Rechargeable Batteries - Yes or No?

TheFifthElephant asks: "I currently use quite a few devices that require various size batteries and I feel horrible just tossing them when they die. I saw a recharger at a retail store today and was thinking to myself how much waste it would reduce by using rechargeable ones. Which units have you used happily and/or which units have you heard of/read about satisfying someone else? Are the more expensive units better? What chemical rechargeable batteries last the longest/recharge the most?"

Comments

Re:Save the environment..

[mj01nir]

Thank you, Mr. Quayle. Please sit down now.

All About the Same

[reporter]

Most of the brands of rechargeable batteries have about the same performance. Rechargeable batteries, like toothpaste, is a commodity product. If you want minimum cost, avoid specialty outlets like Best Buy, RadioShack, etc. Go to Target or Walmart and look in the battery aisle. In fact, if you buy plain-vanilla electronic goods and supplies, then you should always go to Target or Walmart. Never go to a specialty electronics store.

At Target, you will probably find 3 or 4 brands of rechargeable batteries. Since all the brands are about the same in performance, you should select the brand based on country of origin. Remember. When you buy a product, you indirectly support the value system in the country of origin. In other words, avoid "Made in China". You can find enough reasons for avoiding "Made in China" at Amnesty International or Tibet Online . "Made in China" also includes "Made in Taiwan" or "Made in Hong Kong".

"Made in USA", "Made in Japan", or similar Western-country label is usually a safe bet in terms of (1) the quality of the product and (2) the value system in the country of origin. As an example, consider the Energize Rechargeable Batteries.

Re:All About the Same

[DNS-and-BIND]

HAHAHA...made in USA...heh that's an oldy but a goody.

The USA gave up its manufacturing industries to third-world countries as an act of job-creating altruism back in the 1980s. The rest of the parent post is so conspicuously politically correct as to be comical.

Re:All About the Same

[willtsmith]

Trading with people in other countries builds cultural bridges, helps to lift people out of poverty, spreads the values of freedom and democracy, and promotes peace between nations.

Yeah, I used to believe this argument as well. This is the brilliant part of WTO and free trade. You can appeal to the smushy liberal notions of the folks on the left and effectively blind them to the effects of so-called "free trade".

The real effect is to marginalize the power of the middle class in democratic nations. The cost savings aren't passed on to consumers, they are gobbled up by greedy industrialists. And the workers, well, their standards of living are hardly increased moving from villages into sweatshop working conditions working for pennies a day.

As for democracry overseas, HAH!!!! The transition between an agrarian and an industrial economy WEAKENS the relative force of labor. They don't have MORE power, they have less. To top it off, most people in Indo-China have no real civil rights. There are no environmental standards. Their is ZERO chance for collective bargaining. Union organizers won't loose, they'll simply dissappear quicker than you can say Suharto.

Free trade with free nations and free peoples is fine. If these nations wan't in on the goods, they should be required to share the benefits of trade with their "peasants" rather than simply treating them like yaks. Free trade is bankrupting the US.

Education !!!!!!
Thats the funniest joke of all. Our universities are progressively subsidizing the education of foreigners over Americans through graduate education and academic grants. These folks were SUPPOSED to go home when they were done learning. Instead they have glutted the US high-tech workforce with H-1B and L-Z1 non-immigrants.

Why would a laid of manufacturing worker pay thousands of dollars to re-educate himself over years when greedy corporations are importing foreigners to do these jobs NOW!!!! H-1B and LZ-1's are effectively indentured servants. They have no rights to bargaining. Often, corporations don't even pay them what they state on their Visa application because their is literally NO WAY to punish a company for such an action.

We are not exporting prosperity, democracy and freedom. We are importing depression, totalitarianism and oppression. Indo-China is becoming no free-er. The middle class in these countries are not growing. Only the hordes of dependent serfs. At the same time are employment is going up and we are importing foreign scabs to do American jobs at half the price.

Bay all you want about our freedoms and liberties. However, your freedoms will mean NOTHING when you have to beg for a job from some wealthy ass-hole while standing in a line of thousands of unemployed honest shmucks. When firing you means destitution, you will be forced to ceade your civil liberties for the sake of survival.

Totalitariansim, Facism, Communism, China-ism, Laze-Fare capitalism, Robber-Baronism, Fuedalism, call it whatever you want-ism. It's all the same shit. A few people on top with all the money and power and everybody else begging for their scraps. The would be fuedal lords of the world have dreamed up the scheme to gut the democratic prosperity of industrialized nations by distributing parts of it to rich people in poor countries and the rest to rich people in rich countries.

See:
http://nomoreh1b.com and
http://zazona.com

For more details. Either this shit ends or the second great depression comes.

Moderators:
Please proceed to mod me up for being off-topic, and arguably paranoid.

Re:Winner: most underrated comment!

[Trolling4Dollars]

I think gentoo is awesome and the RIAA is stupid! (Oh bring on them underrated mods please!!!)

Re:Save the environment..

[FatherOfONe]

Could you elaborate on why you think the current President is dumber than Dan Quayle?

Although there are a few issues I disagree with Bush on, (Microsoft case being one) I hate to think what we would have done if Gore would have been elected. We probably would be paying the Afgan people not to hurt us anymore.

In my opinion one of the worst leaders of the U.S. was the smartest (Jimmy Carter). So I would also contend that you can't draw just upon intelligence as a determining factor of leadership.

I do have to say that I find most Liberals view of conservatives funny. They either brand them in one of two ways.
1. Idiots
2. Evil war mongering people.

I am kinda shocked that you didn't put Bush in to the later, but you probably put him in both categories....

But when you compare republicans to democrats over the last few years, I think you will see that the democrates haven't put up the brightest people either.

Bush VS Gore. Neither one seems that bright to me. I have read Gores first book and I can say that it must be easy to write a book that just quotes other people...

Bush VS Clinton. Well if I was looking on ways to seduce under age women Clinton would win, but overall, about the same.

Regan VS Mondale - Well... today I would probably choose Mondale, (bad joke) but back in the 80's Regan.

Reagan VS ??? - Forget the guy, but he seemed Intelligent at the time. But given that he got crushed... I will have to take Reagan.

Reagan VS Carter - Carter wins. Too bad he was the worst president in the last 40 years. Someone please tell him that we still have oil, and the year is 2003. God I loved gas rationing, and negotiating with terrorist.

Carter VS Ford - Give this one to Carter.

I could keep going back, but you get the idea. It isn't that one side is brilliant. Both sides say what they are paid to say and don't give a rats ass about anything but their power.

I will give GW credit for one thing, he does make decisions on what he believes to be correct. He doesn't let the press or polls dictate his decisions.

In my opinion will he beat Hillary? Yep. Will the Democrats put Hillary up against him? Probably. So the next comparision:

Bush VS Clinton - Bush. Granted if I needed investment advice in the futures market... Clinton, or how to murder former co-workers she would also win.

Re:Save the environment..

[bman08]

That's because the blacks that the previous poster is talking about were prevented from casting their ballots. George Bush won a sketchy election in a sketchy way. What's more upsetting to me, and much less often talked about is when the right-wing shock troops invaded and occupied the building where the recount took place. If it were a criminal case, the chain of evidence would have been blown right there.

Re:Save the environment..

[ChrisMaple]

You mean invaded and occupied the building where the fraudulent recount would have taken place if not for the invasion/occupation.