Rant: POS Chinese batteries

[lxskllr]

yea...and keeps more Americans on unemployment and welfare and pushes those that do have jobs down to the lower class. A real win.

Yea, so? That's what we have now. People aren't going to buy American. When they're given the choice, they throw their neighbor under the bus to save 20¢.

They /may/ be convinced to pay 5¢ more to a Mexican, since manufacturing in Mexico keeps the Mexicans there, and it also makes it easier for us to check on working conditions, and influence corporate behavior.

I'm assuming an American can do any thinking on their own though. We're some of the dumbest fuckers on the planet, so just forget I said anything. We'll keep doing what we're doing, pretending we're a super power while others laugh behind our backs, and prepare to be taken over by the Chinese. I'm hoping they get a decent language by the time that happens, because I don't feel like learning hieroglyphics...

 

[Ichinisan]

OP: Were they alkaline batteries? ...or "heavy duty?" The latter is only good for low-drain TV remotes.

 

[PottedMeat]

Yup.

I was looking for some rechargeable NIMH the other day and just happened to pass one of those bargain basement "everything for $1" type stores.

They had twin packs of NIMH AA batteries for basically $1. WTF, I though. That's a shed load cheaper than your regular duracell/eneloops.

On close inspection, I found something interesting - the capacity was somewhat inferior. 300 mAh. WTF? 300 mAh. That's less than half the capacity of a typical AAA NIMH, and about 1/8 the capacity of a good quality AA NIMH.

No wonder they were 1/6 the price - they contained 1/8 the active ingredients!!

a few weeks ago i bought some AA NiMH batteries off ebay from hong kong - hey $1 for '3000mAh' per battery, why not?

they weigh less than a legit AAA (yeah triple A) NiMH and last less than an hour in a Garmin eTrex ( ~18 hrs on cheapo panasonic alkalines ).

at least they're alright in a remote

junk:

 

[Modelworks]

Make sure when you purchase batteries to get alkaline and not heavy duty. Heavy duty uses the old carbon tech, circa 1900, and are terrible batteries even name brand versions. Alkaline uses a better electrolyte and a membrane to produce voltage and generally are hard to make wrong.


For rechargeable I still like NiCd batteries. They are cheaper and work just as well as NiMh they just don't tolerate being abused.

 

[bruceb]

I only buy Duracell or Energizer brand batteries. I am now buying Energizer Ultimate Lithium for my remote controls (size AA) Both of these brands offer top quality and life time. Also Duracell makes a Pro battery .. They are guaranteed to be fresh for 7 years. Available in all battery sizes.

http://www.duracell.com/procell/en-...?icn=Overview/procell-batteries&cc=Contextual

 

[Ichinisan]

I only buy Duracell or Energizer brand batteries. I am now buying Energizer Ultimate Lithium for my remote controls (size AA) Both of these brands offer top quality and life time. Also Duracell makes a Pro battery .. They are guaranteed to be fresh for 7 years. Available in all battery sizes.

http://www.duracell.com/procell/en-...?icn=Overview/procell-batteries&cc=Contextual

While "heavy duty" formula sucks, it's actually appropriate for low-drain remote controls. "Ultimate Lithium" is for high-drain devices, like a digicam with flash. Putting that in a normal remote control is complete overkill.

 

[bruceb]

Maybe, but that is what I will use them in and also in my LX-7 optical mouse.

 

[Jeff7]

Yup.

I was looking for some rechargeable NIMH the other day and just happened to pass one of those bargain basement "everything for $1" type stores.

They had twin packs of NIMH AA batteries for basically $1. WTF, I though. That's a shed load cheaper than your regular duracell/eneloops.

On close inspection, I found something interesting - the capacity was somewhat inferior. 300 mAh. WTF? 300 mAh. That's less than half the capacity of a typical AAA NIMH, and about 1/8 the capacity of a good quality AA NIMH.

No wonder they were 1/6 the price - they contained 1/8 the active ingredients!!

Check the weight too.
I saw some NiMH like that too - no-name batteries with only the size, voltage, and capacity printed on the covering with a dot-matrix style printer. The capacity was about what I'd expect from an old NiCad cell, and they were light. You could pitch an Eneloop at someone's head and they'd be coming at you bro to explain their fresh skull indentation. You could smack an adorable sleeping kitten with one of these no-name cells and it wouldn't even stir.

 

[CZroe]

I only buy Duracell or Energizer brand batteries. I am now buying Energizer Ultimate Lithium for my remote controls (size AA) Both of these brands offer top quality and life time. Also Duracell makes a Pro battery .. They are guaranteed to be fresh for 7 years. Available in all battery sizes.

http://www.duracell.com/procell/en-...?icn=Overview/procell-batteries&cc=Contextual

Remind me never to read a word of what you type ever again.

 

[herm0016]

procells are actually very good. we used to use them in all of our wireless audio equipment and wireless comm packs.

 

[CZroe]

procells are actually very good. We used to use them in all of our wireless audio equipment and wireless comm packs.

*woosh*

 

[SparkyJJO]

Remind me never to read a word of what you type ever again.

