Incident: Air China A333 enroute on May 25th 2011, passenger camera battery catches fire

An Air China Airbus A330-300, flight CA-1549 from Beijing to Shanghai (China), was enroute when cabin crew smelled smoke, located the source in an overhead locker and found a passenger's camera had caught fire due to thermal runaway of its Lithium Hp Compaq Business Notebook 6715b Battery. The cabin crew were able to contain the fire, cool the Sony DCR-HC23E Charger  batteries down and thus stop the thermal runaway and resulting fire. The aircraft continued to Shanghai for a safe landing. No injuries were reported.

The airline said, the spontaneous fire resulted in about 20cm high flames. The flight and aircraft remained unaffected, the flight continued to destination.

Passengers reported the cabin crew carried the burning camera to a lavatory Sony DCR-DVD305 Charger , other cabin crew rushed for fire extinguishers, and put the fire out in the lavatory.

The FAA had released a Safety Alert for Operators including video material showing how to fight such fires in November 2009, see How to fight fires caused by Lithium Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti Charger batteries in portable electronic devices.

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Reader Comments:

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@ AlexBy Simon Hradecky on Monday, May 30th 2011 17:09Z

I just tested the video and it does download and play.

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Why lavatory?By Alex on Monday, May 30th 2011 13:43Z

Some thoughts:
1. Great the fire could be put out by cabin crew!
2. Saddly, the video link to the training video is not working anymore.
3. In the safety alert is clearly stated: "WARNING: Do not attempt to pick up and move a smoking or burning device!"
Of course, I have not been there, so probably moving the device was in this case the best thing to do. Do aircraft carry fire blankets for this 'carrying'? I understand a Ibm Thinkpad t42p 2373-Xxx Battery on thermal runaway cannot be put out with such a blanket.

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/By Tom Phelps on Sunday, May 29th 2011 16:32Z

The Chinese would die without a camera . (Panasonic Lumix Dmc-fp1 Battery )

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today's lithium ion batteriesBy Seatjet on Sunday, May 29th 2011 09:52Z

I had a situation recently that a replacement camera battery would not stop charging and it got hotter and hotter, after a period of time I took it off the charger and later analysis found the IC charge controller built into the Lenovo ThinkPad X61LS Laptop AC Adapter  battery was defective, I can see how in reverse the charge/control IC could produce a short across the NOKIA 6100 battery which may lead to this runaway situation, either way considering the volume of consumer electronics relying on these power sources, chances are, we are going to see more of this in the future, hopefully is does not lead to aircraft and or pax being put in danger.

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By Mikie on Sunday, May 29th 2011 02:24Z

Curiously, I just visited one of my favorite electronic gadget sites, and they are today reporting a voluntary recall of 70,000 laptop batteries by HP laptop battery.

The technology used in some lithium ions (but not all) is particularly sensitive to manufacturing quality and contamination issues.

So the camera battery in question might be a knock off, but it might not.

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@czulBy Mikie on Sunday, May 29th 2011 02:07Z

"Anyone want to bet that this was a cheap knock off APPLE Laptop Batteries?"

I wouldn't bet on that, and you shouldn't either, czul.

Some of the most widespread problems with Li-Ions have been Sony battery . Haven't heard a lot about recent problems.

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LuckyBy BD on Sunday, May 29th 2011 00:23Z

Very lucky the passenger packed the item in hand luggage and not in the hold.

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@SergioBy xyz on Saturday, May 28th 2011 17:58Z

I guess some peoples luggage would be burnt to ash not much more.

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@BobBy MartinM on Saturday, May 28th 2011 16:28Z

Ok Bob, we're back on stone age then... no cell-phones, no cameras, no laptos, mainly... we can't carry anything on an aircraft... perfect... let's ban the fuel as well... It's dangerous, can catch a fire too...

Batteries going on runaways are usually being charged, or near a source of extreme heat... would be smarter to improve the technology for new types of ACER Travelmate 8200 Adapter batteries first, or at least the electronics control for the Li-Ion type before ban everything that people use daily nowadays from planes, don't you think?

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Knock Off battery (Acer Aspire 5315 Battery )By czul on Saturday, May 28th 2011 16:21Z

Anyone want to bet that this was a cheap knock off PANASONIC NV-DS65 Charger battery?

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Very lucky!!By Sergio on Saturday, May 28th 2011 15:57Z

What would happen if that camera were in the cargo bay?

