Duracell Quantums discontinued !

Burgess

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Even though I avoid Alkalines ,
I certainly DO pay attention to them in the marketplace.

Duracell has now Discontinued their Quantum line,
which they HAD touted as: The Most Advanced Alkaline Battery in the World !

It is now being Replaced, apparently,
(at least in AA and AAA sizes)
by their new Duracell OPTIMUM line !


Don't know any Specific differences between the two.
Duracell's web page offers No Clue whatsoever.

My "gut feeling" is that Duracell Quantums have
disappointed too any people, so now Duracell wants to
distance themselves from THAT lineup, and push forth
something ELSE. Something "even BETTER" !
< wink >

Waiting to hear if there really *IS*
any Significant difference !

:whistle:
_
 

WalkIntoTheLight

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Alkalines fill plenty of roles as a cheap battery better than NIMH rechargeables, carbon zinc, or more expensive lithium cells can.

Only if you don't care about the device you're using them in. All it takes is one leak in a remote control to wipe out any savings you got from using alkaleaks instead of Eneloops.
 

InvisibleFrodo

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The only place I like disposable batteries is in TV remote controls... But usually I'll have the batteries that came with the TV in there for years. I've never had one of those leak...
 

Frijid

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I saw a pack about 2 weeks ago and bought them to test on a C9000. First thing I noticed was the complete lack of notification of the country of origin. I don't have the test results right at the moment, but I do recall that their capacity ratings were roughly sometimes slightly more, sometimes slightly less than rayovac fusions. Really nothing too impressive. One thing I did notice, and this may come from their advertisement for these batteries as the "extra power" part, but their voltage didn't sag as low under load as others usually do. Even on the 1 amp discharge setting, I was impressed. So that could be helpful when used in a motorized device. But, it may have also been from the batteries being extremely fresh.
 

MidnightDistortions

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Alkalines fill plenty of roles as a cheap battery better than NIMH rechargeables, carbon zinc, or more expensive lithium cells can.

Actually NiMH batteries have gotten fairly cheap. I've seen ones that are under a $1 per NiMH cell. They are cheap but they work adequately. Or just buy a pack of Eneloops with the charger and they'll last 5+ years. The main reason people still use alkalines is because they dont know how rechargeable work or they can't be bothered or remember to charge them. Or they have no idea that Eneloops hold their charge for a long time and even out lasts alkaline batteries in storage. The last reason is either they think the device wont work with rechargeables (per manufacturer recommendations) or they actually don't work right with NiMH batteries. I haven't bought alkalines since 1997.

Only if you don't care about the device you're using them in. All it takes is one leak in a remote control to wipe out any savings you got from using alkaleaks instead of Eneloops.

Eneloops have proven that they outlast alkalines and that there really is no need to buy single use batteries again. At least in my case. Even if you only get 5 uses out of them it's still better than a battery destroying your device. But I've gotten over 100 recharges even with the cheapo NiMH batteries.
 

ampdude

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Well the main reason I have alkalines nowadays is for emergency stash. Rechargeables will only go so far in that situation. Rechargeables won't go as far as a pile of fresh primaries, alkaline, lithium or otherwise. But I'm also not going to keep recharging batteries for my remotes/clocks/radios/cheap flashlights.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

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Well the main reason I have alkalines nowadays is for emergency stash. Rechargeables will only go so far in that situation. Rechargeables won't go as far as a pile of fresh primaries, alkaline, lithium or otherwise. But I'm also not going to keep recharging batteries for my remotes/clocks/radios/cheap flashlights.

Eneloops hold their charge for 10 years. How much longer do you need???
 

alpg88

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i used them few times, bought them for their meter strip, besides that they performed no better or worst than regular Duracell. but they were more expensive, maybe that is why they were not selling well. they used to be like 3 bucks more over regular copper top for a pack of 8 iirc,
 

Frijid

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Eneloops hold their charge for 10 years. How much longer do you need???

