With the plethora of gadgets being given as gifts, one has to be ready with a lot of batteries to drive them. If one wanted to be eco-friendy and use rechargeable batteries, the problem was that one had to charge them before using them. However, Eneloop rechargeable batteries come charged right out of the package, so you can bundle them with your gift. They’ve been around for about a year now, but it’s worth mentioning every holiday season as packaging rechargeable batteries with your gifts will go a long way towards reducing the amount of heavy metals being dumped into the environment.
I thought that with rechargeable, versus Alkaline, lose their charge over time, effectively having a very short shelf life.
Even so, all rechargeable batteries I ever bought had a charge in them. Especially in the computer UPS batteries, they are shipped without the Red Wire plugged in.
A common mistake for our new techs, most of the time French only speaking, don’t notice the English text to plug in the red wire….
Anyhow, I also like the USB AA rechargeable battery idea, since I keep my Kodak 6Mpxl cam with my laptop bag, how to recharge the batteries?
A killer product would be a USB charger for 2xAA conventional batteries.
As a gadget geek, the most frustrating thing has always been looking at your new purchase on the bus on the way home, but not being able to use it. Instead all you can do is play with the buttons and read the instructions.
This is an excellent development.
These are supposed to hold at least 85% of their charge a year later. The ones I recently opened were fully charged (I wouldn’t reccommend anything I didn’t try myself). Most rechargeables have a small residual charge in them, but these can drive your device right out of the package.
Where can we get these in the US???
Here is a battery charger that uses a USB port instead of AC plug.
Great for trips to Europe, use the laptop to recharge.
http://tinyurl.com/bfnyn
Link goes to the EverFast website. Haven’t found a retail outlet yet, such a new product.
This USB charger is the perfect companion to the Eneloop batteries for Road Warriors.
thomasdistributing.com carries them now
Giant, thanks for the link! $13.97 for a 4 pack AA
I think it depends on the battery manufacturer. I just bought 8 Duracell AA NiMH. 4 for my camera, 4 for spare. They were charged to 1.34 v. They have been holding a charge for over three weeks now after the initial charge.
The Duracell’s were bought to replace 8 Eveready NiMH Energizers that wouldn’t hold a charge for more than a week. In email exchange with a tech at the Eveready company, I was informed the Energizers are designed to lose their charge at 1.5% per day. That was the case with my 20 bucks worth of landfill trash. Eveready recommends putting their batteries on trickle charge when not in use. (That is stupid)
#8 – Thanks for the useful info! Good to know.
Wonder if the Eveready PR type have spin ready for this – I hadn’t heard about this before.
I’ve been using these for awhile and they work well. Being charged out of the package isn’t such a big deal, but they do hold their charge quite a long time. With regular nicads and nimhs I’d often charge a set and leave them in my camera, only to discover they were dead when I went to use the camera a couple weeks later. Remembering to charge the batteries the night before is a pain. With these I haven’t had that problem anymore. Definitely more environmental as a result too, since you’re not wasting charging energy that goes unused and you aren’t recharging as often, thus lengthening the life of the battery
10,
The nice thing about being charged out of the package is that you can give them with electronic toys and the kid can play with the toy immediately without waiting for the batteries to charge first.
I found a fix for these problems. A new product based on Nano partical technology is entering the market. Take a look at http://www.bigwavepower.com. They offer a 4.8oz power pack that can recharge most 5v,6, and 9v digital devices. I can swear by it. I use it as my primary home charging port and when I travel I only need to take this little device with me. It recharges my Blackberry 3 times while I am on the road away from an AC plug. Then when I get to a hotel I use it as my charger for my iPod, Digital camera, Blackberry and Razr. It is so easy to use. No need to carry 3-4 AC adaptors. You should check it out.
THE DEVICE NOT ONLY REPOWERS BUT “RUNS” YOUR IPOD OR OTHER DEVICE WHILE WIRELESSLY CHARGING IT.
THEY HAVE A USB BASED AA/AAA RECHARGER ADAPTOR. IT IS NOT ON THE WEB SITE BUT CAN BE PURCHASED BY CALLING.