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BrandBy TM on Saturday, May 28th 2011 14:46Z

What brand? ACER Laptop AC Adapter

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By Bob on Saturday, May 28th 2011 14:42Z

Great.

Waiting for the day that all Li-Ion Panasonic Nv-ds28 Battery are banned from planes.

more tags: Canon mv830 Battery, ACER Aspire 5315 ac Adapter, OLYMPUS EVOLT E-410 battery, Panasonic Nv-ds65 Battery, Lenovo ThinkPad T61 7661 Battery, Portable DVD player Adapter  next blog: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play..

 

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play..

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review: Smartphone Represents a Step Forward in Mobile Gaming

Sony Ericsson is looking to take mobile gaming to the next level with the Xperia Play Android smartphone ($200 with a new two-year contract on Verizon; price as of May 20, 2011). The Xperia Play features a slide-out gamepad for gamers who want more than touchscreen-only controls.
A Bulky but Unique Design
I have to hand it to Sony for trying to add some class to the Play. (PANASONIC CGA-S005 battery)The piano black finish and chrome trim make the phone shine--until you pick it up and get fingerprints all over it. The phone's look and feel are very reminiscent of the PSP Go, and the Play's 4-inch capacitive touchscreen does a good job of displaying colors and text. At 4.7 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.6 inch, the Play is a bit bulky, though no more so than other phones we've seen that come with slide-out full QWERTY keyboards. The Play weighs 6.2 ounces, so it feels heavy but sturdy in hand.
The phone's power button and notification light sit at the top of the device; along the left spine are the headphone and charging ports. (KONICA MINOLTA NP-400 battery)The volume rocker and gamepad shoulder buttons occupy the right spine, and on the back of the Play is a 5-megapixel camera. On the face of the device you'll find the four standard Android buttons (Back, Home, Menu, and Search), as well as a VGA front-facing camera for video chat.
The Gamepad
The slide-out gamepad on the Xperia Play is definitely the phone's coolest feature. Though not as good as gamepads on dedicated portable gaming systems, the Play's worked reasonably well with several games I downloaded from the Android Market. The gamepad is set up much like Sony's DualShock controllers, albeit with a few differences. (SONY NP-BN1 battery)For starters, two touchpads are set up in the place where you'd find the analog sticks on the DualShock. I couldn't find many games in the Android Market that use touchpads, which in any case were not sensitive enough for most twitch-based first-person shooters. Both the D-pad and the face buttons (X, Square, Triangle, and O) were very responsive, but they felt stiff and a bit too sunken in, making them hard to press. The Start and Select buttons are awkwardly placed below the face buttons, and there's a Menu button under the D-pad as well. More often than not, when I tried to quickly pause the game I was playing, I ended up pressing the Select button instead. Also, the shoulder buttons were too spongy and flimsy for my taste; I wish that they had had a little more resistance.
Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread (Finally!)
The Xperia Play is the first Verizon phone to ship with Gingerbread (Android 2.3). In a display of regrettably rare restraint, Sony Ericsson and Verizon didn't mess with the OS too much. SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-T3 battery The phone comes with some preloaded software--including the whole Verizon suite of apps (VZ Navigator, Visual Voicemail, My Verizon Mobile, Backup Assistant, and the V Cast App Store) and a handful of games to show off the Play's game-playing prowess--but nothing I would classify as bloatware. The seven preloaded games are Madden NFL 11, Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior, Tetris, The Sims 3, Star Battalion, Crash Bandicoot, and Asphalt 6: Adrenaline. These are all the full versions, and (with the exception of Tetris) they've all been optimized for use with the Xperia Play's slide-out gamepad.
Oddly, though the Play runs Gingerbread and has a front-facing camera, our review unit didn't include the latest version of Google Talk. (KODAK KLIC-7001 battery) As a result, the phone lacks a native video calling app, but I hope that Verizon will push out the up-to-date version of Google Talk for the Play in the near future.
Performance
Unfortunately, the Xperia Play carries some rather outdated specifications. It is a 3G-only phone in a world that increasingly embraces 4G and LTE-enabled devices; and it has only about 400MB of internal storage, which severely limits the number of apps and games you can download and store. (CANON EOS 5D battery)The Play compensates for this deficiency by including an 8GB MicroSD card, but the limited onboard memory is still disappointing.
The 1GHz Snapdragon processor does an admirable job of keeping the phone and games running smoothly. Even high-definition games like Cordy played without a hitch. A dual-core processor would have been nice for game performance, but its adverse effect on NIKON EN-EL14 battery life might have been severe). The screen was nice and responsive, and the UI felt fluid as I swiped around the homescreen and navigated through the phone.
Call quality was reasonably good. Voices came through clearly, and I didn't notice any static or hissing. The Xperia Play managed to last almost an entire day of phone use on a single charge, though playing games on the device will significantly deplete the OLYMPUS Li-70B battery. After an hour of playing Crash Bandicoot, I saw that my SONY HVR-Z1E battery had dropped from 75 percent charge to 50 percent. If you plan on using this device as your primary gaming handheld, you would do well to carry a charger with you.
Games, Games, Games
When it comes to playing games, the Xperia Play is without equal among smartphones. Having a physical gamepad instead of a virtual one gives the user much better control when playing games.(FUJIFILM NP-40 battery) And because the Play is PlayStation Certified, you can download and play classic PlayStation games from the Android Market; the Play is also the official mobile handset of Major League Gaming.
All of the preloaded games made good use of the slide-out touchpad, though not all were fun to play. Madden NFL 11 looked terrible and wouldn't let me use the touchpad to select plays or navigate some of the menus. Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior was another disappointment, due to a significant lag between when I input a command and when my fighter actually performed the instruction. (SONY a 300 battery)Asphalt 6: Adrenaline and Crash Bandicoot were the games I ended up playing the most because they took full advantage of the hardware. Asphalt 6 is a great-looking racing game with responsive controls and a wide variety of game modes. Crash Bandicoot was just the way I remember the original version on the first PlayStation, and it played buttery smooth.
Camera
The rest of the phone, unfortunately, is lackluster on the multimedia front. The 5-megapixel camera on the rear of the device does an average job at capturing images and uses the stock (and somewhat underwhelming) Android camera software. (SAMSUNG VM-A990 battery)Images weren't especially sharp, and colors were slightly darker than they appeared in real life. Videos looked better but were a bit on the quiet side.
The Play's sound quality was weak. (PANASONIC SV-AV10-R charger)The external speaker popped at higher volumes, and bass-heavy songs lacked emphatic sound.
Conclusion
The Xperia Play will appeal to mobile gamers who are sick of poor touchscreen controls and are looking for a more fulfilling gaming experience on their phone. Currently, only a handful of games are optimized for use with the gamepad, but more game developers may support it in the future, since the APIs for physical game controls are included in the Android 2.3 SDK. (FUJIFILM NP-80 battery)Users who aren't big into gaming, however, should look elsewhere. The Play's relatively outdated hardware, microscopic memory, and lack of 4G support are enough to keep most smartphone buyers away.
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next blog: Buying guide: A laptop for the busy exec

