NiMh AA recommendations for PCDP?

[AndrewTosh]

I have an old (and ugly!) Sony Sports D-421SP that has a much nicer headphone out than my crappy Memorex MP3 player. Trouble is, it kills a pair of AA batteries in about a day or two of subway riding.

I remember reading online a while ago about places that sell rechargeable battery cells a lot cheaper than buying them in a store, and usually of higher capacity, too. Does anyone have any companies they'd recommend? I figure it'll save me time and money in the long run.

Thanks

 

[Daroid]

There is a lot of cheating going on in the NiMH business, apparantly GP (Gold Peak) and a lot of less known brands often mark up their mAH rating on their batteries, say 200 mAH or more.
I will recommend you either Sanyo 2100, 2300 or 1850 mAH AAs because according to tests they are the batteries with the tightest ratings. They are not really inexpensive at their going prices from here: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/greenbat...re/noname.html but in my opinion worth it in the end.
Ansmann batteries are good also (made by Sanyo according to the HR stamp on the minus pole)

You need a charger too ?

EDIT: If you're using the PCDP in outside in frosty weather, NiCD would still be better since NiMHs doesn't last as long when it's freezing.

 

[AndrewTosh]

Thanks a lot for the info

Yes I'd need a charger as well. Are there any that I should specifically look for/avoid?

It does get fairly cold here in the winter, but most of my commute to class is spent on a heated bus/subway car. I might be spending about 30min/day outside in cold weather at the most. Do nicads have any other advantages? I was under the impression that they were old technology and that the Ni-MH ones lasted longer and didn't suffer from the memory effect problem.

 

[Daroid]

Yes, NiCD is old technology and does have memory effects. They're also dangerous because they contain cadmium which does pollute (hence why NiCDs are hard to come by in shops). There are no other advantages with NiCD over the NiMH other than their usability in the winters. Ok, there are some people with motorized planes/helicopters who says that NiMH is a problem because they became too hot, because a lot of power was drained from them too fast and it would damage them in the end. The same people prefer NiCD because of that, but they don't last as long (because of the lower mAH rating).

Chargers. It's hard to recommend one specific charger, but i'll say that the socket-plug-in type chargers isn't very convenient if you do a lot of charging (most aren't very sturdy). Go for the type you can place on a table etc.. Avoid any chargers which aren't microprocessor controlled. It is a plus if it does -delta voltage measurements also.

 

[kiwirugby]

Andrew,

Try http://www.thomas-distributing.com. They have a bucket loas of good batteries and chargers...enough to fit all needs.

Quck, efficient service too.

 

[Sledge]

The Maha Powerex batteries from Thomas Distributing are the highest capacity batteries you'll find. They also sell the Mach 1 charger which can recharge a NiMH battery in about an hour.

If you need faster charging, Rayovac sells NiMH batteries called IC3. Not quite as much capacity as the Maha but using Rayovac's charger, you can recharge them fully in 15 minutes. Unlike the Maha batteries, you should be able to find these in most stores.

 

[lini]

Over here, I can warmheatedly recommend the Friwo 2000 mAh NiMH cells - these sounded very nice to me, when I got my first pack of these. And later on we did some measurements, and the Friwos turned out to have almost their claimed capacity, low storage loss and very low inner resistance. Price is fairly competitive, too.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sledge The Maha Powerex batteries from Thomas Distributing are the highest capacity batteries you'll find. They also sell the Mach 1 charger which can recharge a NiMH battery in about an hour. .

The Maha Powerex line is the best you can get. This is a good reference as well:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

 

[locality]

Maha's 2300 mAh AA's are pretty good: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/ma...2300mAh-aa.htm

Maha's MH-C401FS charger is very nice: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/mhc401fs.htm

Thomas Distributing has charger + battery bundles at a discount: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/mhc401fs_buy.htm

I've found Maha batteries & chargers to be reliable, durable, and quality products. Thomas Distributing has provided fast & accurate order processing.

 

[Lisa]

I second Sanyo. I bought some 2300 mah a couple of months ago and chose Sanyo because I wanted the highest capacity I could get and I've read good things about them. They last much longer than some cheap 2100 mahs I've got.
They're also slightly longer (less than a mm) than the 1800 mah from GP and Duracell which is a pro cause the GPs and Duracells pop out of the battery compartment quite easily. The batterydoor will keep them in place but it will produce stress on the batterydoor.

As for charger, I'm impressed by the Ansmann Energy 8 charger. Energy 4 is the smaller size and good if you don't need to charge C and D cells. They can also fast charge 9.6V batteries which are the best choice for a lot of portable amps. This you don't find easily in a charger.