Having a ppicnic today and go to buy my girlfriend some batteries for her radio. $16 later I am thinking I could have bought a whole radio for less.
The batteries were Duracell and the only choice available in that size (“C”) at the store (other brands were sold out) but I wondered if getting cheaper Radio Shack batteries or Ray-o-Vac or some generic battery would provide as much juice as the expensive Duracells. Even if close I may be better off.
So, is the technology and battery life better in a Duracell or Energizer or is the difference I am paying for advertising and hype?
Duracell batteries are so-called “alkaline batteries”. Their chemical composition (involving zinc and manganese, but I don’t know the details) is different from the cheaper zinc-carbon batteries, and they genuinely last longer.
But, of course, there are also other brands of alkaline batteries. Personally, I buy the cheapest alkaline batteries I can find, but I don’t have any info as to comparisons between brands.
Consumer Reports did a review on non-rechargable batteries. The longest lasting of the alkaline batteries was the Kirkland brand carried by Costco.
The lithium non-rechargables lasted longer.
Well what I remember about CR on batteries, is that name brand alkaline batteries (duracell, energizer) did last a bit longer then others, but not significantly, perhaps a extra 5% or so but no where near the extra cost. They recommended the cheapest ALKALINE batteries you can get that have not been sitting around for a long time. IIRC Kirkland was listed as the most cost effective (high turnover = fresh batteries and low cost), but not that it lasted longest, just it’s the cheapest power per $.
As someone who spends a lot of time in the wilderness at night, I can say that I only will use Duracell for that application. When you are hiking down Mount Wilson in the dark, you don’t take chances. I also carry an extra flashlight as a backup and combined with my girlfriend, that means we always have 4 flashlights on each hike, loaded with fresh batteries. We seldom need the second light, so they rotate. After a hike, we throw the somewhat used batteries in a bin for use in less critical apps like remotes, toys and such.
Duracells are very reliable in that you don’t get a bad batch. The expiration is on every battery. I have had uneven experiences with bargain brands. When my life is depending on it, a little extra money is good peace of mind. For kid’s toys, not so much, but we always have plenty of partially used duracells for that purpose, so it’s all we buy.
When I got my new stationary bike, I inserted four Energizer batteries, but the display wouldn’t work. I replaced them with some generic ones, and the display still didn’t work. So I called customer service, and the woman told me to use Duracell. All three brands were making contact, but only the Duracells worked.
panache. Please excuse this, but that’s hard to believe. I don’t mean that you didn’t do this, but hard to believe that the Duracells worked and the others didn’t. Unless for some reason you had a bad batch of Energizers and generics. This just doesn’t make sense otherwise.
Again, nothing against you or your experience. But there would be no real-world reason for Duracells to work and the others not. It just isn’t possible, given fresh batteries.
I never used to think there was a difference, so I always bought the cheap kind. Then I got a digital camera. Damn thing drove me nuts; I was chewing through batteries in an hour of use. I tried to save money with disposables, but they died in 30-45 minutes, making the trouble not worth it.
Finally my wife tried Duracells. And they lasted for 3 hours or more. There was a remarkable difference. I was really surprised.
Digicams draw large current surges, and thus require batteries with low internal resitance…which a few brands of alkyline cells do provide.
However, NiMH rechargeables are even better.
Personally I’ve had bad luck with the black and gold brand leaking, in items that were NOT left turned on. Much better luck with the brand advertised by a rabbit…or costco or walgreens generics for that matter.
It may not “make sense” to you, but my facts trump your opinion. And by the way, the Energizers and generics were eventually used in flashlights, and they worked just fine.
And I now see, on NordicTrak’s web site, they now recommend using alkaline batteries for that model.
I did a middle school science experiment on just this subject. When comparing alkaline batteries, the difference was fairly small to begin with. I can’t remember which brand won, but it was neither Energizer or Duracell.
I wonder if you could reproduce that effect the next time you need batteries for your NordicTrak? Buy alkalines from Duracell, Energizer, and a generic alkaline like Walgree or costco. Try test again.
With digital cameras, once the amount of power drops below a certain level, they entire camera will cut out. So, when you digital camera stops working, try using the batteries in something else to see if you can get a little more life out of them.