Buying guide: A laptop for the busy exec

Prashant Bharadwaj is a senior executive with a multinational with an itinerary that could include two to three different cities in a single day. Needless to say, he spends a considerable amount of his time collecting air miles, and even visas on his passport.

His days are defined by high-profile meetings, presentations, analysis reports and an insane amount of electronic communication, whether in the form of emails or video conferences.

When he gets the time, he unwinds with Pink Floyd, Clapton and Alan Parsons. And he is a big fan of old black and white movies, Scorsese, Guy Ritchie and Tarantino.

Given the nature of his work and his basic entertainment needs, the 37-year-old needs a laptop that is powerful enough to get the job done, is sturdy — yet lightweight — and has looks that adds to his aura of a power player, especially when he's out and about meeting international counterparts.

What Prashant needs
A mid-range processor: Prashant often multitasks with several programs open at the same time. He also needs to make sure that his laptop doesn't stutter and choke when he is crunching figures on an obscenely large Excel worksheet, or accessing his company's myriad databases from its extranet.

Almost any modern processor can handle this kind of workload. But just to be on the safe side, it is advised that he picks a laptop that has (at least) the Core i3-2310M processor. This number cruncher belongs to the latest range of Intel chips called Sandy Bridge that are a perfect foil for modern workloads. All Sandy Bridge processors are numbered with a prefix of i3, i5 or i7 followed by four digits starting with 2xxx.

