Why did Battery technology come to a halt?

[Namuna]

NIckel-CADmium
NIckel-metalHYdride
LIthium-ION
.....?


It was like there was a big race for a battery that was light and could last longer, then nothing. Last I heard was something with Zinc? (Zinc-Oxide or Zinc-Air) but it never made mainstream and that's the last I heard of any new battery technology.

 

[Oyeve]

Because it is not profitable to make a good battery. if you think about it, during WWII, Korean war, Vietnam, batteries had to last weeks or months out in combat (calling in air strikes et al...). Long lasting battery technology has been around for a long time. Companies dont employ long lasting technology for laptop and such because it is a big money making racket. If you bought a laptop with a battery that lasted 20 hours, you would have no need for a backup battery that can cost 250 bucks. Also, most users need to replace the battery after a year or so. More money for the manufacturer.

 

[Adul]

last issue of popular science discuss the invention of a polymer based batterry with virtually unlimited recharging.

 

[OS]

Damn conspiratists. Nobody had cellphones, laptops and PDAs in WW2. The reason why there aren't better batteries is because for chemical processes, we are pushing the limit. Labs have consistently had the problem where even more powerful batteries have an unfortunate tendency to explode. There is lots of money in R&D for new batteries but right now, l-ion is still the best technology that we have right now.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

A big thing that keeps coming up is that many battery technologies are toxic.

 

[geoff2k]

Does anyone have a link to a page that describes the current technologies and what they particular uses are? I'm seeing a lot of press lately for NiMH batteries for digital cameras. Are they good for other portable devices (specifially Discmans/Mp3 players) as well?

 

[NFS4]

<< last issue of popular science discuss the invention of a polymer based batterry with virtually unlimited recharging. >>


My Compaq iPAQ H3630 PDA uses an ultra thin lithium-polymer battery.

 

<< My Compaq iPAQ H3630 PDA uses an ultra thin lithium-polymer battery. >>


Heh, and your gonna need it being that thing drains batteries like a vampire.

Sorry, I couldn't stop myself

dwell - proud Palm IIIxe owner and Palm shareholder.

 

[beat mania]

Lithium Polymer batteries are just easy to make small/thin, they don't hold much energy compare to other technologies.

 

[Oyeve]

HEHEHEHE.....NFS4.......You keep hyping your ipaq while I am still waiting for mine to come in! I am stuck with my lowly HP Jornada 548.

 

[NFS4]

<< Heh, and your gonna need it being that thing drains batteries like a vampire.

Sorry, I couldn't stop myself

dwell - proud Palm IIIxe owner and Palm shareholder. >>


WTF? Have you even used an iPAQ? Until you have used an iPAQ on a regular basis, you have no say in that matter. Keep your Palm, I'm sure that you two are happy together

 

[AndrewR]

Adul: I read the same article, but apparently that technology (which is still in development) is VERY low power right now.

 

<< WTF? Have you even used an iPAQ? Until you have used an iPAQ on a regular basis, you have no say in that matter. Keep your Palm, I'm sure that you two are happy together >>


I have used the iPAQ. It was, cute, but not worth the price IMHO. I already own a Nomad II so I don't need a portable MP3 player. I could care less about video/MPEG/color. I need something that keeps my appointments and runs applets like checkbook balancing, etc.

I understand you are quite fond of your iPAQ. If you want to shell out the cash for a gloss device, that's cool with me. I personally don't need that kind of functionality in a PDA. To each his own.

 

[palad]

Not quite a battery, but I did just read an article on a robot that has been set up to derive energy from sugar cubes using a chemical reaction to charge its onboard batteries. It was pointed out that the energy output from the sugar was too low to directly power the robot, so it had to be stored up for future use. Not directly related to your question, but an interesting side-note, I thought.

 

[NFS4]

<< I understand you are quite fond of your iPAQ. If you want to shell out the cash for a gloss device, that's cool with me. I personally don't need that kind of functionality in a PDA. To each his own. >>


Gloss device? Yeah man, whatever. Best $$$ I have spent in a while. I get more functionality out of my iPAQ than most could ever get out of a Palm III. That's why I got it, b/c it can do EVERYTHING. Why have a seperate MP3 player when you have one built in? Anyway, the uses are endless with the iPAQ. I personally use it for:

Appoinment scheduling
Contacts
Task Manager
MS Money (for keeping track of finances)
MS Word (writing documents through Transriber)
MS Excel (doing speadsheets)
PocketTV (to playback MPG's and MP3's)
Windows Media Player Technology Preview (streaming video and .wmv and .asv video playback)
Windows Media Player (MP3 and WMA audio playback)
Pocket IE (web browsing in its full glory in full color)
VNC (to dial into my desktop when away from school so I don't have to bring my PC home)
FTP, Telnet, etc. for sending files to and from my campus account.
USB connectivity
Optional CF jacket (which I have for my CF cards and CF 56k modem) and PC Card Jacket (for use with standard laptop PCMCIA cards).

All of that in one tiny little package. It's my PC away from home and it is VERY functional and far from a toy. A Palm is useless for my needs.

And might I ask, how much was your Palm IIIxe + Nomad II?

 

[Mark R]

Lithium Polymer batteries are just easy to make small/thin, they don't hold much energy compare to other technologies.


Li-polymer batteries have at least as high an energy density as conventional Li-ion, and may be up to 20% higher. Densities range from 120-150 Wh/kg. Compared to 110-120 Wh/kg for convenional Li-ion. Volumetric density is very similar at about 250 Wh/l.

