lithium ion batteries...

[hans007]

I know lithium batteries cost a lot, my new canon s100 elph has one, and i was wondering if anyone knew how many times they can be charged. I know nickel cadmiums usually only last like 200 charges, NiMH like 300 i thought lithium was a lot. The reason was that i was thinking of getting another battery for my camera, and they are like $50 so i'd rather not if they'll last long. i dont use the camera all the time so i can just recharge it but i was worried canon wouldn't produce these batteries for too long as they only work with this camera, i guess thats pretty slim chance since this isn't some little company. Also does anyone know if you can actually buy rechargeable lithium ion AAs? i only see non rechargeables everywhere.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Let me put it this way, my mother's mobile phone is at least four years old and the NiCad battery still works fine. NiCads can last a long time if properly taken care of and I see no reason why the new Li-Ion batteries would not last significantly longer. I'm rather surprised that Canon used Li-Ion batteries, most non-SLR cameras in my experience simply use the disposable 3 volt lithium cells. Note that Lithium and Lithium-Ion are two different technologies, and that regular Lithium cells are not rechargeable. The reason cameras use Lithium cells instead of Alkaline cells, even though the two go completely dead in roughly the same amount of time, is that Lithium cells maintain voltage at near peak levels up to their death, while Alkalines' voltage steadily declines over the battery's life. This is important in cameras where the voltage is necessary to drive features like the zoom and the film advance, but most importantly the flash. I know that you can get Lithium cells that are AA size, but I don't believe that there are Li-Ion AA size cells that are rechargeable, though they would be a terrific idea for people who use portable CD players and the like.

Zenmervolt

 

[pm]

Isn't the natural voltage of Li-Ion cells around 3.6V? So even if they were available in AA size, it would probably not be a good thing since the voltage would be too high and might confuse users who would then plug in two of these batteries and nuke their equipment by providing 7.2V instead of 3V. Are there ways to reduce the natural voltage of a cell? If you could cut this value in half (1.8V), it might make a good alternative to NiMH cells.

 

[MWink]

I have read that they can take 500-1000 charges. I know they can take a lot. My Dell Latitude P133 still lasts 2 hours off its Lithium Ion battery and it is pretty old (I think).

 

[nuttervm]

all reports i've heard say that NiMH can take 500-1000 charges. is this just hype or something?