RAM: More RAM means better multitasking, whether its spreadsheet calculation or watching HD movies. While 2GB may prove sufficient for Prashant, it is better if he picks a laptop with at least 3GB RAM.

Hard disk: Prashant will mostly store office documents on his laptop. They don't take much space and any laptop with over 160GB will be fine for his needs. A notebook with a solid state drive (Flash-based memory) is not a necessity – but if it exists, it can significantly improve boot or application launch time, helping him work more efficiently. Of course, if he wants to store movies and music on his laptop, a 320GB drive would be advisable.

Lightweight: Weight is the most important factor for the travelling exec. He needs a device that's light to carry about. This limit means that Prashant will have to buy a laptop that has a screen size of not more than 14 inches. Bigger screens mean more weight. He should also avoid a laptop with very small screen, because that could hamper his productivity (and his movie experience). Ideally, the business notebook he picks up should have a screen size of at least 13.3 inches, and weigh-in at around 2kgs.

Sturdy and stylish chassis: Prashant will use his laptop outdoors a lot. Besides, he will also need to maneuver it about quite a bit at airports, what with the security checks and all. His laptop will therefore require a sturdy chassis. Ideally, Prashant should look for laptops with an aluminum or magnesium alloy chassis. They are not only more durable than those made of plastic, but also look stylish. Features such as a shockresistant hard drive or a spill-resistant keyboard will help.

Battery life: A travelling executive needs a laptop with dependable Acer aspire 3000 battery life. Ideally, notebooks give between five to six hours on a single charge. Prashant should consider upgrading to a nine-cell Sony vaio pcg-k15 battery (if the standard issue is 6 cell), or an Universal External battery pack for his travel needs.

Special features : Since the executive will constantly be dealing with data that is sensitive and crucial to his company, he should consider a laptop that has added security features such as a fingerprint reader and options to encrypt data. On the operating system front, he should settle for Windows 7 Professional edition.

How much will it all cost: Good business laptops don't come cheap. Yet, if Prashant is looking for a budget purchase, he could consider something like the Dell Vostro 3350 that costs somewhere around Rs 38,000. If cost is not a factor, he could consider Lenovo's robust ThinkPad series, or perhaps the MacBook Pro 13.3" or Dell Latitude E6420 that cost around Rs 70,000. If he can spend over Rs 1,00,000, he can even consider laptops like those belonging to the Samsung 9 Series.

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next blog: Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3

The latest model in the G-series features a much slimmer form factor with several upgraded features.
Panasonic just announced its latest offering in the Micro Four Thirds category, the Lumix DMC-G3. The 16-megapixel system camera sports a slimmer chassis, improved Venus Engine FHD image processor and 1080/30p full-HD recording capabilities (25p for PAL). Apart from a faster contrast autofocus system, the new camera’s Live MOS sensor promises enhanced image quality in low-light conditions, and speedy 4fps burst-mode shooting in full resolution. The new G3 will be available in Singapore in black, brown and white. Pricing has yet to be confirmed at this time.
The first thing that you’ll notice about the G3 is its slim form factor. Panasonic has streamlined the Lumix making it 35g lighter.
Top-down view comparison between the G3 and the G2.
(Credit: Shawn Low/CNET Asia)
It also reduced the volume of the snapper by 25 percent compared with its G2 predecessor.
Front view comparison between the G3 and the G2.
(Credit: Shawn Low/CNET Asia)
The Lumix sports a redesigned handgrip that resembles a thicker version of the DMC-LX5′s. Compared with its G2 predecessor, the G3′s handgrip is more recessed. Though it does not hinder its ability to provide a better grip, we think that it may be a problem for shutterbugs with larger hands.

Upside

Side view comparison between the G3 and the G2.
(Credit: Shawn Low/CNET Asia)
We like the fact that the new camera didn’t do away with physical buttons. Users get the best of both worlds with an articulating touchscreen LCD that allows fine-tuning of focal points, while physical buttons provide quick access to ISO, white balance and the function settings.
Other key upgrades include an improved touch-to-focus feature, a new image processor and an enhanced Intelligent Auto (IA) plus mode.
Panasonic has improved its Full-area focusing function, which allows users to select focal points anywhere on the screen. Previously, shutterbugs were restricted to selecting focus within the constraints of a small frame half the size of the LCD panel.
The Lumix is also fitted with a new Venus Engine FHD image processor that is supposed to capture better quality images in low-light environments. The G3 comes updated with the new IA plus where users can easily toggle a slider to configure depth-of-field, white balance and exposure compensation.
The G3 is equipped with a inbuilt stereo microphone while the G2 has a microphone input port.
(Credit: Shawn Low/CNET Asia)
While the previous G2 was equipped with an external microphone input port, the G3 comes fitted with an inbuilt stereo microphone instead. We think that this may disappoint those looking to use the camera with an external microphone.

