Last night I purchased Ever Ready’s rechargeable battery set that came with a charger and four AA cells (cost: Rs. 300). The instructions on the pack say that the first time, the batteries must be charged for a minimum of 16 hours. After that the cells must be charged for a minimum of 12 hours everytime! I wonder how long the batteries last ?! I am going to be using them with an MP3 player. Duracell Alkaline batteries used to give me about 20 hours of listening time consistently. A regular non-rechargeable pair of Ever Ready battery gave me about 4 hours the last time I used them. But then,I forgot to switch on the hold button on MP3 player after I had switched it off. So it is possible that I may have drained the battery accidentally.

But I seriously doubt if I will get 12 hours of listening time with these rechargeable one. The reason I purchased them is that I save more using these. But I wonder if the people at Ever Ready have thought about reducing the recharging times.;-)

Also check out this comparison of performance and rates of batteries from different companies.