Saw the new Star Trek film last night...... awesome!
Saw the new Star Trek film last night...... awesome!
Member since:14.10.2006
Reviews:125
Members who trust:181
Hello and welcome. Other than watching DVD's as a hobby I am a keen amateur photographer and to be honest one of the things I hate is carrying packs of Duracell batteries around with me as I find them cumbersome. When I bought my new digital camera, a Sony Cybershot H2, I was surprised with what I received with them.
---A nice surprise---
When I opened the box, I had the instruction manual and everything relevant, but also two rechargeable batteries as well. These types of batteries are the ones that are received with a battery charger
as standard when you purchase from the Sony Cybershot camera range.
They look like any other AA batteries as naturally the size is the same, but the packaging is a bright orange and blue in colour and are truly distinctive that these are part of the Sony range.
---Use---
My camera was purchased last summer so I have had the hardware for nearly a year, in that time I have replaced the batteries once after 8 months and have recharged the newer batteries about a dozen times and still get a good 8 - 10 hours from them. This surprised me as I thought the performance would decay over time. Compared to the Duracell's these last a little more than they do.
To put things into perspective I usually get about around 150 - 200 shots before the batteries start to die from having no charge, that is well within a 8 - 10 hour period and on some occasions have found that I have some charge for the next day as well, which would give me about another 30 shots. This really depends on what camera you have as well as use of the flash can drain the batteries quite quickly. A lot of cameras now have power saving when they close down automatically after say 90 seconds of inactivity. This helps.
I only charge the batteries up when I need to, and allow the charge to fall right down before placing into the holder. When recharging the batteries fit snugly into a cradle, this is not much bigger than an early Ipod in size, and has a removable lead connected to a plug. Recharging takes about 4 - 6 hours depending on the time the batteries have been used for. When completed the light on the cradle turns from amber to green to indicate that charging has completed.
Fitting the batteries into a camera is easy as the tops and bottoms are easily identifiable as to which end should be inserted first.
---Overall---
The life of the batteries are not actually that bad compared to some batteries that I have used, that usually die after about 4 hours. There are other brands out there that can be used but I really find these the easiest, even though the charging time is a bit longer than other brands it does seem that the batteries themselves do give a better quality when being charged up.
Bottom line is that if you charge up the batteries as per the process they will not let you down. Although I was stupid enough to leave these on the shelf at home and not use them for a while, after they were charged up, I ended with a 10 minute life from the batteries, before I had to replace them.
The first set that I had, I used for more than 8 months regularly and worked out that if I pay £3.99 for 4 batteries every two weeks then the rechargeable batteries will save money over the long run. It is also helpful for the environment as used batteries are not being thrown away to slowly decompose in a landfill suite somewhere, so from that point of view it is better for the environment.
---Availability-
If the batteries do need to be replaced, the availability of these are on the whole very good. HMV sells these as a pack of 4 for £8.99 while on-line you can pick these up for just under a fiver. Ironically the dearest place to get them from was the Sony Shop as these were about £2 higher in price than anywhere else.
For me it is the money saving that can be achieved quite easily as I use the camera a lot, then just recharging them helps a lot on the wallet and the environment. It is also interesting to note that other companies now have started to release recharging packs as well; hopefully this will become the norm instead of a trend.
Tanks for reading. Until next time.
Tim
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Nice review! One thing I look for on rechargeables is the output rating, something like 1700mAh or, on my most recent purchase, 2200mAh. Means they take a little longer to charge, but conversely they can sustain a higher power drain for longer.
Maximize power on your Cyber-shot® digital camera with a two pack of high performance AA ... more
NiMH (nickel metal hydride) rechargeable batteries. Featuring a extra large storage capacity of 2500 mAh, they are designed to maximize the performance of your com...
Postage & Packaging: £4.39 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Maximize power on your Cyber-shot® digital camera with a two pack of high performance AA ... more
NiMH (nickel metal hydride) rechargeable batteries. Featuring a extra large storage capacity of 2500 mAh, they are designed to maximize the performance of your com...
Postage & Packaging: £3.57 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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