This is an excellent graphic, and it can be used to show why
the alkaline rechargers do better for some applications than
others. On the chart below, the X is about the spot where the
zoomer will give a low battery message. The O is the spot
where a motor-driven device (like a walkman) becomes unusable:
> ALKALINE POWER LOSS CURVE>
> .......
> ...X
> ...
> O..
> .
>
The reason Consumer Reports et al. don't like the rechargers
is because, if you drain an alkaline cell down to the O spot
on the power loss curve, it doesn't recharge well. If on the
other hand, you only drain it down to the X spot, it recharges
quite well indeed.
The literature that comes with the recharger explains this,
but I nonetheless trashed a bunch of alkalines in a walkman
beyond the place where they were usable again after charging.
On the other hand, the alkalines that have only seen use in
my zoomer are now on their third life, and doing just fine.
(The second charge lifespan lasted over a month.)
I love Consumer Reports dearly, and trust them whole-heartedly,
but in this particular case I believe their review to have been
misleading for zoomer users.
--
Sean Shapira sds@jazzie.com +1 206 443 2028
<a href="http://www.jazzie.com/sds/">Sean's Home Page</a>
Serving the Net since 1990.