Steven would like a functioning battery for his Lenovo Ideapad. The computer is under warranty: he bought it less than three months ago. He writes that every time he calls their customer service center for a replacement battery, they send the wrong one. After the second time, this is becoming sort of tiresome. [More]
batteries
What Should I Do When An Amazon Marketplace Vendor Disappears?
By 9.16.10
Darren tells Consumerist that the vendor that sold him a failing MacBook Pro battery through the Amazon Marketplace has disappeared. Since the replacement battery wasn’t made by Apple, he’d like to find out what kind of warranty the battery might have and seek a replacement. Amazon is no help, and the company’s domain name is no longer registered, so e-mails bounce back. What should he do? [More]
Amazon Sends Medium-Sized Box Of Air, Includes Free Watch Batteries
By 7.9.10
Amazon chose the worst possible packaging to send this card of watch batteries to catastrophegirl. Well, that’s not true: they could have used an even bigger box and included more air packs. See, she tells Consumerist that the air packs arrived perfectly, but the watch batteries slid between the box flaps and hid. [More]
Microsoft Rescues You From The Tyranny Of Battery Insertion
By 7.3.10
If you’ve ever spent hours with a new gadget, inserting and removing batteries until you finally get it just right, you may appreciate Microsoft’s latest invention. Instaload is a technology designed for battery compartments that includes both positive and negative contacts at both ends. Yes, we know that sounds like a recipe for a world-ending cataclysm, but somehow Microsoft manages to make to make it work with any pyrotechnics. [More]
Fisher Price Includes Batteries, But Not Ones That Work
By 6.28.10
Dana is annoyed that the Fisher Price toy she bought for her baby promised her that batteries were included. They were in the box all right, but they were dead. In fact the manual Fisher Price enclosed with the toy suggests you immediately replace the included batteries with new ones. [More]
54,000 More HP Batteries Recalled
By 5.24.10
Hewlett-Packard doesn’t just make props for cringeworthy feature length commercials; the company also sells batteries that sometimes catch fire. A year ago HP recalled about 70,000 bad batteries, and now it’s added another 54,000 to the list. [More]
Don't Let Your Battery Charger Expose Your PC To Hackers
By 3.9.10
If you’re using the Energizer Duo battery charger, and have connected it to your PC to check the charge levels of the batteries, you may have inadvertently exposed yourself to a program that could give hackers access to your computer. The charger has been discontinued, and Energizer recommends removing the software along with the file that enables the backdoor. [More]
Bloom Box Can Supposedly Power A Small Home, But You Can't Afford It
By 2.22.10
60 Minutes has reported on a new fuel cell product called a Bloom Box, a big metal box containing a small stack of ceramic disks and “ink” that can supposedly provide enough power to run a Starbucks. The big questions are: Does it work? And will it ever help the average homeowner save on energy costs? Google has supposedly been using four of them to power one of its data centers for the past 18 months, so yes to the first question. As for home use, a Bloom Box currently costs over $700,000, so no. Inventor K.R. Sridhar optimistically says he wants to get the price to under $3,000 in the next 5 to 10 years, though. Watch the 60 Minute segment below. [More]
Science Reveals CVS Generic AA Batteries Suck
By 2.16.10
Our science-obsessed cousins over at Consumer Reports decided to test some AA batteries to see which ones were the best. The results? Generic CVS batteries suck! They took the fewest amount of pictures in CR’s digital cameras before giving out. [More]
Buy Some Batteries, Get a Razor (Or Is It The Other Way Around?)
By 10.12.09
Salman spotted this bizarre battery giveaway when he was shopping at his Chicago CVS:
When Are Alkalines Better Than Rechargeables?
By 9.21.09
The big benefit of rechargeable batteries, aside from possibly being more ecological, is they’re supposed to save you money in the long run. However, blogger Len Penzo argues that for some devices, you’ll spend more money if you go the rechargeable route.
Energizer Responds To Weak Rechargeable Battery Claims
By 8.27.09
Energizer responded to Are Energizer Rechargeable “D” Batteries “AAs” In Disguise? by explaining why D size rechargeable batteries are made the way they are:
Share Your Car Battery Disasters With Consumer Reports
By 8.19.09
Our recent Zipcar electrical failure trilogy reminded us of a request from Consumer Reports Cars last week. For the November issue, they’re looking for your stories of car battery failure, epic and otherwise. Do you have one to share?
Watch Out For Panasonic's Proprietary Battery Cameras
By 7.27.09
Many of Panasonic’s cameras will only work with official Panasonic batteries—the newest models require “an embedded security ID chip,” while older models have been issued a firmware upgrade that locks out third-party vendors. This is already pretty obnoxious, but what makes it even worse is Panasonic can’t keep up with demand, so the batteries they insist you buy for your camera aren’t available.
Need Your Apple Product Fixed? Try TechRestore Or iFixIt
By 6.10.09
I’ve always relied on TechRestore for cheap upgrades or repairs on any Apple products I’ve owned, but if you prefer DIY repairs, try the new iFixit website, which will sell you the parts and then provide detailed guides on what to do with them.
Details On U.S. Cellular's Battery Swap Program
By 5.19.09
We asked U.S. Cellular to provide us more details of how their battery swap program works. Basically, it’s not meant to provide a one-off swap of an old battery for a new one; instead, the program is designed so that you can use it repeatedly to refresh your phone’s power if you’re caught away from an outlet and running low on juice.
