"JK98 wrote: http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/Site-suggestions-Product-feature/AA-battery-powered-mp3-player/td-p/634… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That’s a good thread!"
Not good enough to motivate Sandisk to make a great AA battery(or even AAA or other low cost swappable battery) powered player though. The thread is almost two years old.
I have 3 usb battery packs, the Tekkeon mp1550 which uses 4 AA nimh batteries, the Duracell Instant Power and the Lenmar Poweport Mini. The last twohave a built in Lion battery. I am happy with the Tekkeon mp1550 and Duracell Instant Power, but am disappointed with the Lenmar Powerport Mini and I suggest it be avoided. Aside from holding too little power, the Powerport Mini seems to lose charge at a much faster rate when idle than the other two chargers. The other two have a power switch which the Powerport Mini lacks.
The Tekkeon mp1550 has a voltage regulator and can charge nimh batteries in it via usb(charging is slow though, around 6 hours for 4 batteries). Having a voltage regulator for the output power from a AA battery powered usb battery pack is very important to protect your gear. I do suggest that people not use alkalines with the Tekkeon mp1550 as it might become very hot when using them, and much of the power might be wasted as heat. The heat might even be enough to damage the mp1550. I never used my mp1550 with alkalines, as I know how poorly alkalines are at putting at high curent, and know that the comments of others about it getting to hot with alkalines makes sense. It works great with nimh batteries though, and doesn’t get hot with them.