True, but if they go dead, you can't recharge when the power is out. A 16 pack of rayovac is 10 bucks at Wal-Mart vs however much a 16 pack of eneloops are. Nimh when the power is on, alkaline when its not is my game plan
 

Kestrel

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And don't forget about having the option of trading/selling the alkaline AA's to friends (enemies?) in a tight situation;

I have very little interest in diminishing my supply of rechargeables in a situation such as that.
 

peter yetman

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It's probably not a popular point, but it will be soon, no-one has mentioned the environment.
Eneloops and Li-ions all the way for me, my lights and my environment.
P
 

alpg88

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i tried using tenergy centura in my radio shack universal remote control, it did not work due to lower voltage.
 

bignc

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I have alkaline D and C cells still for the kids maglites and the starter for the outdoor propane shower. I replace them annually. I should probably replace them with Nimh but dangit- I only trust eneloops and dont want to go the "adapter route" maybe I should anyway?
 

alpg88

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I have alkaline D and C cells still for the kids maglites and the starter for the outdoor propane shower. I replace them annually. I should probably replace them with Nimh but dangit- I only trust eneloops and dont want to go the "adapter route" maybe I should anyway?

tenergy makes C and D nimh LSD centura series, i used their D cells before in a toy, they worked great, same for premium series but they are not LSD, their blue cells are not that good, i had several fail.
 

ampdude

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Eneloops hold their charge for 10 years. How much longer do you need???

Where can I get 200 eneloops for the price of alkalines? How will the eneloops perform in cold weather compared to lithiums? Sorry but my experience with nimh chemistry is that they just do not last anywhere near 10 years. More like 3-4. And forget about long term if you let their voltage get low for too long. Nicads will do that, take all kinds of voltage and temperature abuse, but even lithium ion won't. I have 20 year old lithium primaries I can pull out of the box and they work fine though. Every chemistry has its good and bad points. There is no one size fits all with everything as people often want to believe.
 
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WalkIntoTheLight

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Where can I get 200 eneloops for the price of alkalines?

You only have to recharge them a few times, before they become more cost-effective than throwing away alkaleaks. Plus, all it takes is one leak to wipe-out any price advantage from your cheap alkaline purchase.

How will the eneloops perform in cold weather compared to lithiums?

Duracells are alkaline cells, not lithium cells. Eneloops are good down to -20C. I use them in some outdoor thermometers, and they continue to work down to -30C. Below that, they're too weak to transmit a good signal back to the base.

Lithium primaries (Energizer Ultimate Lithium) are good down to -40C. So, lithium primaries have the advantage there, but they cost about the same as Eneloops and you can only use them once.

Alkalines (the Duracell we're talking about) perform horribly in cold weather. Eneloops perform far better.

Sorry but my experience with nimh chemistry is that they just do not last anywhere near 10 years. More like 3-4. And forget about long term if you let their voltage get low for too long.

Yeah, that's the way it used to be before 2006 when Eneloops were introduced. They blow away the old kind of NiMH batteries. I'm still using Eneloops I bought back in 2006, and they're still performing very well.


Nicads will do that, take all kinds of voltage and temperature abuse, but even lithium ion won't. I have 20 year old lithium primaries I can pull out of the box and they work fine though. Every chemistry has its good and bad points. There is no one size fits all with everything as people often want to believe.

Again, we're talking about alkalines. They suck, period. Eneloops can be used as a 99.999% replacement for them. The only thing that alkalines can do better is have a higher voltage for the first part of their discharge curve. But anything that requires a voltage that high will never use more than about a third of the alkaline capacity, so the device sucks even more than the battery.
 

bykfixer

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In the world outside of CPF, rechargeables have taken tremendous chunks of market share. It's not unlike being a saddle seller in the early days of the horseless carriage. So companies like Duracell are scrambling to hang on to remaining market share. It's that simple.

Todays world of electronic devices are often times designed and built around proprietary size and shaped batteries. Combine that with more efficiency in the things that use the once mighty double a battery leads to less and less demand for batteries from a Duracell display in the big box store. Add super cheap batteries included with things like the computer mouse or wall clock to reduce demand even further.

One move Energizer made was to slash the price they charge for ultimate lithiums to retailers helped move a bunch of those last year. But it was probably too little too late for those. A cost of $2.50 each was reduced to a buck 35 but still too high for the typical battery buyer when they can get 24 Rayovacs for $11 versus 8 for $12. We're talking about a large segment of a population who use a celphone for light but then have no clue why the battery is dead when they need a phone.

Alkaline technology peeked a while ago but now companies like Rayovac are developing formulas that can provide more power, more consistantly. Duracell and Energizer used to discount ole Rayovac same as GM and Chrysler once scoffed at Toyota. But these days the copper top is not evoking the image of keeping up with the times so sales are largely going to The Price is Right crowd whose population is shrinking with each addition to the obituary column in the newspaper.

Alkalines still have their place, but that place has shrunken drastically in the last decade.
 
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