Does anyone know.......

[Unforgiven]

Does anyone know what battery brand gives the most bang for the buck? I'm refering to alkaline mostly, particularly AA and AAA. there are so many different brands out there at prices ranging from cheap to outrageous. I don't know whether to get the reasonably priced bulk pack or the more expensive "high energy" ones. I know lithium can give up to 3 times the life of alkaline, but they are more than 3 times as expensive, and at present do not come in aaa.
The EverActive brand comes in a 24 pack (AA) at Wal Mart for about $8. It seems to be a good deal, but I don't know if it is worth it in the long run.

 

[Saaby]

I really like RayoVacs from lowes, 24 for $10. Seem to last quite a while in FRS radios...flashlights et all. For AAs and AAAs but here is what else you can get aat Lowes for $10 (All Rayovac)

24 AA
24 AAA
8 9V (I think)
12 D
12 C

Sorry...no 123s

Almost forgot...not that good for flashlights (Tend to discharge low enough to damage them) but NiMh batterys are great too. You can regulary get them on eBay for as litle as a $1.25/battery...pick yourself up a $27 MAHA MH-C204F charger and you'll never look back.

 

[Jonathan]

The general rule of thumb is that all alkaline batteries of the same size are pretty much equal, so just get the cheapest ones you can find. The 'high drain' cells _are_ better, but for most applications the difference is not significant, and if you can get away with paying less than 1/3 the price, the bang for the buck number generally are a win for the cheap batteries.

The only exception that I've found to this rule is for very high drain devices, where the lower internal resistance of the 'ultra' cells can make a significant difference. However if you have a very high drain device, then the rechargeable NiMH cells are even better: they have higher self discharge, and lower total energy storage, but _much_ lower internal resistance, so they are the best for an application which requires high current for short periods of time.

So for low drain applications where self discharge is a problem (eg. an LED light which sits on the shelf), just get the cheapest alkaline cells you can find.

For really high drain applications that you use frequently, get NiMH rechargeable cells.

In between, the Ultra type alkaline cells might have a slight edge.

Finally, the Kirkland brand AA cells sold by Costco have been reported as having quite low resistance, and the are remarkably cheap: $10.99 for a brick of 48.

-Jon

 

[BuddTX]

Spend some time reading the "Electronics Forum, Batteries Included". This topic has been discussed a lot!

I don't want to put the official CPF "Stamp of approval" on this, but lots of CPF members have been very happy with the Ray-O-vac maxium batteries, as well as the Costco Kirkland (I think) batteries.

People have found that they perform as well, or even better, than the Energizer or Duracell batteries.

Me personally, I do like the rayovac batteries, and if I see Duracell or Energizer batteries on sale, at the same price as the Rayovac, I buy them.

Now in my 2AA Luxeon Star lights (I have 2), I bought a 4 pack of Energizer Lithium (not the titutiaum) for 9.99, and while expensive, I am impressed with the run time.

One weekend when I have nothing better to do (gawd, I gotta get a girlfriend!) I will compare the Lithium to the Alkiline.

 

[Unforgiven]

Thx for the info. I didn't realize how many threads brought up that topic.