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Apple's Battery Charger Sets New Standby Usage Benchmark

So, it's $30 for no-frills two battery charger (and two batteries) or $25 for this four battery Sony charger with LCD display.

41E216XTE3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


I wonder if this madness will ever stop ;)

And I wonder why they say that Apple products are overpriced?
 
DylanLikesPorn said:
seriously? Apple can be the biggest cockup when it comes their products.
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That may be, but releasing a charger that can't do AAA cells (in addition to AA) is not the type of bone-headedness that I would expect. Usually their decisions are controversial, like not providing user-replaceable batteries in iPads, iPods, and MacBooks. Or like not including Blu-Ray capabilities. But there's usually some rationale that you can understand (physical size, licensing issues, aesthetics, etc.). But this is just goofy.
 
lilo777 said:
So, it's $30 for no-frills two battery charger (and two batteries) or $25 for this four battery Sony charger with LCD display.

41E216XTE3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


I wonder if this madness will ever stop ;)

And I wonder why they say that Apple products are overpriced?
Click to expand...

Typical consumer mentality: Evaluate a battery charger based on the blinky lights. Well what if it turns out that the Sony just doesn't charge as well? What if it is damaging batteries by overcharging them? What if it's shortening the lifespan of the batteries?

Does it use a pulse-charging algorithm? Does it include Delta T or Delta V to trigger the trickle/maintenance phase? These are the kinds of things which determine how well a battery charger performs.

I am not saying that the Apple does a better job or that the Sony does a bad job, but evaluating a battery charger based on how many cells it holds and whether it has an LED is like evaluating cars based on how many seats they have and whether the speedometer is digital.
 
lilo777 said:
So, it's $30 for no-frills two battery charger (and two batteries) or $25 for this four battery Sony charger with LCD display.

41E216XTE3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


I wonder if this madness will ever stop ;)

And I wonder why they say that Apple products are overpriced?
Click to expand...


First off, the Apple battery charger comes with 6 batteries, not 2. I'd be willing to bet they are of better quality than those included with the Sony charger.

Secondly, who needs a LCD screen on their battery charger?
 
hiptobesquare said:
That is what I was thinking.

Some sort of cradle device that has a cord, that can touch contacts on the roll under top edge of the wireless keyboards, and wireless touch pad (it isn't magic, I won't call it magic.) and maybe some sort of pad to touch contacts on the multi-touch mouse, as well.

Either that, or maybe this is finally a better use for the induction charging stuff where, mere proximity transfers a charge via electric field. Most of the time, I don't understand the desire for the wastefulness of induction charging, compared to a cord... but with differing devices, like BT keyboard, mouse, or touchpad, in any combination... an induction charger might start to make a bit of sense.

Put good rechargeables in the devices, and just set them on the pad when computer puts up battery warning on the screen, and the LED signal light on the device changes.
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Exactly my sentiments. It's just a charger, intended to power something that would work wired the same way less the environmental issues.
 
JitteryJimmy said:
The UK price of £25 includes (VAT) tax.

The US price of $29, of course, does NOT include tax.

I can't believe that people remain so incredibly stupid when doing country-to-country price comparisons. You'd think they'd learn that there is the price of the product, and then there the price of a product plus tax. If you want to compare manufacturer product prices, remove all taxes - as each place has its own tax strategy and tax rules.
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The UK price with the VAT taken off is $33 so it's still 13% more expensive over here.
 
I love Apple but this thing is ridiculous! $30 for a charger! I'm now convinced that Apple fanboys would buy a toilet seat if it had an Apple logo on it. Come on...the Sanyo Eneloops will do me just fine. Jeez....Apple makes excellent products but come on people.
 
TraceyS/FL said:
I bought this (it was $25), i have a pair of AA in my mighty mouse that are shot. I'm lucky these days if they go 2 weeks, and when they first went into the mouse they were lasting months. I have no clue what the deal is, but it is getting frustrating to deal with, it is almost like they aren't charging all the way. Maybe it is the eneloop charger is what is shot?

But I have no clue what my kids stuck the other 6 batteries in.... They were in the wii remotes, but i bought rechargeables and a stand thing to do all 4 at a time for that.

I will probably pick this up because we eat AA's around here.....
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Your charger is killing them by being junk. Check out Maha chargers, instead. They may even be able to 'repair' beat-up batteries a bit using the conditioning mode a few times, although yours sound pretty bad.
 
web4fun said:
I love Apple but this thing is ridiculous! $30 for a charger! I'm now convinced that Apple fanboys would buy a toilet seat if it had an Apple logo on it. Come on...the Sanyo Eneloops will do me just fine. Jeez....Apple makes excellent products but come on people.
Click to expand...

Amazing. It's $15 for a charger, $15 for 6 batteries. Not the best deal on the planet, but it's hardly rape.
 
lilo777 said:
So, it's $30 for no-frills two battery charger (and two batteries) or $25 for this four battery Sony charger with LCD display.

41E216XTE3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


I wonder if this madness will ever stop ;)

And I wonder why they say that Apple products are overpriced?
Click to expand...

Why can't you people appreciate something called INDUSTRIAL DESIGN? This thing you posted, it looks like a piece of crap that you bought from toys r us.
 
I think

lilo777 said:
So, it's $30 for no-frills two battery charger (and two batteries) or $25 for this four battery Sony charger with LCD display.

41E216XTE3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg


I wonder if this madness will ever stop ;)

And I wonder why they say that Apple products are overpriced?
Click to expand...

I think the apple one comes with six batteries, no?
 
Apple actually just gave me an idea:

325983cd217f7383b3c58c35e69cad7c.png


Works perfectly ;)


Apple's charger sure does look nice though... :)
 
Dagless said:
A good move but it's still massively overpriced. 4 years ago when I bought an iMac with BT mouse I also bought a fast wallcharger and 4 3200mAh batteries for £9.99. This is £25. It's not great value for money.

I'm also quite adept at unplugging electronics when they're no longer being used. Take my camera's battery charger. 2 days ago it finished charging. 1.9 days ago I unplugged it. I could probably improve on that time too.
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What a crappy Chinese batteries that must be,as long as I know the best brands don't deliver more than 2700 mAh:p

I would like to find out how fast this charger is,got a sony 1 hour charger,don't wanna wait for 16 hours!!
 
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