For a long time now i have had a policy of not buying any portable
device that uses AAA batteries. I have never considered them to be good
value or to have a high enough energy storage to be useful.
One exception to this was my Palm Pilot since I had no alternative.
Now I am faced with a plethora of small devices that all seem to use AAA
and dam it I want one.

What AAA systems have others used to get around this. The cheapest AAA I
have come across is at least twice the price of AA and never seem to be
as long lasting.

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From:	Big Bear
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 14:41:08 +1300

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:54:25 +1300, Collector»NZ
wrote:

>For a long time now i have had a policy of not buying any portable
>device that uses AAA batteries. I have never considered them to be good
>value or to have a high enough energy storage to be useful.
>One exception to this was my Palm Pilot since I had no alternative.
>Now I am faced with a plethora of small devices that all seem to use AAA
>and dam it I want one.
>
>What AAA systems have others used to get around this. The cheapest AAA I
>have come across is at least twice the price of AA and never seem to be
>as long lasting.

And AAAA are even far dearer..

From:	-=rjh=-
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:42:59 +1300

Collector»NZ wrote:
> For a long time now i have had a policy of not buying any portable
> device that uses AAA batteries. I have never considered them to be good
> value or to have a high enough energy storage to be useful.
> One exception to this was my Palm Pilot since I had no alternative.
> Now I am faced with a plethora of small devices that all seem to use AAA
> and dam it I want one.
>
> What AAA systems have others used to get around this. The cheapest AAA I
> have come across is at least twice the price of AA and never seem to be
> as long lasting.
>
>
I've always run my Palm IIIxe on AAA NiMH with no problems, battery life
is fine (several weeks), and there is even a shortcut to make the Palm
recognise that it has NiMH installed so it can estimate battery life
accordingly.

I also have a FinePix F420 which runs on AAA NiMH, in fact it won't run
on alkaline cells for some reason. Battery life on the camera is not
good, but even while travelling in the Aussie outback was never a
problem, just take a few sets of charged batteries.

I hardly ever buy AAA or AA alkalines, as NiMH work fine in everything.
I've found a range that Jaycar stock to be quite good and reasonably
priced - Powertech 800mAH. Don't forget you need a special charger for
NiMH, which is an investment up front that soon pays for itself.

I prefer to buy devices that don't have built in or proprietary
batteries but more devices are going that way now. For eg, the model
before and after the F420 use proprietary batteries. Lots of camera
manufacturers are moving to proprietary lithium batteries that make it
really expensive to have spares charged and ready to use.

BTW Roger is right about AAAA alkaline cells - I've seen them at $10.00
or so; I have a stylus that uses them, I had to fit a mercury switch and
store the stylus upside down when not in use to conserve battery power.

HTH

From:	Big Bear
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 13:22:59 +1300

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:42:59 +1300, -=rjh=- wrote:

>Collector»NZ wrote:
>> For a long time now i have had a policy of not buying any portable
>> device that uses AAA batteries. I have never considered them to be good
>> value or to have a high enough energy storage to be useful.
>> One exception to this was my Palm Pilot since I had no alternative.
>> Now I am faced with a plethora of small devices that all seem to use AAA
>> and dam it I want one.
>>
>> What AAA systems have others used to get around this. The cheapest AAA I
>> have come across is at least twice the price of AA and never seem to be
>> as long lasting.
>>
>>
>I've always run my Palm IIIxe on AAA NiMH with no problems, battery life
>is fine (several weeks), and there is even a shortcut to make the Palm
>recognise that it has NiMH installed so it can estimate battery life
>accordingly.
>
>I also have a FinePix F420 which runs on AAA NiMH, in fact it won't run
>on alkaline cells for some reason. Battery life on the camera is not
>good, but even while travelling in the Aussie outback was never a
>problem, just take a few sets of charged batteries.
>
>I hardly ever buy AAA or AA alkalines, as NiMH work fine in everything.
>I've found a range that Jaycar stock to be quite good and reasonably
>priced - Powertech 800mAH. Don't forget you need a special charger for
>NiMH, which is an investment up front that soon pays for itself.
>
>I prefer to buy devices that don't have built in or proprietary
>batteries but more devices are going that way now. For eg, the model
>before and after the F420 use proprietary batteries. Lots of camera
>manufacturers are moving to proprietary lithium batteries that make it
>really expensive to have spares charged and ready to use.
>
>BTW Roger is right about AAAA alkaline cells - I've seen them at $10.00
>or so; I have a stylus that uses them, I had to fit a mercury switch and
>store the stylus upside down when not in use to conserve battery power.
>
>HTH

What type and brand of Charger are you using..?

I am a bit concerned with the Rapid chargers..

From:	colinco
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:43:41 +1300

In article -=rjh=- says...
> BTW Roger is right about AAAA alkaline cells - I've seen them at $10.00
> or so; I have a stylus that uses them, I had to fit a mercury switch and
> store the stylus upside down when not in use to conserve battery power.
>
>
You can find 9V alkalines filled with AAAA equivalents as a stopgap. The
case is +ve and the tit on the end is -ve without the outer covers.

From:	-=rjh=-
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 21:59:28 +1300

colinco wrote:
> In article -=rjh=- says...
>
>>BTW Roger is right about AAAA alkaline cells - I've seen them at $10.00
>>or so; I have a stylus that uses them, I had to fit a mercury switch and
>>store the stylus upside down when not in use to conserve battery power.
>>
>>
>
> You can find 9V alkalines filled with AAAA equivalents as a stopgap. The
> case is +ve and the tit on the end is -ve without the outer covers.

That makes them quite cheap, then :-)

From:	Big Bear
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 13:28:11 +1300

On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:43:41 +1300, colinco wrote:

>In article -=rjh=- says...
>> BTW Roger is right about AAAA alkaline cells - I've seen them at $10.00
>> or so; I have a stylus that uses them, I had to fit a mercury switch and
>> store the stylus upside down when not in use to conserve battery power.
>>
>>
>You can find 9V alkalines filled with AAAA equivalents as a stopgap. The
>case is +ve and the tit on the end is -ve without the outer covers.

So this is not a standard press stud 9V..?

From:	colinco
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 13:53:33 +1300

In article Big Bear says...
> >You can find 9V alkalines filled with AAAA equivalents as a stopgap. The
> >case is +ve and the tit on the end is -ve without the outer covers.
>
>
>
> So this is not a standard press stud 9V..?
>
>
Yes, I think the last one I tried was an Eveready. Inside it has 6
slightly smaller than AAAA size cells without the normal outer skins. As
said watch polarity.

From:	Big Bear
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 17:55:59 +1300

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 13:53:33 +1300, colinco wrote:

>In article Big Bear says...
>> >You can find 9V alkalines filled with AAAA equivalents as a stopgap. The
>> >case is +ve and the tit on the end is -ve without the outer covers.
>>
>>
>>
>> So this is not a standard press stud 9V..?
>>
>>
>Yes, I think the last one I tried was an Eveready. Inside it has 6
>slightly smaller than AAAA size cells without the normal outer skins. As
>said watch polarity.

The Normal 9v one has contacts at one end, not on each end..

From:	colinco
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005 19:43:23 +1300

In article Big Bear says...
> >Yes, I think the last one I tried was an Eveready. Inside it has 6
> >slightly smaller than AAAA size cells without the normal outer skins. As
> >said watch polarity.
>
>
> The Normal 9v one has contacts at one end, not on each end..
>
>
>
>
What I am talking about is opening up a standard Eveready 9V alkaline
package to expose the individual cells within. Any mention of ends
refers to these, not the original case.

From:	Andrew Dixon
Subject:	Re: AAA (treble A) batteries
Date:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005 16:25:28 +1300