this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 284 points 3 weeks ago (16 children)

What with the weird freebooting article? This ‘article’ is just a description of Alec’s video with the clickbait cranked up to ten. Gotta love a major corporation using small creators’ work for free ad revenue…

[–] [email protected] 167 points 3 weeks ago (15 children)

You could add the link so people don't contribute to ad revenue if you feel strongly! https://youtu.be/zsA3X40nz9w 💜

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm fairly sure that the image is even a screenshot from the video. Uncredited I notice.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

It is, I just watched the video an hour or so ago.

edit: In fact, until I read this thread, I didn't notice the URL and thought this was a link to the video.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That's enough YouTube videos just recapping an article. But I agree it's lazy

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think they mean the same thing happens alot in reverse: YT vids about news articles. Not wrong, but whataboutist.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago

also not relevant to Alex's content either.

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[–] [email protected] 165 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago

"Wait, is that a Duracell battery check?"

Oh man that transition. Chef's kiss. Amazing

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[–] [email protected] 110 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

But the video purports that normal people don’t really test batteries.

Yeah, it was a novelty that increased the price to manufacture and didn't actually add anything of value to users.

Either you put batteries in something and they worked or they didn't, and if they stopped working the next step is try different batteries whether or not the little gauge showed it had charge left.

Now if it was added to rechargeable batteries, it would be pretty useful because tou could do something with the knowledge of a battery being at 50%. But a lot of systems with rechargeable batteries have them built in and some other way to show remaining charge like a percentage on a screen.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 3 weeks ago

Now if it was added to rechargeable batteries, it would be pretty useful

I think the reason we haven't seen that is that NiMH rechargeables have fairly stable voltage during discharge while alkalines don't.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I think all of your points were covered in the video, sometimes almost verbatim.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I concur about rechargeables - it doesn't seem common for devices that take AA or AAA to have a battery gauge and it would be nice to be able to check the level on my rechargeables stock so I can know if I should top them off without needing to put each of them into the charger.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago

It was pretty useful as a kid for feeding my Gameboy and Game Gear with batteries I rescued from the junk drawers of friends and family. If they were low, I knew I had to save more often to avoid losing progress if they went dead while I was playing.

[–] [email protected] 81 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

I was a kid then, but I remember that I had to push so hard my fingers hurt... I used a multimeter.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Well the pros and cons of the multimeter are addresses in the video! He uses a meter on a dead battery and it still shows a deceptively reasonable voltage when not under load. The built-in tester draws more current.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

My technique is to use the 10a mode on the multimeter and check the battery. A full AA will do nearly 10 amps and dead ones much less. Careful with larger cells or rechargeables since you might blow the fuse in your meter.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago

That sounds a little like testing matches "Yes, that one works. I mean: worked."

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It turned out that batteries randomly lying around are always empty. Functioning batteries are still in the device it's operating or in the box it was sold in.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago

It broke too many thumbs.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This guy is great. He can make anything sound interesting.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 weeks ago

He makes everything sound interesting.

Ftfy

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

He used old batteries, but I actually had new Duracell batteries with this feature very recently, in 2022 or so (Germany).

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 weeks ago (14 children)

Did the power check work or was it snakeoil I remember trying to see it while hurting my hand.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

It did, see Technology Connections' latest video on it, he explains fully how it worked. Quite clever tbh.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The video is in the article.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Although, he admits in the video to "faking" his footage of it working, by using a off-camera heat source. (His batteries were quite dead.)

But, as someone that lived through this time, they did work, as long as you pressed hard enough in the right places. It was hard to tell if the battery was dead or if you weren't pressing hard enough

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

It never went away. I have a duracell battery with power check sitting next to me on my desk

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Does anyone remember the battery testers that were built into the packaging? I think they were based on the same concept.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

They are mentioned in the video.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I have a really distinct memory of finding a bunch of these in a friend’s house when I was a kid and every one was empty. After watching the TC video I think it’s more likely I just wasn’t pressing hard enough and had no way to know that. Anyway, I can see why they stopped making them.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 weeks ago

Yea, you have to press till it hurts, lol

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I remember those.

Would be nice to have them on my 18650s

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

The voltage-to-capacity radio for lithium is much less linear compared to alkaline so it wouldn’t really work well :(

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