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All posts tagged "batteries"


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Best Way to Keep Your Toys Juiced

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 04:00 PM

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2...the-extra-cost/

"If you have kids, you probably know this already, but lots of stuff needs batteries. Remote control toys, Wii remotes, laser pointers (well, that is for me), flash lights, even Nerf guns. For me, I have found the best place to pick up batteries is at one of these “dollar” stores. Sure the batteries are cheaper, but are they any good? Who knows. Let’s find out."

Like any person that likes electronics, I tend to go through a lot of batteries. From remote controls, to cordless mice and keyboards to cameras. While many of these toys use rechargeable batteries, some even custom ones, I find myself using a steady supply of AA and AAA batteries. Yes, I know there are rechargeable batteries in those sizes like Eneloops and even regular NiMH, but they involve a high upfront cost, something that is not always feasible. For those of us who still find use for disposable batteries, Wired has a good review. An update has been added noting that the store-branded batteries tested were of the "heavy duty" type and not alkalines that the premium brands sell. If you buy disposable batteries, be aware of this. Heavy Duty and Super Heavy Duty batteries are not the same as Alkalines, and will always offer less power. While they may suit for very light use, like remote controls, if the device is something that needs more power, like a flashlight, or a smoke detector, you will want something with some degree of staying power.


Monday, November 15, 2010

Thin and Flexible Batteries Closer to Reality

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 10:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/10/...c-radical-batt/

"NEC first announced its super-thin Organic Radical Battery (or ORB) technology a full five years ago, but it's now finally back with what it describes as the first "practical" prototypes of the batteries. While these new batteries are about twice as thick as NEC's first such units, they're still only 0.7 mm thin, and are apparently much more reliable while also delivering 1.4 times more output (specifically, a capacity of 5mAh)."

This isn't a technology you are going to see in your next laptop. Instead the focus is on thin and flexible, so think things like flexible epaper displays, etc. Still since they are only calling this the first practical prototype, I wouldn't hold my breath either.


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Panasonic Batteries to Sport Silicon Enhancements

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 03:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/01/...rcent-capacity/

"According to Nikkei, the company will begin volume production of Li-ion rechargeable batteries that use a silicon alloy anode sometime in fiscal 2012. While Si alloy batteries have a tenfold theoretical improvement over current cells that utilize graphite, Panny claims that its device will have an improvement in linear capacity of close to thirty percent -- keeping at least 80 percent of its capacity even after 500 charge/recharge cycles."

I'm to the point that I'm not willing to believe anyone's battery claims until they actually release the product. At least they are being reasonable with their promise rather than promising the 10x increase that is only theoretical.


Sunday, August 16, 2009

New Lithium Batteries from Sony

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 01:30 PM

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/P...083E/index.html

"Sony Corporation today announced that it has launched a new type of lithium ion secondary battery that combines high-power and long-life performance, using olivine-type lithium iron phosphate as the cathode material. Shipment commenced in June 2009. The Olivine-type lithium iron phosphate used in this new battery is extremely suited for use as a cathode material due to its robust crystal structure and stable performance, even at high temperatures. By combining this new cathode material with Sony's proprietary particle design technology that minimizes electrical resistance to deliver high power output, and also leveraging the cell structure design technology Sony accrued developing its current "Fortelion series" lithium ion secondary battery line-up, Sony has realized a high power density of 1800W/kg and extended life span of approximately 2,000 charge-discharge cycles."

From the full press release, it sounds like this technology will first be showing up in batteries for cordless power tools and other similar applications. But, expect to see it migrate to other mobile devices soon.


Friday, January 9, 2009

Better Batteries: The Next Generation of Lithium-Ion Technology From Boston Power

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Events" @ 03:02 PM

The first presentation I attended at CNTRSTG was by Boston Power, a battery company that's been making some waves lately with probably the most significant enhancement to Lithium Ion batteries that we've seen in several years. Given how little Lithium Ion batteries have changed in the past decade, that's not exactly hard to do, but Boston Power is definitely moving the needle.

