Technology

37727 readers

500 users here now

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

I just wanted to take a minute to appreciate interchangable batteries (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I know these are currently out of fashion but I'm still thankful they exist.

Let's remind ourselves of devices that use(d) these standardized batteries:

Toys
Digital cameras
Torches
Gadgets like fans
Wireless keyboards
TV remotes

Thanks to having a standardized system of batteries,

You can use the same battery across several devices. This is a no brainer but it's very practical.
Batteries can charge quicker thanks to being put in a dedicated charger and not being limited by USB cables. (But yes I concede that USB has been updated for faster charging over the years)
Devices don't have down time when their battery is charging. To charge, the battery is removed from the device and can immediately be replaced with a fresh one.
You'll never have to trash a device due to an expired battery. Just buy a replacement. And building on this...
Any improvements in future battery technology can be retro-fitted into your existing devices. And there is a high incentive for future improvement, because...
An accessible (due to easy replacement) and large (due to many devices) battery market is very attractive to competition.

If you look at the pros I listed, they all happen to be things that would be very useful for electric cars. So I think it would aid the adoption of electric cars if their batteries were standardized too.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Those batteries in your photo are NiMH batteries... which discharge on their own at a fairly rapid rate even if you're not using them at all. They're also pretty big and heavy for the amount of power they provide (which, due to the self-discharge issue, is effectively a lot lower than the official number on the battery).

I strongly recommend investing in devices that use 18650 batteries. They're about the same size/weight as a AA, and they last much longer (both in terms of from full to flat and also the number of years (decades?) of use you'll get from the battery.

A lot of "proprietary" batteries are in fact a bunch of 18650 cells wired together.

It's worth investing in good ones - the quality varies significantly from brand to the next. With a good 18650 cell, you won't be replacing it when the battery expires, you'll be transferring it to a new gadget when the gadget is broken or so old that you decided to buy a new/better model.