slower than NiCds, and aren't that expensive.
The downside is that they are 1.2 volts, vs. the alkaline's 1.5 volts. Devices with a battery meter may show them as discharged, even though they're not, unless the meter knows NiMh's are installed. Motor driven devices, such as your tape recorder may run slightly slow, depending on the quality of the voltage regulation built in. However, if you record and play back with the same type of battery, you'll be fine.
I read somewhere, quite a while ago, that the best deal on alkaline batteries was to buy the 'store brand' ones, since they last just as long as the 'Brand Name' ones.
Then I found a charger on E-bay that recharges 'regular' alkalines. This system has been working well for me (recharging batts. for my bicycle lights, clocks, etc.) for about 3 years now.
This is absolutely the *only* option. I'm still cycling through a set of 1300mah batteries that I bought 6 yrs ago. They have hundreds of cycles through them. I bought 12 at the time & I've tossed 3 that weren't keeping their charge.
I've also bought another dozen since then when they got to 2000mah. The 2000s are longer lasting as Copper Tops. Now they have 2300s. We use them in my digicam [a CP950 which ate a set of copper tops in 3 hours!] my flash for my 35mm camera & all the kids toys. The kids do lose them on occasion, but even at that I've spent less than $100 on batteries in the past 6 yrs-- probably saved a couple thousand- not to mention the stack in the landfill.
Nimh batteries are nothing like NiCads. Nimh have no 'memory' and they have the same power as alkalines. They will hold a full charge outside of the charger for at least a month. [I still keep one set in the rapid charger & 2 sets in trickle charges just so I know they're fully charged]
The only drawback?/peculiarity? that I have seen is that they die all at once. When your 'low battery' light comes on-- change them. CD players go from fine to dead in seconds. Because they're 'free' my kids have gotten in the habit of just changing their batteries daily.
ThomasDistributing.com is where I've bought mine & they've been competitively priced & the service is fast. They have a set of 4
2200s, a one hour charger with a 12v adapter, and some holders for $38.97. [1800s without the car adapter are $31-- but the first time you head off to camp & want a set of fresh batteries you'll be happy you have that car-charger]
The 2200 batteries are about $15 for 4 at thomasDistributing. [they might be a little less on ebay, but I like to plug Thomas & I think their rapidcharger is a super buy. I own two of them & they have served me well.]
Not really very relevant for rechargables. As for alkaline cells, they have a rather long shelf life. Unless they've been sitting on the shelf in the hot sun, they should be fine for at least a year, without much capacity loss.
Why bother with a tape recorder? with all the moving parts, it eat battery for lunch. Spend a couple hundred dollars, buy a digital recorder. You won't even realise you have batteries in it.
************************************************ Is there one in particular that you'd recommend? The tape recorder I've been using is the only decent one of this kind that I've found. It's the Olympus Pearlcorder, S725. The quality and sensitivity are very good. Nearly every other mini- or microcassette recorder I've had has been a total waste of money, especially for recording lectures.
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