[NTLK] was: Firstly, hello! now: battery packs

[Tony Douglas]

Hi there,


Careful with the low discharge rechargeables - they are not all made alike. Several manufacturers now offer them (they usually come described as "precharged" or "stay charged"). In my experience at least, Eneloops are definitely the best of the lot, followed by *some* Duracells (look for the Duracells which are made in Japan and have white between the outer wrapper and the +ve end - ISTR someone saying they were effectively rebadged Eneloops). Some other makes claim 2000mAh and stay charged for ages - but go flat in actual use in next to no time. In the UK, Maplins own brand hybrids have been generally ok for me, but the !Go Green sets I've had have been atrocious for usable life. None of them particularly like running a wireless card for any length of time.


YMMV, obviously. 


- Tony


-----Original Message-----
From: Gene Beaird <bgbeaird at sbcglobal.net>
To: newtontalk <newtontalk at newtontalk.net>
Sent: Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:22 pm
Subject: Re: [NTLK] was: Firstly, hello! now: battery packs


The quick drain issue with rechargeable batteries was the main reason for my 
hesitation for getting the ones James mentions below without the added 
explanation below.  I tried rechargeable AAs many years ago when the battery 
pack in my wife's 2100 quit holding a charge and found them to be barely better 
than just leaving the Newt plugged in all the time.  

With this new info, I'll go locate a set of these Eneloops and see how they 
work, since my wife's 2100 again (on a replacement rechargeable pack) is not 
holding a charge much over a couple of days sitting off the charger.  Thank you, 
James!

Regards,

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

On Feb 27, 2013, at 11:00 AM, newtontalk-request at newtontalk.net wrote:

> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:49:03 -0800 (PST)
> From: James Fraser <wheresthatistanbul-newtontalk at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Firstly, hello!
> To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> Message-ID:
> 	<1361900943.80959.YahooMailClassic at web181001.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> 
> Hello,
> 
> --- On Tue, 2/26/13, Henry Gratwick <henzoelgreat at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> or get any advice on whether it's A) safe and B) worthwhile
>> trying to recell the slightly-leaked battery pack that I do
>> have.
> 
> The answers to your questions appear to be "maybe" and "no," respectively.
> 
> Frank Gruendel had this to say on the subject a while back:
> 
>> This is because in my humble opinion recelling an OMP pack does > not make 
very much sense. In 99 out of 100 cases the contacts 
>> are in such a poor condition that reliable operation seems 
>> unlikely.  Moreover, it's kind of difficult to open and 
>> reassemble the pack in a halfway reliable way.
> 
> http://marc.info/?l=newtontalk&m=124136870613439&w=4
> 
> Apart from the above, the fact that the OMP's charging circuitry turns 20 this 
year does not, IMO, make it a good candidate for running it off of mains power.  
Yes, you could use a rechargeable battery pack in conjunction with one of these:
> 
> http://www.freeimagehosting.net/aaiqs  
> 
> (Warning: large photo of a rechargeable battery pack charger)
> 
> ...but try finding a rechargeable battery pack charger at a non-ludicrous 
price point at a time when anything that says "Apple" or "Newton" on it seems to 
command The Big Bucks. :/
> 
> At any rate, I'm glad to see that a fellow list member was able to come to 
your rescue with a battery cage.  I don't know if you're already familiar with 
Eneloop brand batteries, but they are low self-discharge rechargeables that are 
almost ideal for use in (typically) low-draw electronic devices like 
MessagePads.
> 
> If you have no rechargeable batteries on hand, you might want to consider 
picking up a couple of sets of AAA Eneloops while you're waiting for your 
battery cage to arrive, seeing as how the OMP was widely known for gobbling 
batteries (prompting Apple to switch to AAs for subsequent MessagePads).  
> 
> 
> Best,
> 
> James Fraser


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