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

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: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.