Ok, a while back I asked about an MP3 player. (Hey, I need something to take my tunes with me when I go to weekly cross burnings.  )

Anyway, I found a good one on ebay, from a place that calls itself "new_mp3.com" and they make some great players that have excellent featured and double as plug drives. I honestly recommend them to anyone looking for a good mp3 player and who wants a plug drive too.

The ad for them said that they took a single AAA battery and could go for up to 15 hours one one. Well, one of their features was a built in battery monitor, and I was flatlining cheap, dollar generar alkaline AAAs in about 2 or so hours of music.

I wondered if it was the batteries or if the player ate cells a lot faster than the ads read, so I picked up some name brand (Panasonic) alkaline AAAs and after a could hours of music the battery indicator was still on full.

Now the 2 panasonic AAAs I got cost me 1$ and eash lasts, at a very, very conservative estimate, about 5x (Probably quite a bit longer, actually) longer than the dollar general AAAs.

8 dollar general AAAs cost 2.5$, so for 1$ I got 2 batteries that will lastat least  as long as 10 (probably more) of the cheapass alkalines I was using, and 8 of them cost 2.5$, meaning it cost a lot less to buy decent batteries than it does to buy cheapass ones.

Maybe next time I'll try duracells....

Anyway, consider this a cut rate version of "Mythbusters", a show many gamers seem to like. MYTH: Cheap ass alkaline batteries save you money versus buying decent name brand batteries. FACT The name brands will outlast the cheapass ones by such a wide margain they more than pay for their extra cost, plus it's better for the planet to use a few good batteries than a lot of cheapass ones. MYTH BUSTED!

Have you tried rechargables?

Quote from: apparition13Have you tried rechargables?

I did once, until I looked at what they and a recharger costs.....

Quote from: Dominus NoxI did once, until I looked at what they and a recharger costs.....

While nickel-cadmium batteries aren't cheap, rechargers are, I bought one for U$10

I've switched to NiMH myself. I just upgraded to a one hour recharger (up to four AA or AAA at a time), which with 4 AA included came to $25 or $30 (Target). Overnight rechargers are cheaper. Extra batteries seem to run 4 for $10 (again, AA or AAA). There's a high buy in cost, but in the long run, especially if you go through batteries quickly, you'll be ahead.

Yeah, once Christmas with kids and you'll be thankful you have rechargeables.  Dominus is right on this one thing - they are expensive to buy in.  But for the kids toys, especially the ones they will forget to turn off (as in there's nothing blaring to remind them), you easily make it back.

The biggest problem I've found is that they do tend to run out faster when not used.  Like in flashlights - better rotate them regularly or the next time you have an emergency, you'll find the rechargeable is needs...recharging.