Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 8

Hi I'm thinking of getting rechargables but I would like to see what others are using and how long do they last before they need to recharge again?

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My graphite Visor Deluxe is looking so sexy right now.

cl

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

I highly recommend the Battery Manager from REALGOODS. You can find it at:

http://www.realgoods.com/shop/shop3...&ts=1050194

I've got one and love it. It will recharge Ni-CADs, NiMH, rechargeable alkalines, AND regular alkalines. LCD displays for each battery (1-4) show charge progress and flag defective batteries when found. It auto-senses the battery type, and charges appropriately. You can mix types, as each cell bay has it's own circuit.

I prefer AAA rechargeable alkalines. I use my Visor often, and get about a week before swapping the two in my Visor for two fresh from the charger. Rechargeable alkalines aren't real popular, so my local Radio Shack has them marked down. $10ish for a four pack.

Hope that helps.

Dave

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 56

Additional Suggestions??

Hey Dbrown,
Thanks for the suggestion! This looks like a quality unit. However at $59.20 (shipping included) plus another $10 in batteries, I could buy about 115 Energizer AAA batteries. If I only use AAA batteries in my Visor, I would not anticipate this purchase to pay for itself until 3-4 years from now. Handspring may not even use AAA batteries this far down the road.

Has anyone used a less expensive charger that they are comfortable recommending.

Regards.

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<i> If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.</i>

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 13

Try this site!

Try this site. They have good chargers and NiMH batteries and great prices. http://www.nimhbattery.com/index.htm

They have a charger that starts at $7.90 and AAA NiMH batteries at 2.40 each.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 13

re: Good AAA rechargeables

I use maxell Ni-mh and they work fine for me. The charger charges AA, AAA, and 9 volt in either Ni-Cd or Ni-MH. It comes with 2 AA's and 2 AAA's and an extra pack of AAA's is about 5 dollars. The charger which includes batteries is about $20. I got this at Circuit city. So you'll spend about $26 overall, unless your an employee like me! I love my discount...to bad circuit city doesnt carry anything Handspring what-so-ever! Oh well, in the future i hope.

Erik

PS: Make sure you cange your Visor battery setting to rechargable by doing {shortcut}.7 it will read Ni-Cd but it will do fine on the Ni-MH. Otherwise it will drain them in about a day and your battery indicator will be off.RE

Last edited by Pigeonboy9 on 02-24-2001 at 06:16 PM

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

Re: Additional Suggestions??

quote:

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Originally posted by DocVisor
Hey Dbrown,
Thanks for the suggestion! This looks like a quality unit. However at $59.20 (shipping included) plus another $10 in batteries, I could buy about 115 Energizer AAA batteries. If I only use AAA batteries in my Visor, I would not anticipate this purchase to pay for itself until 3-4 years from now. Handspring may not even use AAA batteries this far down the road.

---

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There is nothing yet made by man that cannot be improved upon.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 17

rechargeable

hmm...it can recharge regular alkalines? is this possible?

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Not so sunny, San Diego, CA
Posts: 51

Middle-range solution

I use Ray-O-Vac's NiMH AAA btty's and 3-in-1 charger. The batteries are about $12/4 and the charger was about $25 (as far as I remember). I'm currently swapping out 8 btty's. As I use my Visor intensively (2hrs everyday for MiniJam while commuting on the bus, note taking 9hrs/wk at college, reading notes, etc.) I go through at least 2 sets of batteries a week... Knowing I've always got a fresh set of batteries waiting at home, and that I can burn through batteries as fast as I want because I can recharge them later makes all the difference.. Also, knowing I don't have to schedule in buying replacement alkelines each week is worth the small hassle of recharging. The fact that I'm not just dumping tons of toxic cells into landfills is an added bonus.
On a tangent, anyone here heard of the new "Fuel-cell packs" being developed to replace batteries? Apparently, it's a small pack, about the size of 2 batteries. All you do is insert a small cartridge of pressurized methane/natural gas/whatever fuel source, and it'll produce the right charge for up to several weeks.. Say Bye-Bye rechargeables!!

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 42

How hot do your NiMH batteries get when charging? Mine get REALLY hot. Not exactly burning, but uncomfortably hot. I'm using an old Nicd & NiMH charger with trickle.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

Re: rechargeable

quote:

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Originally posted by Leo
hmm...it can recharge regular alkalines? is this possible?

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There is nothing yet made by man that cannot be improved upon.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 8

Thanks

Thanks, You guys have been very helpfull.

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My graphite Visor Deluxe is looking so sexy right now.

cl

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 501

Radio Shack (believe it or not)

I bought one of the faster MAHA NiMH battery chargers initially (along with MAHA batteries); construction was cheap, though, and the connectors in the charger bent so that I had to fiddle with them for the batteries to fit. (Maha NiMH batteries are fine, though.)

Then went and bought a cheap $14 NiMH wall charger from Radio Shack. Very solid and has worked great for the last 10 months. I have 4 sets of 2 Maha NiMH AAA batteries, and cycle them through the charger.

It's a slow charger -- takes about 10 hours -- but the batteries don't heat up nearly as much as with the high-speed Maha charger. And I understand that prolongs the life of the NiMH batteries. (Mine have lasted almost a year and show no signs of problems.)

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Jeff Meyer

"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: mass
Posts: 56

www.thomas-distributing.com

The Mahacell batteries and chargers that these guys sell are very highly recommended by a lot of digital photography sites.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Paris, France
Posts: 2

good experience

Energizer charger and four NiMh 700mAh AAAs cost around 30 dollars. One set of batteries costs around two. They last about ten days, that is the batteries. I have now used the accus for six days around 90 min. daily. They are at fifty percent from an initial 84. So they seem to even outlast normal Duracell delivered with my VPlat. At two bucks a set and ten days longevity you will have amortised the investment in five months.Plus clean environmental conscience and ease of mind because you can use your Visor as much as you like.
Charging needs about 15 hours and they do get slightly warm.
I use a program called battery info (freeware from visorvillage) which allows settings to Alkaline, Li, NiCad. If I do change the setting from Alkaline to anything else it produces a fatal exception error. I must do a soft reset without consequences. Measuring seems to be just fine with the Alkaline setting. I didn't change anything in the visor itself by tapping any shortcut. It does not drain the NiMh at all.
Hope this helps. Enjoy it!

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 2

I use Rayovac Renewals in just about everything I have that takes batteries. The chargers aren't too expensive, and the batteries extra cost more then pays for themselves in the long run.