Downside

With a more compact form factor, Panasonic naturally had to use a smaller 1,010 mAh Canon LP-E6 battery which leads to lower Sony NP-F330 Battery life. This probably resulted in the G3′s video recording being shortened to 55 mins (from 100 minutes on the G2); and its still image capture being decreased to 270 images (from 360 images).
The G3 definitely impresses with its slim form factor compared with its predecessor. The lack of a microphone input port and decreased Hitachi DZ-GX25M Battery life didn’t bother us that much, though we hope they will improve when units become commercially available. As the preview set is still a prototype, our opinion on the G3′s image quality and performance will be included only in our upcoming review.

Outlook

… Expand full review Hide Review

Reviewed by:

Shawn Low

Reviewed on:

May 12, 2011

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related blog: laptop battery longest life is three years

next blog: Camera Has an Eye for Photos, Brain for Wi-Fi

Camera Has an Eye for Photos, Brain for Wi-Fi

The pocket-size, point-and-shoot digital camera was once a standard part of many consumers' electronic tool kit. But it has been challenged by smartphones with better and better built-in cameras and photo apps. While they lack some photographic capabilities, like physical zoom lenses, phones are carried everywhere all the time. Plus, they are wirelessly connected to email and the Web, where digital pictures often wind up. Walt Mossberg tries out a new pocket-size digital camera from Samsung with some of the wireless convenience of a smartphone. The Samsung SH100 has built-in Wi-Fi, which allows it to rapidly upload or email pictures and beam photos wirelessly to a PC. Now, Samsung has introduced a pocket camera that aims to erode the advantages of smartphones—even though the company also produces phones. This new camera, the SH100, has Wi-Fi built in. This isn't the first camera with built-in Wi-Fi, but Samsung hopes to better capitalize on it. It also competes with the add-on memory card called Eye-Fi, that brings Wi-Fi abilities to almost any camera. It has easy, preconfigured uploading to Facebook, YouTube, Picasa, email and other online destinations, plus a bunch of added wireless features, including cordless transfer of photos to a PC. I've been testing the SH100. It carries a list price of $200 without a memory card but can be found at various merchants for as little as $150. Its wireless capability requires no contract or monthly payment. My verdict is that the SH100 pretty much does what it promises as a wireless device, and takes very good photos and videos. Unlike on a cellphone, its wireless functions don't work almost everywhere. Still, for those who would like some of the wireless ease of a phone in a better camera, it might be tempting. The SH100 is a good-looking, pocket camera with a resolution of 14.2 megapixels, a 5x optical zoom and a wide-angle lens. Smartphones typically have much lower resolution and lack optical zoom lenses. It has a large, 3-inch touch screen on the back, for framing and viewing shots, and for controlling its many functions. There are only four physical buttons—a home button, a power button, a playback button, and a combination shutter and zoom controller. Everything else is controlled by tapping on icons and menus on the screen. View Full Image Samsung The SH100 has zoom and wide-angle lenses. The user interface has been designed to resemble the array of apps on a smartphone. Unfortunately, the SH100 uses a less expensive, and much less responsive, type of touch screen than is typically found on smartphones. So, tapping on icons, scrolling through menus and, especially, typing email addresses and wireless login details, can be a frustrating process for people trained now to use sensitive phone and tablet screens. This was my biggest gripe about the SH100. In my tests, using its screen required extra pressure, multiple presses and corrections. Samsung implicitly acknowledges this by including a plastic stylus with the camera. Using the stylus makes things easier, but it's another thing to carry and seems easy to lose. Samsung says the SH100 is mainly about connectivity, and its photographic capabilities and features aren't significantly different from those on its other point-and-shoot models. In my tests, it took sharp, vivid photos and videos, indoors and out. It has all the standard settings and effects I've seen in other point-and-shoot cameras, including auto and more manual modes, and various preconfigured settings for scenarios such as sunsets or beach photos. One of its nicer features is something called Magic Frame, which merges a photo you take with a background. For instance, it can place your photo in a poster on the side of a bus-stop shelter, or on the screen of an old black-and-white TV. It also has a 3-D carousel view for browsing through your photos, and another mode where you can flip through pictures by tilting the camera. Associated Press The SH100 has a touch screen on the back for viewing photos and controlling functions. But I mainly tested the camera as a wireless device, with mixed results. I was able to connect almost every time to noncommercial Wi-Fi networks in my home and office, and was easily able to post pictures to my accounts on Facebook and Picasa, and videos to my YouTube account. I also was easily able to email photos. This required a one-time setup process for each online account. But there were some issues. In one instance, during a meeting with Samsung officials to show me the camera, it wouldn't work with my office Wi-Fi, though my test unit later did fine in the office. Also, when uploading to Facebook, the camera installs a Facebook app called MashupSocial, which you may or may not want. More important, the camera's Wi-Fi won't work with many commercial Wi-Fi hot spots, such as those in coffee shops or airports, that require a login process via a browser, because it lacks a browser. To compensate, Samsung includes a free three-month trial subscription to Boingo, a service that automates logins to some of these services. After the trial ends, Boingo costs $8 a month, but it is optional. Also, the camera can't automatically send any photo you snap. You can only choose to send photos when you are in playback mode. And this is a manual process. You also can't queue up photos you take outside of W-Fi range for later instant uploading when you get near a compatible Wi-Fi network. To save OLYMPUS AZ-1 battery life, the camera doesn't remain connected to Wi-Fi. It connects only when you choose to transmit, and then disconnects. This is a relatively slow process. Samsung says the SH100's CANON NB-1LH battery can shoot more than 200 pictures on a single charge, but that PANASONIC camera battery life degrades if you use Wi-Fi a lot. I also successfully tested a couple of other wireless features. I was able to wirelessly transmit photos from the camera to a Windows PC using a special Samsung computer program called Auto Backup. (This doesn't work on Macs.) I also was able to use a feature called Remote Viewfinder that lets you control the camera remotely from a Samsung smartphone. The camera can also wirelessly beam photos to a compatible TV, but I wasn't able to test this. If you're willing to accept the wireless limitations of the SH100, and value its photographic advantages compared to a phone's camera, it might offer the right balance for you. more tags: SONY NP-FW50 battery, CASIO NP-20 battery, CANON Digital IXUS 70 battery, OLYMPUS LI-50B battery, SANYO camera battery, FUJIFILM camera battery, SONY camera battery , PANASONIC CGR-S602E battery, Panasonic DMW-BCH7E battery, SONY GV-D300(Video Walkman) battery, FUJIFILM FinePix Z200FD battery, CANON IXUS 750 battery related blog: Imagining a future MacBook next blog: Electronic Camera Nikon Batteries Price Tips

