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- Visor & Deluxe (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)
-- NiMH Batteries (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=705)

I'm planning on trying NiMH batteries in my Visor. I read that if you are using NiMH batteris and need to do a soft reset, you need to then perform a shortcut .7 to recalibrate the battery level meter.

Is this true?

The battery level is set for Alkaline, even after you reset I believe. It's not that big a deal for me because with NiMH I haven't gotten a decent reading yet.. either it starts at 70 something percent, or it dies at 30.. Even with it at rechargable or recharg. alkaline it seems weird.

I think I saw a hack up on PalmGear that was for NiMH batteries. No promises, but you might want to check

Do a search on "battery" at PalmGear and you will find a number of battery meter hacks that support NiMH cells. I'm not sure which ones work with the Visor though.

I downloaded something called NiHM Set and had to read the readme file cause the guy tells you some stuff and then which file to rename to .prc... anyway it appears to have worked...

Zen

i was planning on getting those NexCell AAA NIMH batteries along with the mh-c204f charger from www.nimhbattery.com. about how long do the nimh batteries last in the visor compared to normal alkaline batteries? and is there a sharp decline in voltage where i wouldnt get a low battery warning? appreciate it? soon to be BVD owner



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Andrew Seto

I understand from the user guide and postings that one should only use alkaline batteries and that use of NIMH batteries would void the warranty.

Can one of you explain to me why you don't worry about that? (I can see the obvious advantage of rechargeable batteries, but . . .

The user's manual does say: "Use only alkaline batteries with your handheld."

and the warranty states: "HANDSPRING AND ITS SUPPLIERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE UNDER THIS WARRANTY IF ITS TESTING AND EXAMINATION DISCLOSE THAT ..." "... DEFECT OR MALFUNCTION ..." "... WAS CAUSED BY CUSTOMER'S OR ANY THIRD PERSON'S MISUSE, NEGLECT, IMPROPER INSTALLATION OR TESTING, UNAUTHORIZED ATTEMPTS TO OPEN, REPAIR OR MODIFY THE PRODUCT, OR ANY OTHER CAUSE BEYOND THE RANGE OF INDENDED USE ..."

Of course, it's unclear to me whether they could/would test to see if non-alkaline batteries were used, provided the batteries didn't leak inside the battery compartment.

Besides, warranties are not usually voided across the board, but rather only on the portion that the user used improperly.

For example, if one of the hardware buttons failed within the first year of use because it was mismanufactured by the switch vendor, that portion of warranty coverage would not be affected be wrong battery use and HS would have to repair/replace the switch.

While wandering the ether I came across this excellent battery FAQ. Although written with digital cameras in mind, it is 100% applicable to Visor users (and anyone else that uses batteries). It is well written, and explains the different types of batteries - Alkaline, Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd), Nickel-MetalHydride (NiMH), and Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) - their strengths and their weaknesses.

If you have any questions about batteries, follow this link: http://www.olfe.demon.nl/minolta/ and choose "battery FAQ" from the sidebar menu.

Dave

Though most of the information posted on the link: http://www.olfe.demon.nl/minolta/ is good, there is still some incorrect information (NiMH cells do not discharge at 3-10% per day, they are only very slightly higher than NiCd, although this varies depending on the manufacturer).
One site was left off that has excellent information, http://data.energizer.com/

I got a coupon for $5 off the Rayovac rechargable alkaline charger ($10, comes with 2 AA batteries) with my TI calculator, so I picked one up at Radio Shack for my Discman. I plan to use these batteries with my Visor. I'm not sure how they would work with the battery meter, but they do run at 1.5V, and have lasted a long time in my experience.

Here's a link to their site if you're interested:
http://www.rayovac.com/products/recharge/recharge.shtml

[This message has been edited by deoxy (edited 12-03-1999).]

From my experience, I find that rechargeable alkalines do not perform nearly as well as NiMH's in terms of both cost-effectiveness (rechargeable 25-50 times vs 500-1000 times)and length of time before requiring a recharge. Once you've tried NiMH, you'll never want to use other batteries... although Li-ion batts are great but they give out the wrong voltage (3.7v), and are expensive because of the complicated chemical reaction during recharging.