Battery replacement?

[chrisg_uk]

Well I certainly seem to have sparked a lively debate, and many thanks for all your input. I’m very interested in the Lithium-Polymer technology and will be watching that as it develops and hopefully proves itself to be the answer we have all been searching for. But promises have been made before, and to date, most rechargeable batteries fail for one reason or another long before the device itself. I still don’t accept the argument that it is too difficult and expensive to integrate user replaceable batteries: Mobile phone manufacturers manage it very well indeed. I’d be very happy with a player the size of my ancient Motorola RAZR, several years old and now on its third battery. By contrast, I have an mp3 player less than two years old that no longer holds a useful charge and is therefore beyond economic repair. Many people seem to find that acceptable but I do not. You can call me a dinosaur or whatever you want, but if something still works, I don’t want to throw it away in favour of the next shiny new thing. It would also be very useful to be able to carry a spare charged battery. I still think this is a deliberate policy by manufacturers to create premature obsolescence, but I think they are missing a trick: I think lots of people have been caught out by non-replaceable batteries and are getting fed up with it. No doubt the debate will continue, but I shall continue my search for a more sustainable device.