Even lithium batteries seem to drain sooooo quickly! What kind of batteries do you use and any tips on maximizing battery life in external flashes?
@fhotoace Mine last a week, tops. I don’t get it. Could it be that I shoot at +2 the majority of the time?

When I was shooting weddings I used the Eveready Lithium AA in my Canon 580EX, however, I also had the Canon external battery pack. This pack holds 8 more batteries. I used the lithiums in it also, so I had a total of 12 batteries used by my flash. With this set up I was good for two full weddings / receptions easily. Probably could have gone three, but I did not want to take the chance of them dying suddenly. That is my biggest gripe with the lithium batteries. They die almost immediately with no prior warning. Ailkilines at least start going down gradually and give you a chance to change them before losing all power.

Bottom line, no matter what batteries you use, an external power supply makes a HUGE difference in how long you can shoot with the flash. Quantum makes outstanding external battery packs for both their own flashes and also other major brands of flashes, however, it is NOT cheap. The Canon external pack was a good compromise as to power / price, (if you are using a Canon flash of course).

steve

One of the oldest batteries used in laptops is the NiCad, nothing but the Nickel Cadmium, which is very rarely used today. These Nickel Cadmium or the NiCad batteries is very heavier when compared to laptop batteries which are used to day. These NiCad batteries are prone to memory effect and they aren’t environment friendly as it contains heavy metals. Now battery manufactures have stopped manufacturing batteries of this type. The Nickel Metal Hydride or NiMH batteries are less likely to be prone to memory effects, but produces better power when compared to NiCad batteries. However most companies have stopped manufacturing NiMH batteries also.

The Lithium Ion or Li-Ion batteries is the most commonly used batteries used today in Laptops and also in other digital gadgets as Lithium Ion or Li-Ion batteries are compatible, provides excellent power and lesser in weight. Li-Ion batteries are very much useful in smaller and lighter devices such as digital cameras
, mobile phones and of course in laptops. Another biggest advantage of Lithium Ion batteries is that they do not suffer memory effect at all! However these batteries tend to lose its charge quickly towards the end of their life span. If this happens, then this is an indication, that the battery needs to be replaced.

Laptop Battery Buying Guide

A laptop battery provides a source of electrical energy that supplies needed power to your laptop. The laptop battery uses a combination of cells that are electrochemically active, which is to say, they naturally transmit electrons from one end of the laptop battery to the other, when those two ends are connected in a circuit. A laptop computer battery can be engineered to be highly portable, like a watch battery, or it can be built to withstand extremes in operating conditions, like a car battery.

Just like your car, your laptop computer battery lasts longer depending on how you “drive” your laptop. Modern laptop batteries tend to last three to five hours, depending on the power needs of the computer and the programs the user runs. Few things are as frustrating as when your laptop battery suddenly won’t charge fully or stops holding its charge for as long; when this happens, you’ll probably want to buy a replacement battery.

When buying a laptop battery, you will probably only have one or two choices that fit your computer. Choose the battery with the longest life available for your computer. There are several different kinds of laptop batteries; because the technologies of each are very different, a laptop must be designed specifically for the type of battery it uses. Most laptops are only designed to use one type of battery technology.

http://www.laptopbatterydepot.com/

roslinmarry
http://www.articlesbase.com/hardware-articles/guides-to-buy-better-laptop-battery-694654.html

Cordless phone batteries are exclusively designed for each cordless phone brand and model. Cordless phone batteries are portable rechargeable batteries. These portable rechargeable batteries include nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) and lithium-ion (Li-Ion) cells. Several types of rechargeable battery systems, including those of lead–acid, nickel–cadmium, nickel–metal hydride, lithium ion and lithium-ion polymer exist in the market. The rechargeable batteries most extensively used in cordless phones are nickel cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries and Nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries. Nickel metal hydride batteries and Nickel metal hydride batteries are interchangeable in cordless phones.
Nickel Cadmium batteries are one of the most proven and historically most widely used rechargeable batteries. Nickel cadmium batteries are durable. Nickel Cadmium batteries are very dependable and robust. But the Nickel Cadmium batteries have relatively low capacity when compared to other rechargeable batteries. Nickel Cadmium batteries are not environmentally friendlier since they contain cadmium. You can improve the life of your NiCad battery by the following way: Remove any static charge that may have built up during shipping by turning on the phone and let the battery drain for about 12 hours. Then be sure to charge the phone for at least 8 hours. For long-term performance, completely drain the battery and recharge it once in every three months.
Phones with Nickel metal hydride batteries that have greater capacity and do not have battery memory syndrome are better. The Nickel metal hydride batteries take about as many recharges as Nickel metal hydride batteries. The Nickel metal hydride batteries are durable and do not develop memory problems. Nickel Metal Hydride batteries are interchangeable with most Nickel Cadmium batteries. The Nickel Metal Hydride batteries generally deliver 10-25% greater capacity than Nickel Cadmium batteries. The Nickel Metal Hydride batteries are environmentally friendlier than Nickel Cadmium batteries since they do not contain cadmium.
Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery is one of the newer rechargeable battery technologies used. Lithium Ion batteries are one of the lightest rechargeable batteries available today. Lithium Ion batteries can deliver 40% more capacity than comparably sized Nickel-Cadmium batteries. Lithium Ion battery technology is one of the more expensive rechargeable battery technology.
A rechargeable battery having accurate and reliable state-of-charge (SoC) will improve the performance and reliability, and will ultimately lengthen the lifetime of the battery. Quality cordless phone batteries can boost the performance of your cordless phone handset by giving longer battery life for increased talk time and longer standby time away from the charging cradle. Even though newer battery types may not have the memory problems, all batteries may wear out eventually after repeated recharging.
Generally, in order to improve the life of the Cordless phone batteries , clean the charge contacts on the base and the handset with a pencil eraser once in every month. Also completely discharge the battery and then recharge it once in every month. If the battery does not recharge, replace it.
The need to regularly recharge batteries used in cordless phones and mobile phones may be eliminated in the future with the use of fuel cells which are one type of electrochemical cell. STMicroelectronics has developed fuel cells that are reportedly small enough to fit inside a cordless phone or mobile phone handset and are able to generate all the electrical energy needed to power the phone from liquid methanol, a low-cost and easily available organic fuel.

kevin moshayedi
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/basics-of-cordless-phone-battery-701319.html

I am looking to buy a new battery for my MacBook. I am looking to buy it on eBay. I notice there are two types of batteries on sale. One is an "original" MacBook battery, which I’m assuming is a brand new battery. The second is a rechargeable battery (like the ones sold on the Apple website). Is there a difference between these two or are is the difference really just that the ones that say "original" are actual Apple batteries. The other ones do not say "Apple," so I’m assuming they’re just generic batteries.

Usually there are the Apple batteries (like the original one that came with the Macbook) and the non-Apple batteries. The Apple batteries will typically be of better quality, i.e. last longer on a charge, have more charge cycles, etc but it’ll cost more. The non-Apple batteries will save you a fair bit but you won’t get the same performance out of them.

If $$ isn’t a concern stick to the Apple batteries. However, it is eBay so be careful who you buy from. There’s bound to be some sellers trying to pass non-Apple batteries as genuine Apple batteries.

Another alternative is buying from an Apple accessory manufacturer directly. Like Fastmac for instance: http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/02/09/fastmac.macbook.battery/