pg@alice.UUCP (n) (05/01/85)
I always use it with the NiCd battery pack (from Sony) or the charger. NiCd batteries, in general, have a very rapid rolloff. They give you much higher current flows than carbon-zinc because of lower internal resistance (at a lower voltage, 1.2V per cell instead of ~1.5V for CZn). They also give you everything they have right up until the end and then die quickly (I sometimes can tell they are going 30 secs before they are useless). Without NiCd you can easily use enough batteries to equal the cost of the unit within a year. Unfortunately, NiCd's also have a good memory of their discharge cycle and should be charged and then completely discharged to reduce and prevent such memory. This, however, is not always convenient. Two Nicd battery packs are a good idea.