 

<< And might I ask, how much was your Palm IIIxe + Nomad II? >>


Palm IIIxe - Free
Nomad II - $50



I am not trying to argue with you about the usefulness of your device. If you are happy with it, great. I am happy with what my Palm can do, why can't you just accept that?

Like I said in another thread, the day you can meld Palm's functionality with a decent sized cell phone I will be happy, for now. I don't personally have the need to do ANY of that multimedia stuff on my PDA. Just like I wouldn't want my calculator to play MP3 files, I don't want my PDA to play videos and crunch Excel spreadsheets.

When the day comes that you can do everything a PC does, put it in a tiny unit and sell it for ~200 bucks I will buy into the PocketPC mentality. As for now me, and many others, simply don't want to spend the extra cash for all that other stuff.

 

[NFS4]

<< I am not trying to argue with you about the usefulness of your device. If you are happy with it, great. I am happy with what my Palm can do, why can't you just accept that?

Like I said in another thread, the day you can meld Palm's functionality with a decent sized cell phone I will be happy, for now. I don't personally have the need to do ANY of that multimedia stuff on my PDA. Just like I wouldn't want my calculator to play MP3 files, I don't want my PDA to play videos and crunch Excel spreadsheets.

When the day comes that you can do everything a PC does, put it in a tiny unit and sell it for ~200 bucks I will buy into the PocketPC mentality. As for now me, and many others, simply don't want to spend the extra cash for all that other stuff. >>


Well, you're the one that started this whole thing in the first place. All I did was say that my iPAQ had a lithium polymer battery. You're comments had NOTHING to do with what the thread was about. Neffing is what I believe they call it here these days. You're the one that had to take it to the next level...

As for all of the PDA functionality in something the size of a cell phone...that IS NOT functional. Do you know how small a cell phone is? Do you know how small the screen would be? You can't do crap with that. How the hell are you gonna keep up with data and type, write, etc. on a screen and have enough screen real estate to get anything accomplished?


<< Palm IIIxe - Free
Nomad II - $50 >>


Well for the rest of us who aren't so lucky. From Buy.com (which normally has great prices):

Palm IIIxe - $250
Nomad II w/32MB - $173
Nomad II w/64MB - $260

So we're looking at $423 - $510. Not to mention that you need to seperate devices to handle both tasks

 

[Croton]

yo kick back guys.............

either device is better for the user's needs.

anyway, an inventor that I know Dr. Yujiro Yamamoto, is coming out w/a new technology that will blow all the batteries away...

keep watch for it in the next few years.

 

[BoberFett]

LMAO!

No offense NFS, but I'm always amused by your extreme defensiveness when it comes to your portable computers. You'd make a great mother.

 

[NFS4]

Damn right, nobody calls my baby ugly I would have kept my mouth shut if dwell hadn't gone there I was just adding to the discussion that Polymer based batteries are out there...

Anyway, when I do have kids, you can bet that I will be OVERprotective

 

NFS4: Dude, my original comment was a joke, you were the one who got all bent out of shape. You were the one who slammed the Palm. I never, other than the original light-hearted joke, slammed the PocketPC. I have only insisted that it is &quot;not for me.&quot;

As for a cell phone sized PDA device, it's been done in prototype and it's simple. The keypad lifts up to expose a touch screen roughly the size of the device, which is about as large as the Palm V screen. When the keypad is down, a smaller view of the touch screen is visible, which is used for viewing cellphone stuff (phone numbers, etc).

Since you insist on blindly defending your PocketPC in a confrontational manner, let me remind you that Palm owns the market by a huge margin and your WunderBox comes no where near Palm/Handspring in market share. What does that tell you?

 

[NFS4]

<< NFS4: Dude, my original comment was a joke, you were the one who got all bent out of shape. You were the one who slammed the Palm. I never, other than the original light-hearted joke, slammed the PocketPC. I have only insisted that it is &quot;not for me.&quot; >>


Are we reading the same thread. After you made your &quot;joke&quot;, I didn't even slam the the Palm III. I merely joked that you &quot;two&quot; would be happy together. And the Palm shareholder thing...not EVEN necessary. It is this comment which got me bent out of shape:

&quot;If you want to shell out the cash for a gloss device, that's cool with me&quot;

From which I retaliated. You're basically saying that I wasted my money which is not the case. In fact, NO WHERE in this thread do I slam the Palm. Go figure...


<< Since you insist on blindly defending your PocketPC in a confrontational manner, let me remind you that Palm owns the market by a huge margin and your WunderBox comes no where near Palm/Handspring in market share. What does that tell you? >>


I was not confrontational at all, just stating the facts. As for the last part, different strokes for different folks. BMW doesn't sell nearly as many cars as Ford, but I know which I'd rather have

 

[chansen]

Tadiran makes a rechargable battery that is heavily used in remote controlled airplanes for aerobatics competitions because of their light weight. Sold under that name &quot;Duralite&quot;. Apparently, they are approximately 1/3 the weight of NiCd for a given capacity. Always thought they would make an excellent laptop battery. No memory effects; you can charge them like you fill your gas tank. Two problems, though. One, they require a very specialized charger. Two, if you discharge them to zero voltage, they die.

 

NFS4: I didn't mean the &quot;gloss&quot; comment as an insult. Yes, the BMW to Ford analogy is almost correct. I see it more as, &quot;do I want to buy a lawnmower to mow the lawn or a BMW with a lawnmower grafted on the undercarriage?&quot;