[Toups]

http://www.usbcell.com/

has anyone tried these? it's a pretty brilliant idea. are there any drawbacks to them?
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[bleak]

Well, they are pretty flippin' expensive, though I guess you can expect a return on investment after recharging them 20-25 times.

Also, depending on how the top is designed, it may break/bend easily. This is just speculation though.

Looks like they have a 5-6 hour charge time. Not too shabby

I must admit, I am finding it hard to obtain any downsides to these, as they are pretty brilliant.
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[Toups]

my biggest concern would be the USB port losing function. the USB key for my wireless mouse has a hard time connecting after a year of use...
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[psiga]

They're a bit sheepish about admitting the mA rating, and considering how much space is taken up by stuff, I'd imagine that they don't last as long as good normal rechargeables. Otherwise, they're damned nifty.
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[Koji]

What's wrong with regular rechargeable batteries? And maybe an USB recharger?
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The Ants Parade.

[Toptube]

these are an excellent idea and I hope they succeed and also don't give into the temptation of buyout by a larger battery company who will just shelve the tech in a vault somewhere and carry on with buisiness as usual.

of course they could just be an subsidiary or something of one of the big boys already...

but yeah, great idea. better than regular rechargeable batteries and a USB charger because the charger is built onto them. and just as the site says, there are so many USB ports in the world now, it'd be pretty tough to be in a spot where you couldn't charge them but COULD charge regular re-chargeables in a standard charger. but the other way around, there are plenty of scenarious where charging these is possible, but not the standard type.

now they just need to get a car-kit that makes a few USB charge ports from a cigarette lighter. and maybe make a deal with ford or something to get usb charge ports built into the backseats or back console of mini-vans and SUVs.

*Man, I would LOVE to have one compatible with my digital camera. the charger for it is bigger than the camera itself!

**also loving the "swap & play" idea with the 360. I don't even own a 360 but i can only imagine how convenient that'd be.

[psiga]

This might be tangentially relevant to the thread: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/12/10/best-rechargeable-ba.html

Spoiler: Joel decides to get this with a pack of Eneloop batteries: http://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Technology-BC-900-AlphaPower-Battery/dp/B00077AA5Q
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