Hi-Tech USB Port Rechargeable Batteries

Finally! Someone’s come up with a way to charge AA batteries right from a USB port on your desktop or laptop computer. No more worrying about whether you remembered to pack that extra bulky charger and cords or if you remembered to charge/top off your batteries the night before. 

While a little more expensive than buying a regular NiMH rechargeable battery and charger, the space saving of not HAVING to carry around a charger more than makes up for it. And if needed, these batteries can be charged in many popular brands of smart chargers (in case your USB ports are busy.)

These batteries might not hold quite as much as some NiMH batteries, 1300ma vs the newest extra capacity 2500ma, but how’s this for handy? You can use some game consoles’ USB ports to charge a set of these batteries while you’re playing, and swap them out as your wireless mice, game controllers or other battery-operated items need them, practically guaranteeing charged batteries are always available. 

With these batteries, you can go both green — each battery can take up to 500 charges before being recycled, saving CO2 and reducing toxic waste over non-rechargeable batteries — and go light. What a great combination.

The tech specs for these little babies are:

• Battery Chemistry
• NiMH – Nickel Metal Hyrdride
• Technical Specifications
• 90%+ Charged after 5 Hours by powered USB
• Also rechargeable by approved smart NiMH chargers at 250ma for 7 Hours
• Battery Type
• Rechargeable AA NiMH Battery 1.2v 1300mah
• Product Specifications
• Built in Intelligent Charger
• Charge by powered USB port (Laptop, Desktop, Gaming Console, etc.)

Moixa, the company that makes these is also developing AAA batteries with a fold-out USB connector, and also larger sizes (C, D), 9-Volt models and even cell phone and PDA batteries.  It’s about time someone thought of this!  (That could ultimately save having to carry 2-3 or more bulky chargers around!)

You can find the AA batteries right now at Amazon in 2 and 4 packs (or for the person who needs AA batteries for a business or for the serious music listener/gamer, in 24 packs!):

Little known rechargebable battery facts (according to Moixa):

The average person probably only recharges their batteries about 10 times because of never remembering to put them in the charger or from losing the charger. (With these new batteries, that isn’t a problem. Pretty much anywhere there’s an easily accessible powered USB port, you can charge them up.)

In the United Kingdom (where Moixa is located) 680,000,000 batteries are bought each year. The average household there uses 21 batteries per year. This creates an estimated 19,000 tonnes of general purpose batteries waste alone, of which less than,1000 tonnes are recycled.  (I don’t even WANT to guess what the United States is using/throwing away!)

The NiMH chemistry used in the cell is also better for the environment than other types of rechargeable batteries, in particular those with NiCad chemistry (which is quite toxic due to the cadmium, a known carcinogen). It’s also inherently safer than lithium battery chemistry.

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