Electronic Camera Nikon Batteries Price Tips

Should you choose purchase a camera soon, make sure it comes with rechargeable Nikon Batteries Price. The throw away CANON DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS battery tend to be OK, but you will wind up spending more income in the long run. Rechargeable FUJIFILM NP-120 battery may cost a little more up front, however having a digital camera wall charger will cost you a lot less over time in both money and frustration.
Many digital camera companies such as Cannon, Kodak, Nikon, and Sony have camera models which use rechargeable camera Batteries Price. It is also better for the environment to utilize a SONY NP-FM50 battery that is rechargeable. Over time, having to use new batteries will cost more money than buying one or even two rechargeable CANON NB-4L battery along with a battery charger. The battery charger is portable and will also fit into most camera cases. This is what best photographers use once they go on shoots. Needing to stop to replace the battery is not only unprofessional; it is also a waste of time.
Photographers who’re always on the go and do a lot of vacationing, always have a digital camera battery charger with them. This way, while your away taking some great photos, your second set of Nikon Batteries Price is waiting for you on your charger.
Buying a KODAK KLIC-8000 battery charger is a superb accessory to have when using the camera often. Getting a KODAK Batteries Price is simple. Take the CANON EOS 350D battery out of the digital camera and place it into the charger. Then connect the charger in to the wall socket. Battery will be fully charged in an hour or even less. This is an simpler way to keeping batteries clean and usable compared to carrying smaller SAMSUNG VP-D105 battery around all day long.
The digital cameras that are available today are made with a compact and light design in mind, so you can take them where ever you go easily. Due to this, the PANASONIC NV-MX5 battery chargers for these cameras are also designed the same way. Just imagine you’re out taking pictures and your camera dies you. If you had a backup for your SONY NP-FM500H battery Price you would not have a thing to worry about.
Desire a lot more information, you need pay a visit to here nice OLYMPUS LI-12B battery price
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next blog: A thin and light 15.6in business laptop with great battery life
related blog: Alienware laptops upgrade the mobile gaming experience

A thin and light 15.6in business laptop with great battery life

dell inspiron 1525 battery is one of the more stylish Sandy Bridge-based business computers on the market. It's a 15.6in model that's thin (around 26mm), very well built, and relatively light (2.49kg). With a full-sized keyboard and a dual-pointing device, it's also quite comfortable to use. However, the out-of-box experience isn't great as it takes a long time to set up initially, and it also comes with lots of pre-installed software that can get in the way.

Design and features

Without a doubt the biggest drawcard of this Tecra notebook is its design. It's one of the nicest looking and feeling business notebooks we've reviewed. The base is only around 21mm thick and its stiff, plastic (high stiffness resin, or HSR) construction is very sturdy. You can lift the unit from either side with one hand and it won't groan or noticeably bend. The screen feels robust despite being around 8mm thin, and it's held in place by a strong pair of hinges that allow it to tilt all the way back. On the downside, the screen itself isn't great. It has poor vertical viewing angles and its contrast is poor. Furthermore, the screen emits a slight shimmering effect that's noticeable particularly in dark colours. We haven't seen this effect since we tested the dell inspiron 1545 ac adapter.

The Compaq presario r3202us battery's palmrest has a striped texture and it's 95mm deep — both of these features make the notebook very comfortable to type on. The keyboard has isolated keys that have a glossy finish, but they don't feel slippery when you hit them. The keyboard doesn't bounce when you hit the keys, and they feel reasonably soft. However, the space bar sometimes needed a much harder hit than the rest of the keys. We wish there was a backlight for the keyboard; its omission may be a hint that you shouldn't work at night.

Two pointing options are present on the TOSHIBA satellite a100-st2311 battery: a touchpad (85x49mm) and an AccuPoint device. Both are comfortable to use and the AccuPoint doesn't get in the way while typing, although the buttons for the AccuPoint are a little too hard to press. The touchpad supports gestures: pinch zoom, pivot rotation, pan scrolling (using two fingers to scroll) and circular motion scrolling. Only pinch zoom is enabled by default in the Toshiba Touch Pad driver.

A fingerprint reader resides between the left and right touchpad buttons and it was accurate during our tests, even when we swiped messily. The fingerprint reader can be used to log in to the system, and it can also be used in conjunction with Toshiba's Fingerprint Utility to act as a substitute for passwords to your most-visited sites. Annoyingly, this only works with Internet Explorer, not with Firefox or Chrome. Face recognition is also available for logging in to the system. Data is protected by a sensitive motion detector that parks the hard drive's heads whenever it senses a bump or excessive movement. Its sensitivity can be adjusted.

The edges of the dell inspiron 1545 battery house a DVD burner, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, DisplayPort, eSATA, a combination headphone/microphone port, an ExpressCard/34 slot, an SD card slot and four USB 2.0 ports (including the eSATA port, which does double-duty as a USB port). One of the USB 2.0 ports is also a USB 3.0 port and Sleep-and-charge is supported, too. The base has a connection for a docking station.

You also get a webcam, Bluetooth and dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi. A SIM card reader was present in our test model, but a 3G modem and software were not installed.

Specifications and performance

On the inside, the Tecra R850 runs a Second Generation Intel Core i5-2520 CPU, which has two cores, Hyper-Threading and a frequency of 2.5GHz. You also get 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450M graphics and a 7200rpm, 500GB hard drive. In our performance tests, the Tecra managed similar results to the hp pavilion dv8000 battery, which uses the same CPU, but its graphics performance was better than the Lenovo's thanks to the extra grunt of the discrete AMD graphics chip.

Battery life

The inclusion of a separate graphics card didn't hinder the Toshiba's battery life. It lasted 4hr 15min in our rundown tests, in which we disable power management, enable Wi-Fi, maximise screen brightness and loop an Xvid-encoded video file. It's an excellent time for a 15.6in laptop, especially since its 6-cell, 66 Watt-hour battery isn't large and sits snugly in the spine of the chassis without protruding. We have been disappointed in the battery life of many previous Toshiba units in the last 6-12 months, so we're pleased that this Tecra was able to record such a good time. You can use Toshiba's eco utility to get even more life out of it — it can be invoked by pressing the shortcut button above the keyboard.

User comfort

Performance and hp pavilion tx2000 battery life aside, what's great about the Tecra R850 is its usability. Despite being a big unit, it's comfortable to use on your lap for long periods of time. It doesn't get overly warm and its fan is barely audible — you probably won't hear it over the sound of your fingers hitting the keyboard. We do wish its screen was better though, as text looked a little washed out toward the middle of the screen, and we regularly had to fiddle with the viewing angle. It's definitely not a great screen for viewing photos, but is fine for viewing graphs and PowerPoint slides.

Pre-installed software

Another annoyance is the prolonged set up time once you pull the Tecra R850 out of the box. Even though it was brand new, we had to restore it to its factory settings, which took well over an hour. A lot of extra software is installed that business users and administrators probably won't want — no less than 11 services show up in the Windows System Tray area upon boot up. This includes a 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security and the Toshiba Bulletin Board application. It's almost the same hard drive image that's used for Satellite notebooks, which are aimed at home users.

The Toshiba webcam utility is one of the more annoying pre-installed applications because of its interface. It sits hidden at the top-left edge of the screen and surfaces every time you put the cursor over it. It will also show up if you accidentally overshoot the mark when you're aiming for the File menu in an application or trying to change tabs in Firefox 4, for example. Apart from sometimes being annoying, its interface could use some sprucing up, and this is a knock on most of Toshiba's software — the elegant physical looks of the Tecra aren't mirrored in Toshiba's pre-installed utilities.

For system administrators, the Tecra R850 comes with Intel's vPro and Active Management technology, which allows for the laptop to be remotely managed and diagnosed if any problems arise.

Conclusion

Despite our quibbles with the set up time, pre-installed software and the poor screen, the Tecra R850 is a great business notebook. It has a top-notch hardware design that looks good, feels good to use and, perhaps most importantly, feels strongly built. Its dell inspiron 1521 battery life is also very good for a 15.6in notebook.

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next blog: Household battery recycling made easier in California

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Household battery recycling made easier in California

Thanks to a grant from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) is making it easier for consumers to recycle household NIKON EN-4 battery. Since 2006, the State of California has banned disposal of these types of PENTAX OPTIO S40 battery in the trash. The SGVCOG is creating a program for consumers to support proper battery recycling and management by providing convenient drop-off locations throughout the San Gabriel Valley.

In preparation for the launch of a pilot CANON DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS battery take-back program, SGVCOG conducted focus groups and phone survey research of San Gabriel Valley residents in 2010 that revealed more people would recycle household hazardous materials if recycling were more convenient. Research findings include:

• Only 59 percent of those surveyed were aware of the KODAK KLIC-7001 battery disposal ban.
• 56 percent of respondents still dispose of batteries in the trash.
• Residents stated that they continued to dispose of batteries in the trash despite knowing about the disposal ban because recycling was so inconvenient.

Since the current system was clearly not working, the residents were surveyed on possible alternatives and 85 percent indicated that they are likely to participate in a retailer take-back program for used OLYMPUS LI-40B battery and lamps, which led the SGVCOG to develop a take-back program.

The SGVCOG pilot SONY NP-FR1 battery take-back program will provide convenient drop off locations for consumers in the San Gabriel Valley by partnering with local businesses to provide collection services. Participating businesses display an identifying sticker in their window and place a collection box, provided by SGVCOG, within their store where consumers can properly dispose of non-working CANON NP-E3 battery. This program is the first to collaborate with local retailers in the area and identify best practices that other local governments can implement.

The collection sites range from grocery stores to camera shops throughout the San Gabriel Valley.

more tags: FUJIFILM NP-40 battery, NIKON EN-EL5 battery, Sony DCR-TRV19 charger, SANYO DB-L20 battery, SONY NP-FR1 battery, PANASONIC DMW-BCH7E battery, CASIO NP-20 battery, CANON NB-7L battery, JVC BN-VF714 battery, CANON BP-511 battery, NIKON EN-EL14 battery, SONY NP-F330 battery

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