Dr. Christine Lampe-Önnerud, the founder of Boston Power in 2005, is a scientist by training and was part of a team of 20 people who pioneered lithium ion technology in the 1990s. She studied at MIT, and worked at Bell Labs; she knows batteries. Her team at Boston Power has over 300 years of combined experience in Lithium Ion batteries.

There are two main problems with Lithium Ion batteries today: poor long-term performance and the fact that batteries just don't power our devices long enough to make us happy. Although the examples that Lampe-Önnerud brought up seemed unrealistic in my experience - she mentioned serious battery performance loss in the first three months - it's true that over the long term battery performance gets increasingly worse. I tend to use my laptops in fairly controlled environments, but if someone is routinely using (or leaving) their laptop in extremely hot or cold environments the viability of the battery will definitely be impacted. You might get four hours of battery life on your laptop when you first get it, then six months later you're only getting three hours of run time. This is what Boston Power is trying to change. Read more...


Monday, May 5, 2008

ReUSaBle Batteries

Posted by Suhit Gupta in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 09:00 AM

http://www.gearlive.com/news/articl...able-batteries/

"We want some! We still adore our eneloop batteries that we haven’t had to charge in months, even though we use them almost daily, but we really admire the ingenuity of the ReUSaBle Batteries. When their juice starts to drain, simply plug them into any USB port or 250mA Ni-MH charger. An LED will let you know the status of the charge. A pair of the 2 x AA size batteries (1.2V at 1450mAh) will cost you $19.15, well worth the amount considering that they will eventually save you money and the planet."

Nice. I think it would be easier to re-charge these batteries because I almost always travel with my laptop so I can use it to recharge the batteries. Though I almost always forget (or find it annoying) to carry a separate battery charger. Also, wihle I don't have it now, one of my cell phone chargers used to have a USB slot at the end that plugs into the wall, so I wonder whether I could charge them that way too.

Tags: batteries

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Power Woes: It Shouldn't Be This Difficult

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 08:00 AM


All our gizmos and gadgets need power, and for the most part I only get grumpy about power issues when it's time to go away on a business or personal trip. This time, it was our two-week vacation in Japan, and I was extra grumpy about power. Why you might ask? I called Air Canada two weeks before our trip and was informed that the plane we were flying on had no power plugs for laptops in economy class - it seems like every long-haul plane in the world has power except for Air Canada's.

Normally that wouldn't have bothered me because I've been rather fortunate when it comes to laptop power: for nearly two years I used a Fujitsu P7010 laptop, one that I could remove the DVD drive on and insert a second battery to get a solid 10 hours of power. To get even more juice on the go, I tried out a Valence N-Charge that gave me a huge battery boost - can you imagine 20 hours of laptop battery life? I was living the dream. I also had a Proporta laptop battery that gave me less in terms of extended power, but was much more portable. I was completely covered...until I got a new laptop: the Dell XPS M1330.

The M1330 is an impressive laptop, balancing portability with punch - I got mine last September, decked out with the best Dell had to offer: 2.2 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor, 200 GB 7200 hard drive, 4 GB RAM, and the NVIDIA GPU. It's fast, it chugs through RAW photo files like the bad mother that it is, and I'm generally quite pleased with it - until it runs out of power. Sure, I got it with the biggest battery possible (a 9 cell), and I've gotten used to the "hump", but after about four hours, the laptop is dead. Here's where I get frustrated: the Proporta battery, which I was so enthusiastic about when I had a laptop that worked with it, doesn't work with the Dell. At first I thought it was the lack of an adaptor (the M1330 uses this bizarre six-sided plug), but I eventually found one of the plugs that fit - yet even switching the Proporta battery between both voltage modes, it wouldn't power the XPS M1330. Damn. Read more...


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