Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!ukc!edcastle!hwcs!adrian
From: adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: rechargeables in palmtops?
Message-ID: <2874@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk>
Date: 30 Apr 91 09:41:10 GMT
References: <1991Apr27.161015.19757@cmcl2.nyu.edu> <1991Apr28.012501.28554@zoo.toronto.edu>
Sender: news@cs.hw.ac.uk
Organization: Computer Science, Heriot-Watt U., Scotland
Lines: 34

In article <1991Apr28.012501.28554@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
>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.

I have to disagree with that estimate of two weeks.  My Psion Organiser runs
off a PP3 sized NiCad battery, and it does so for around four weeks without
a battery change.  The battery in question will have spent a similar period
charged but inactive, because my standard procedure is to carry a spare
charged battery in a little belt pouch.  That way, when the Organiser gives
the "Battery low" warning, I can change its battery at once.  I've been using
the same pair of batteries for a few years now, and haven't lost any data to
battery failure yet.

Of course, the duration of a battery will depend on its size; and perhaps
British batteries last longer than U.S. or Canadian ones.  :-)

As to the original question about using rechargeable batteries in a Portfolio:
I'd expect that rechargeable would work.  I doubt that the ability to use such
batteries is a unique feature of the Organiser!  As Henry said, though,
rechargeables need changing more often than alkalines, so carry spares with
you.

 "Keyboard?  How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
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