Good morning Laporteans...

I've got a tip for you on rechargeable batteries today.

A few weeks ago I counted up how many battery powered devices I used every
day... Palm VII (2 AAA), headset (2AAA), Walkman (2AA), Voice recorder
(2AA) - and then there's all the battery powered devices the kids use. I
buy, on average 4 AAA and 4 AA batteries a month. That adds up, not to
mention what it's doing to the landfill. And when I finally get a digital
camera and my Diamond Rio I expect to use even more.

I've tried the NiCAD rechargeable batteries, but with very poor results.
They seem to give up the ghost almost immediately, even with reconditioning.
That's then I read this column by my buddy, John C. Dvorak, about the
rechargeable battery coverup:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2408068,00.html

Finding the NiMH rechargeables hasn't been easy, and the ones I did find
were fairly expensive. But here's a source for NiMH rechargeables at $2.20
each for the AAs! That's not much more than the disposables - and they
reportedly last for hundreds if not thousands of recharges.

http://thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm

You'll have to buy a charger, too - the old NiCAD chargers don't work. I've
been using the Nexcell AA and AAAs with great results. No memory effect.
Life as long as the alkalines. I haven't tried them in a digital camera,
yet, but it sounds like they'd do the job.

Dvorak says the battery companies are reluctant to promote these products,
and no wonder. I can't imagine why anyone would continue to use disposable
batteries. Well, there's one reason... NiMH batteries drain all by
themselves. You can't just charge them up and expect them to work months
later. You've got to use them right away or keep them in the charger. So
your emergency flashlights and radio should probably be stocked with fresh
disposables, but for everything else, rechargeable's the way!

Leo