But in order for him to remind you, you have to read what he types. Divide by zero

 

[Red Squirrel]

I bought a "First Alert" smoke detector that came with a lithium ion cell or some other high power battery. According to the instructions the battery is good for 10 years. Basically when it dies, I have to throw out the smoke detector too.

It's been 3 years, we'll see if it can make 10.

 

[CZroe]

But in order for him to remind you, you have to read what he types. Divide by zero

Exactly.

 

[Sonikku]

Go with Chinese products if you want cheap, not quality. The shit they make is nearly all made on a shoe string budget and falls apart. Not even with their railways where lives could be lost do they care to do a quality job. I swear these companies that are sold on their bountiful promise of being able to make products every bit as good for significantly less are in denile.

 

[0roo0roo]

a few weeks ago i bought some AA NiMH batteries off ebay from hong kong - hey $1 for '3000mAh' per battery, why not?

they weigh less than a legit AAA (yeah triple A) NiMH and last less than an hour in a Garmin eTrex ( ~18 hrs on cheapo panasonic alkalines ).

at least they're alright in a remote

junk:

take one apart and see whats inside lol

wallyworld nimh are amusing, some are too embarrassed to even claim a mAh capacity

 

[0roo0roo]

Was Japan a third world country at that time? That's a real question. I don't know. It seems like China just appeared out of nowhere. It's this big country of nothing then they're suddenly the biggest exporter and accumulating huge amounts of money.

Young Doc: No wonder this circuit failed. It says "Made in Japan".
Marty McFly: What do you mean, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan.
Young Doc: Unbelievable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?_r=3
good article on whats happening

 

[slayernine]

We just need to create a class system in North America that isolates the 99% from the 1% and they can be the cheap labour we need.

- Get rid of minimum wages
- Destroy all unions
- Create zones where we deem it acceptable for the 99% to live near factories

 

[dr150]

Costco Kirkwood batts FTW

 

[Oyeve]

We just need to create a class system in North America that isolates the 99% from the 1% and they can be the cheap labour we need.

- Get rid of minimum wages
- Destroy all unions
- Create zones where we deem it acceptable for the 99% to live near factories

So, sorta like central florida?

 

[Mike Gayner]

Remind me never to read a word of what you type ever again.

LOL can you believe this sensitive little girl started a thread about this completely innocuous response to get mommy and daddy to unhurt his fragile feelings? Unbelievable.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2224516

 

[yhelothar]

30 years ago we said the same shit about japanese products. Now we wish shit was made in japan!

30 yrs ago, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Minolta made some of the best camera equipment comparable to German counterparts of the highest craftsmanship.

1980s Japanese cars are hardly shoddy pieces of junk either.

 

[Ichinisan]

LOL can you believe this sensitive little girl started a thread about this completely innocuous response to get mommy and daddy to unhurt his fragile feelings? Unbelievable.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2224516

LOL.

...and all CZroe did was point out that it's absurd to use "Energizer Ultimate Lithium" batteries (meant for high-drain devices) in remote controls. Remote controls are just about the ONLY practical use for the crappiest battery formula ("Heavy Duty"), but bruceb specifically puts the most expensive premium batteries in them!

 

[Rubycon]

30 yrs ago, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Minolta made some of the best camera equipment comparable to German counterparts of the highest craftsmanship.

1980s Japanese cars are hardly shoddy pieces of junk either.

30 years ago the junk was made in Hong Kong.

Major brand Alkalines are made in China too!
Anyone remember when Alkaline batteries were cased in steel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr-oLQgvcuk

Had such a crush on Rob Conrad! :wub::wub:

 

[CZroe]

LOL can you believe this sensitive little girl started a thread about this completely innocuous response to get mommy and daddy to unhurt his fragile feelings? Unbelievable.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2224516

SRSLY?! Wow. I guess I should have read more of what he typed.

bruceb: As for it being "factual:" No one is disputing that you do or don't put Lithium Advanced Formula in your remote controls. We are saying that it is insane to do so. You're welcome.

I have a younger friend who always annoyed the crap out of me in public because he would feel obligated to provide an authoritative answer to pretty much any question regardless of his familiarity with it. Hanging out with me and hearing how I would talk about technical and gaming stuff, random strangers in a store, for example, would think he might happen to know more about something on the subject than they did and they would ask questions. Rather than defer to me or say he doesn't know or say what little he does know, he would always attempt to emulate what he thought I was doing by giving them a serious answer to something he knew less than them about. Having to wait, listen to what he says, and then politely contradict him was very hard to do tactfully and it really grated my nerves any time he'd open his mouth.

This was every bit as bad. If you don't know what the differences between Heavy Duty, Alkaline, and Lithium are and you don't know what applications are more appropriate for each, why do you feel compelled to share your uninformed purchase decisions? If you expect others to do the same, then you should feel the need to do your research first before playing the Pied Piper. It's about like telling me that you only buy 93 octane gasoline for your Zippo cigarette lighter and that if you leave it in storage loaded with their full synthetic motor oil formula it doesn't leak out for 7 years.