I am not a big fan of devices with build-in batteries. Of course,
build-in battery can have custom shape so the device may be flat like
most of modern phones are. But when battery live ends then is is
usually hard to replace it. Not only the equivalent replacement might
be unavailable at all but it is often uneasy to access the battery.
Some modern devices (in not mos of them) are not designed to be opened
at all and batteries are often soldered in or at least glued to the
other parts.
If the device uses something more standard (like the AA or the AAA
batteries) then these batteries can be replaced when needed and one can
use re-chargeable ones. Using re-chargeable batteries is a bit more
environment-friendly, I think. Also, the re-chargeable batteries are
improving in time. So an old Palm or a PSION (or even the old Soviet
Elektronika MK-90) today has much better battery life that it had when
it has new. Of course there are exceptions - some devices actively
dislike re-chargeable AA batteries (the Apple Newton, for example).
For example, I use Palm IIIs. So I have few sets of Eneloop AAA
batteries which I am changing on a regular basis. One of them I use
daily as a offline WWW reader (via the Plucker) so I use the blue
Eneloops here (they should survive 3000 charge cycles) and I am
changing them weekly. The second one serves as an outdoor password
storage (this I need once in 2 weeks), a shopping list (I dislike
shopping) and as a basis for the PalmPix camera (I am able to take 3-5
pictures per week, usually during Saturday walk) so I use the white
Eneloops here and they have to be changed every three or four weeks.
The Psion Series 3a requires to replace the batteries (a pair of AA
ones) once in 3-4 months as I am use it very infrequently (usually when
I am on mood to write OPL code). My soviet monster, the Elektronika
MK-90 can live three months on its four AAA as I use it no more than
once in four weeks and only for few tens on minutes per session. Thus I
use white Eneloops for them. My HP 730 digital camera can make no more
50 pictures on pair of blue Eneloops. And after of week in standby mode
any batteries have to be replaced.
But modern devices usually use build-in ones. Thus my wife's Palm TX is
using its original battery which cannot be easily replaced (it is
soldered in) thus she must charge it after a few hours of use (thus
daily or every two days of use). My Sony Clie PEGA-UX50/U battery
behaves no better - under normal use it falls to about 68% and then it
discharges normally. So I assume tha use it continuously for more than
2 hours is not save (you know, it is not easy to charge it outside its
impractical dock). So no train trips with this Clie...
Thus I prefer to use the Palm IIIxe, a Garmin eTrex Touch GPS and the
HP 730 camera for outside use. The GPS and the camera can share the
same AA batteries (by the way, the GPS can work for good few hours on
batteries which are declared empty by the camera) and the Palm uses
smaller AAAs. And if I ever resolve the problem of the Czech support on
my PSION 3a then I might consider to use it instead of the GPD Pocket
and the Gemini PDA for note-taking.
