Testing Batteries

from the don't-bother dept

The NY Times (who are so mean that they won't let you read this fascinating article unless you *gasp* register) has an article about testing battery life. Apparently it's not so easy. The reporter called up a number of battery companies who told him it's a waste of time to buy a bunch of different brands, put them in a device, turn it on and see how long it lasts. The problem with that method is that there are very few battery powered devices that work like that. Most you turn on and off for short periods of time. Some require a lot of battery power, others just a little. So, the whole world of batteries is a bit more complex than you might think. The article attempts to look at the difference between alkalines, premium alkalines, and other types for various battery powered goods. I never knew batteries could be so interesting since I was a kid and discovered the "nine-volt battery taste test".
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    todd, 2 Aug 2001 @ 8:06pm

    back in the early days...

    When PC magazine was new and laptops with a "sleep" mode were just arriving on the scene (I won't date myself here), they created a "spacebar actuator" that you could actually buy from them at $2000 if you wanted to test your own laptop fleet. This device depressed a pencil eraser-like device on the spacebar of a computer every 30 seconds. It was intented to help test battery drain. This was before processors and hard drives spun down of course.

    That said, it might behoove some of these product testers to dig up a couple grand and resurrect a spacebar actuator. I'd bet it would press an MP3 play button nicely all night long...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Joe Schmoe, 3 Aug 2001 @ 8:56am

    Re: back in the early days...

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.