Tech Blog

[#1]

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Apple's new battery charger and how I thought it was the cool thing to buy from the recent announcements— Forget other new Apple devices, I want the battery charger —and one of our respected users, XL, pointed out that he thought the Apple batteries were Sanyo Eneloop batteries. Turns out, he might have been right:

• Apple's AA batteries are probably Sanyo Eneloops
• Are Sanyo's Eneloop Batteries Lurking Under the Apple AA Battery Wrappers?
• Apple Repackaging Sanyo Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries, Charging a Premium

Now the question, which the other sites asked as well, is: Does it even really matter?

I'm not talking about paying more for batteries because they are branded by Apple. If Sanyo Eneloops are just as good, but cheaper that's cool, go get them. I think what's important is that Apple is trying to help people use rechargeable batteries and if people want to jump on board because the batteries come from Apple, well that's a good thing. Myself, I'm waiting until the "regular' batteries that I have in my keyboard and mouse run out then I have a bunch of rechargeables on hand to put into service. Nope, they aren't eneloops, and I expect that they are at the end of their useful lives, but it's a start. As it happens, and remember batteries are the largest contributor of toxic waste into landfills, you can bring old batteries and such to Future Shop for safe recycling and disposal.

Apple is really good at finding good technologies that existed before and making them better (and even claiming them for themselves). Apple got a lot from Xerox PARC to use with the new Macs. The whole idea using menus and windows, even a trash can, came from there. Heck, so did the computer mouse itself. Is there anything inherently wrong in that?

So if Apple wants to rebrand Sanyo batteries and charge twice as much and people buy them instead of how many hundreds of batteries over the 10 year life span…I'm cool with that.

[#2]

Glad you like the kool-aid...

I guess the grass isn't always greener on the other side; as long as it's Apple-branded, the sheeple will eat it up!

[#3]

Thanks for the tip....

Will Future Shop be offering Eneloops in the near future?  I love Eneloops.....  I think they are a worthy alternative to proprietary batteries... Especially in cameras.

Apple appears to be taking a different different approach to the charger....  Most chargers are designed to be "quick" charging to give you a fresh cell within a few hours..... from what I remember reading the Apple charger is a very slow charger that takes several hours.  This is healthier for the battery, but may mean inconvenience.  Best to have a few spare sets if this is a concern.

Personally, I like the Maha 8 cell chargers..... Drop 8 cells and it charge at it's own convenience.  As a smart charger, the cells are charged independently so that they don't burn out the batteries.  I think Future Shop might want to offer them as well.