What is the mAh of the lastest iPod battery (the 20gig 4th gen or the new 30 gig video assuming they are the same with near 15 hours playback)?
Problem with using AA or AAA batteries are that they are too big, well the wrong shape anyway. My sony MD has a single AA battery and it lasts for AGES (using alkaline). But there is a big round bulge in the back, not really that much of a problem but can be annoying.
As far an I'm aware AA batteries will hold alot more power than say the HD5's battery. and especially if you get the engergiser lithium AA, that holds ALOT, I've done tests i think 2 years ago for my year 10 science project, i used a discharger designed for professional RC cars (radio controlled cars, they use 6 cell sub-c batteries, recently 3700mAh has been released) they are expensive devices with LCD display with all the info. My project was about what battery held the most power (mAh) and what the internal resistance was, also the average voltage. The discharge stopped when there was .8 volts per cell, i did it one cell at a time. The discharger can go up to 20 amps but these little batteries can't take that much so I think I put it down to .5 amps or something. Im not too sure on the results i think it was the duracell was the longest lasting alkaline, i think near 3000mAh, but the energizer lithium blew them all away at like 4100mAh, and plus it could also take a much higher amperage (on a separate test). Only catch is that its like 3 times the price. Cost is always a good compromise, like ferraris and high end stuff, although not everyone can afford them, but they should still be available. Question is, are there really any high end HDD daps out? I havn't heard of any.