Rechargeable Batteries - Yes or No?

TheFifthElephant asks: "I currently use quite a few devices that require various size batteries and I feel horrible just tossing them when they die. I saw a recharger at a retail store today and was thinking to myself how much waste it would reduce by using rechargeable ones. Which units have you used happily and/or which units have you heard of/read about satisfying someone else? Are the more expensive units better? What chemical rechargeable batteries last the longest/recharge the most?"

Save the environment..

[Gherald]

Use Potatoe/Lemon batteries!

I use monster brand

[Soothh]

I use monster brand and it does me well, I hear there are better though. Monster costs quite a bit thought but so far works great for me, and seems to recharge pretty fast

I like the rotational kinetic battery

[Directrix1]

I find the batteries that hold the greatest charge the longest are the magnetically levitated in a vacuum flywheel electric motor.

Satisfying someone else...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Which units have you used happily and/or which units have you heard of/read about satisfying someone else?"

My wife has this vibrating thing, something Rabbit, she's always saying it satisfies her...

Re:Save the environment..

[NETHED]

Everyone, DAN QUAYLE is a slashdot reader!!

Dilithium Crystals

[Foofoobar]

I use dilithium crystals when I can which have a shelf life of 10 years at full warp. Engage!

where is the CowboyNeil option...

[warpSpeed]

Rechargeable Batteries - Yes or No?

[ ] CowboyNeil charges my battery

Re:I like the rotational kinetic battery

[DeepDarkSky]

They have great energy density, but try finding one in AA battery size. In fact, try finding one in D size!

The smallest I've seen of these are the size of large bucket - maybe about 2 gallon size.

Can't exactly put that in a wireless mouse, now, can we? Not to mention the gyroscopic effects of the battery in portable applications.

Satisfying batteries

[rigmort]

"...which units have you heard of/read about satisfying someone else?"

My wife seems to be "satisfied" by energizers while I'm away...

Re:I like the rotational kinetic battery

[Directrix1]

Not to mention the catastrophic effects of the flywheel if it gets hit to hard and touches the edge :-P. Its a battery that doubles as a bomb!

Let's sing a song...

[Hogwash McFly]

You say Tomayto, I say Tomahto, you say Potatoe, we spell it correctly... ;)

Re:I like the rotational kinetic battery

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot readers typically have very strong wrists (a curious side-effect of strenuous web-browsing)

Uh, yeah. That's the ticket. Web browsing.

Re:NiMH

[dnoyeb]

I use NiCd and NiMH. The NiCd are old ones that are still good and I wont toss em till they die.

My son has lots of electronic toys, I fill all with rechargables. I put rechargables in anything that gets frequent use, and use standards in things that dont.

frequent use:
kids toys
pager
remote controls
vibrator
Rotating Tie-rack
non-frequent use:
smoke detector
battery-backups
Flashlight

You find Li batteries in equipment that tends to be charged daily. From the daily charge I highly suspect they don't hold charge too well, but they probably have high life cycles. Probably why they don't go in pagers and other stuff that does not have a built in charger.

Cordless telephones
cellular telephones
Cameras
computers
PDAs

Re:Nickel Metal Hyride

[WTFmonkey]

They can't be that bad for the environment, I mean those little Cadmium Cream Eggs are SO GOOD around Easter-time.

Re:not to nit pick...

[JonathanBoyd]

Well, if the imperdance is entirely real, then it's a resistance.

Re:NiMH

[poot_rootbeer]

NiMH batteries are great but they have the downside of losing charge very quickly "on the shelf" so you can't keep a bunch of charged MiMH batteries ready to use.

Is that the "Secret of NiMH"?

Re:NiMH

[SeanAhern]

Is that the "Secret of NiMH"?

I smell a rat...

Re:NiMH

[Anonymous Coward]

Unfortunately, NiMH batteries come with a price. The super-intelligent rat bastards who developed the technology are currently being investigated for patent infringement and corporate espionage. It appears they weren't just stealing electricity from the farmer while they concocted their devious plans in the rosebush. If you wish to promote the use of corporate espionage and IP theft, then by all means use NiMH batteries. For you to poop on!

Re:Screw the environment you posers

[slyxter]

I like how you feel the need to threats at random moderators that are completely anonymous to you 3 lines after you mention others having issues with their penis size.

Re:NiMH

[kzinti]

When you get up into the exterme draws, like high performance electric motors for R/C airplance and cars, or even full size electric vehicles, the lower resistance of the NiCad makes up for the reduced energy density in run time.

Yep, NiCd cells can REALLY dump current. Ever short-circuit a fully charged NiCd just for grins? I did this one time, with a cell that came out of an old gadget of some kind. The cells were the kind with wires soldered to either end; I stripped the wire ends, twisted them together, then stood back to watch the fun. In no time, the insulation on the wire was smoking, then bubbling and melting off. But soon something happened I hadn't counted on: the solder on the battery tabs melted and the wires fell off. At this point, I decided maybe it wasn't such a smart experiment after all and I gave it up.

Re:Save the environment: Shoot a ...

[itallushrt]

Kill a hippie.

Re:All About the Same

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay, comma splice master.

Re:Comparison of various batteries.

[Anonymous Coward]

I fear I can't read it, I might need to enter my phone number.

batteries?!!! Pfah!

[hyperphys]

Wireless power.

Hmmm....now, that's the good stuff!

Re:Actually WalMart is excellent

[HR]

>>>Personally I prefer to shop at Target because it's not quite so "White Trash", <<<

Ummm so you consider yourself a slightly better species of "White Trash"?

Re:All About the Same

[FFFish]

Hey, commas are, like, the best invention, ever, except for, maybe, the semicolon; I like semicolons, too, because they're great for, say, joining disparate thoughts.

Re:Rechargeable alkaline

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you fucking insane, apart from the fact that this guys post is originally about saving the world by not throwing out batteries and you are suggesting he throws out batteries which are already leaking. I suggest that the next time you charge your batteries you stay in the room for the entire process and don't stop the charging when they leak.

Re:Save the environment..

[Chambers81]

they actually had to obtain permission from some government agency (i'm not sure which). Amusingly enough, I don't think the secret service would have done anything to me. Seeing as dad was an agent and all. That would have been amusing. "Tony, we're arresting your son and his entire chem class for destruction of pennies."