Nickel Cadmium or Nicad as it is popularly called, has been around for a century and

until recently was the only rechargeable battery that one could seriously use with wireless devices.

Although it is notorious for its memory effect, it still enjoys a lot of favour. It has a poor power density. And the contents are highly toxic. Nicads boast of being rechargeable 200-1000 times whatever that means – is it that the manufacturers don’t know. Is that good or bad? I haven’t heard of a NiCad that took 1000 charges yet. Apart from those things, I suppose it is alright.

In 1990, along came Nimh or Nickel-metal Hydride. It has a higher energy density than the NiCad and has memory effect, although not quite as bad as the NiCad. It doesn’t have the longevity of the NiCad (meaning it can’t be charged as often), and doesn’t hold the charge well on the shelf.

Sometimes hailed as the mother of all batteries, the Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) and the Lithium Polymer debuted in 1999. Li-Ion has a high energy density and has no memory effect. It is only five years after the fact that we are learning of it’s shortcomings – is that the wrong word? It can explode if it gets too hot whether it is in too hot a location or a faulty charger and it just does not last long. The life span of the Li-Ion is not because of use. Simply, it deteriorates with the passage of time from manufacture. After a couple of years, it loses the capacity to hold a charge. Much the same is true of Lithium Polymer, although it has a higher energy density and is claimed to be less flammable.

So take your pick. You must choose one – if you need a cellphone.

Cell Phone Battery Chargers:

The most important cell phone accessory is the battery and as we have said elsewhere batteries, in this cellphone era leave much to be desired. Enter the importance of the cell phone battery charger.

What is the item most forgotten in hotel rooms. If you said the toothbrush you would be right. However, if you had to guess what was the second most forgotten, you might hardly come up with the cell phone charger.  

Our cell phone charger should always accompany us. And we should try to try to have a dual charger and one that is approved for your particular phone.

There is much in the news recently about exploding telephones and most of it is purported to come from phony batteries. This may indeed be so but approved cell phone battery chargers should not be ignored. Needless to say all battery chargers should have an integrated circuit that stops overcharging and overheating while being safe and at the same time effective.