Sealed rechargable or AA's?

[HelplmChoking]

I was having a chat the other day, and found me and a mate had different opinions here. Personally, I prefer my mouse, controllers etc to have sealed, rechargable batteries so when they die, I can just plug them in and carry on going.

I find the removable battery option to be really irritating, as I NEVER have batteries just lying around, so when something dies I have to go to the shops, BUY some batteries and swap them out.

 

What do you guys think? Do you prefer sealed batteries? Or a desk full of AA's?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

5 minutes ago, Rangaman42 said:

I was having a chat the other day, and found me and a mate had different opinions here. Personally, I prefer my mouse, controllers etc to have sealed, rechargable batteries so when they die, I can just plug them in and carry on going.

I find the removable battery option to be really irritating, as I NEVER have batteries just lying around, so when something dies I have to go to the shops, BUY some batteries and swap them out.

 

What do you guys think? Do you prefer sealed batteries? Or a desk full of AA's?

I use rechargeable AAs and AAAs.

[HelplmChoking]

1 minute ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

I use rechargeable AAs and AAAs.

I did for a while too, but they're also expensive and you need to remember to keep the charged + keep track of them. I find it much easier to plug in a USB cable and carry on with no delay.

[bgibbz]

i like AA/AAA, they lost a LONG time, and I keep extras in my drawer so if they do die it's a 30 second switch. if I use a USB rechargeable one I have to have a cable on my desk, which defeats the purpose of wireless. 

[HelplmChoking]

1 minute ago, bgibbz said:

i like AA/AAA, they lost a LONG time, and I keep extras in my drawer so if they do die it's a 30 second switch. if I use a USB rechargeable one I have to have a cable on my desk, which defeats the purpose of wireless. 

 

I guess that's what it comes down to, do I want a pile of batteries or an occasional cable.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 minute ago, Rangaman42 said:

I did for a while too, but they're also expensive and you need to remember to keep the charged + keep track of them. I find it much easier to plug in a USB cable and carry on with no delay.

Rechargeable AAs and AAAs are relatively cheap nowadays. At least in Canada they're not a huge investment. As long as you buy good ones like Sanyo Eneloops, they should last a long time just sitting around.

[HelplmChoking]

1 minute ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Rechargeable AAs and AAAs are relatively cheap nowadays. At least in Canada they're not a huge investment. As long as you buy good ones like Sanyo Eneloops, they should last a long time just sitting around.

 

In my experience, not as cheap as a cable  although the rechargable battery pack for my Xbox controller was a few bucks.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 minute ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Don't they degrade over time and last shorter anyways though?

Well that goes for any type of battery.

[HelplmChoking]

2 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Well that goes for any type of battery.

To be fair though, most rechargeable AA/AAA's are nickel rather than lithium, so don't last as long as built in cells.

[Sniperfox47]

Eneloops are love. Eneloops are life.

 

Personally, I'm currently using a mouse with an integrated battery because it better fits the aesthetics of my PC, but I do prefer devices with removable AA batteries.

 

My Steam controller I was absolutely thrilled to learn it used AAs since I could use my eneloops and not have to worry about the risk of a battery crapping out and having to replace the whole device (could just replace the batteries).

[biker]

Do not buy Crap-O-Rama batteries, they are crap!

[Sonofb]

8 hours ago, Rangaman42 said:

I was having a chat the other day, and found me and a mate had different opinions here. Personally, I prefer my mouse, controllers etc to have sealed, rechargable batteries so when they die, I can just plug them in and carry on going.

I find the removable battery option to be really irritating, as I NEVER have batteries just lying around, so when something dies I have to go to the shops, BUY some batteries and swap them out.

 

What do you guys think? Do you prefer sealed batteries? Or a desk full of AA's?

I prefer the wireless one that runs on batteries (even better rechargeable Triple A's) then when they die mid game, I prefer the ones where you can plug and go and just keep playing while it's "recharging"

[SageOfSpice]

I got some rechargeables for Christmas, and I've been fairly happy with them.

Got enough of them to always have a fresh charged set ready to go per device.

 

They actually last a bit longer in my headphones than alkalines were, and it only takes about 5 seconds to swap them out.

 

I saw that Amazon sells them by the dozen for a very reasonable price, and while some duds could be expected, overall I think it's a nice bargain. Many batteries even come with decent guarantees from reputable manufacturers. Mine are guaranteed at least 500 cycles without degradation, and come with a 5 year warranty which is a tad ridiculous. 

 

 

[spronkey]

9 hours ago, Rangaman42 said:

To be fair though, most rechargeable AA/AAA's are nickel rather than lithium, so don't last as long as built in cells.

Interestingly, this statement is now true in two of the three metrics. With the possible exception of literal age. Modern, high quality LiIon outlasts NiMH in cycle count, and capacity. Assuming you don't drop below the dead zone voltage and trip a no-recover protection circuit on your battery that is.

 

I don't like having to find charging cables for most peripheral items like mice, keyboards etc - I'd rather swap batteries and charge the others in a separate charger. Which pushes toward AA.

 

What I'd really like to see is a standardised Lithium Ion battery pack system that includes protection circuitry on the batteries themselves, so that we could use the same batteries in lots of different devices and chargers, and still be able to charge with a cable. One can dream.