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Canon BP 819
by andyLDN
I bet you're all thinking that there could not be a more mundane and boring product than a replacement battery. To tell the truth, you're probably right. When I recieved the product from Amazon I didn't exactly scream and stamp my feet in delight and rush to rip open the packaging in the fastest time humanly possible. (Which would infact ... be very difficult as it comes in one of those fiendishly hard to open plastic clamshell sealed boxes where only a pair of tough kitchen scissors will enable you to get it open.)
Unexciting as it may be, I actually really like this battery, when I see it sitting in my drawer the knowledge that it's power easily trumps almost any other battery out there makes me very happy. (perhaps eclipsed only by the BP-827) *nerd alert!*
So why would you want such a magical thing? Well if you own one of Canon's HF series of camcorders, this replacement Lithium Ion rechargable battery has a far greater capacity than the one that comes in the box (with mine it was a BP-808!). I have the Canon HF S10 and HF S200, both amazing camcorders, so amazing I don't think I could even review them as I wouldn't do them justice.
The time the battery will last depends on how power-hungry your camcorder is. For example on my HF S10, the average operating time with the supplied BP808 battery is 120 minutes. It's not bad, and for most people this will be fine for a day out with the kids etc, but I film long bursts of film for extended periods, so the BP-819 gives me great piece of mind as this lasts around 220 mins between charges. To be more technical, the capacity of lithium Ion batteries are measured in "mAH" which represents the number of milli-amps it can pull in 1 hour. If you were maths orientated, you could read the small print of the manual of your Canon HF camcorder and suss out the power usage, then work out how much battery life you'll get from it based on the mAH rating. The BP-808 (supplied, usually) gives 890mAH, the BP-819 gives 1780mAH, far better!
Bored yet? Come on, keep reading! The downside to the BP-819 is that more power equates to a larger and heavier battery which protrudes about 5mm from the back of the camera, which is a very minor fault but I'd rather have that than constantly recharging. Of course the larger battery, the longer it will take to fully charge. For the BP 819, it's about 5 hours, compared to 3 for the supplied battery.
The battery is very expensive, with the best price online being around £80, but for this you get Canon quality and reliability. Third party batteries are available for a quarter of the price on sites like eBay, which are very tempting. But I'm hesitant to insert these in an expensive camcorder. If they leaked or blew up I'd be severely miffed! You also tend not to get an accurate indication of power remaining in the camcorder's display (if any at all) using third party batteries. Not knowing when a battery is going to die would do nothing for my nerves.
In my view, the BP-819 is worth the extra spend and is a quality product. And that's all I have to say! Who knew there was so much to say about a battery?
Thanks for reading, (really...)
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Mad Catz Rechargeable Battery Pak
by benlepensive
Buying batteries is always going to be a nuisance, so here is one good solution for fans of the Wii Fit Balancing Board. A simple little device that eliminates the need for batteries, by recharging the balance board from within. This effectively sounds you pounds each year on batteries.
The design of the pack, or pak as it is ... called is sleek and minimal, so you can simply warp it back up afterwards and store neatly in a cabinet or push under the TV. The supplied wire offers a more than generous stretch so you will have no problems reaching connections with this piece of equipment. I like the fact that it is so light and airy to the touch and this makes it ideal for anyone in the family to get to grips with; no cumbersome lugging around of boxes.
It fits snugly into the base of the balance board, meaning that you can literally plug in and go. You do need to remove the existing batteries in the balance board to begin with, but once this is done, you can slide this contraption in and commence. When we used this, it offered several hours of use before giving up the ghost. I would estimate about ten hours plus of gameplay with this piece.
If you plug the device into a USB port then the indicator light will come on and this will start booting up the recharger for you again. It will take a few hours for it to reach its optimum peak, but you could put it in of a morning and be ready to resume probably in the evening. I figured that as it costs about seven pounds, it has paid for itself within a month or so anyway, making it a handy tool to save money on batteries.
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