Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: rechargeables in palmtops?
Message-ID: <1991Apr28.012501.28554@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1991 01:25:01 GMT
References: <1991Apr27.161015.19757@cmcl2.nyu.edu>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <1991Apr27.161015.19757@cmcl2.nyu.edu> dimitrov@lab.ultra.nyu.edu (Isaac Dimitrovsky) writes:
>My portfolio says alkaline batteries are recommended.
>Does anyone know if using Nicad rechargeables will actually
>cause problems, or if it just results in shorter times
>between battery replacement.

You will have to recharge the nicads much more often than you will have to
replace the alkalines, unless you are using your machine *a lot*.  Nicads
discharge themselves; they won't stay charged for more than a couple of
weeks, typically.  They really make sense only for high-power devices
that would otherwise eat batteries like crazy.  Most handhelds nowadays 
are sufficiently light on power that Nicads aren't worth it.

I don't immediately see any problem they would cause, however.  They do
have somewhat lower output voltage than *fresh* ordinary batteries, but
battery-powered hardware has to be able to run on nearly-dead batteries,
and that means being able to cope with lower voltages.
-- 
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry