"Actual" battery life of NH-14WM 1400mah, not SONY's stated life

[burns3016]

Hi ! I've just recently purchased my 4th MD unit (a MZ-NH900) & it is the first unit that uses the Ni-MH gumstick type batteries. All my previous models use AA's, which are just fine & give excellent playing times.

Anyway, what I'm wondering is what is "your" (ie. anybody & everybody) personal experience with playing times with the NH-14WM 1400mah batteries ? What sort of time can I expect when playing at either LP2 (132kbps) OR Hi-SP (256kbps) ?

I know the manual gives a crappy time for the supplied NH-10WM (ie. something like 8-10hrs). But what I'm looking for is actual "field" experience ie. your own ideas on probable play times with the 1400mah NH-14WM's.

[Tiesto]

well my experience wasnt that good. I bought a couple of GP prismatic (1400mAh) batteries plus charger for my NH900. I dont know whether it has to do with some sort of memory effect or something else but those batteries at HiMD mode achieve a poor performance almost the same battery life stated in the user manual for the Sony NH-10WM, however when I tried it with the Sharp prismatic (1400mAh) that came with the DS70 the battery life improves about two hours. Perhaps with the Sony NH-14WM the performance achieves better results, what has to be proved. On the other hand the battery performance at MD mode is quite good, not that good as the E10 (which has the most reliable battery life) or the DS70, but I dont complaint.

What I really admit is one of those things that pushed me to the DAP realm was the poor battery life and load times of the NH900 at HiMD, I dont know... but one thing is for sure, now I dream of a MZ-EH1

Edited January 23, 2006 by Tiesto

[Toddz]

I would back that up in the fact i have used a sony nh-14wm in my mznh-900 and have noticed no extra battery life what so ever,in fact i think it is slightly worse for some reason,just stick with the standard plus an aa,also does anyone have any thoughts on why the 900 needs the extra aa pack because the mznh700 i had had similiar battery life with a standard aa,is it the 900`s digital amp ?? that requires extr power ???

regards

toddz

[pauljones52]

Toddz, from what I gather the digital amp is more power efficient so should save battery life rather than increase it. burns3016, you can get higher capacity batteries but they may not charge to full capacity within the minidisc player as it was designed for a lesser capacity battery. I read that people who had the 1400mAh one as standard and tried to upgrade to a 1750mAh one did not notice an increase in battery life unless the battery was charged from the wall. Would be worth the upgrade but I would reccomend using a wall charger with it.

Matt

[Toddz]

Thnx for your reply matt.... so if the digital amp is more power efficient,is there something else that makes the mznh-900 more power hungry?? does anyone no the reason for this??

thnx

toddz

[burns3016]

Toddz, from what I gather the digital amp is more power efficient so should save battery life rather than increase it. burns3016, you can get higher capacity batteries but they may not charge to full capacity within the minidisc player as it was designed for a lesser capacity battery. I read that people who had the 1400mAh one as standard and tried to upgrade to a 1750mAh one did not notice an increase in battery life unless the battery was charged from the wall. Would be worth the upgrade but I would reccomend using a wall charger with it.

Matt

Thanxz Matt J.

I have purchased a seperate charger for the 1400mah batteries, because as like you, I also am aware that the MZ-NH900 is only? designed to charge the supplied battery which is 900mah - and therefore would only charge a larger capacity batttery only up to the 900ma & leave it only partially charged (at least this what I am lead to believe from reading others experience when charging the higher capacity batteries in the MZ-NH900 unit).

Personally, apart from the "slimming" of the unit, I don't know why all the models don't use good old AA batteries instead of the gumstick-type ?

Edited January 23, 2006 by burns3016

[Richard]

I have an original NH-14WM battery from Sony purchased from a store (as opposed to from eBay where dodgy batteries are rife) and with my NH900 it definitely gives around 4-5hrs extra playback over the NH-10WM in Hi-SP.

[burns3016]

I have an original NH-14WM battery from Sony purchased from a store (as opposed to from eBay where dodgy batteries are rife) and with my NH900 it definitely gives around 4-5hrs extra playback over the NH-10WM in Hi-SP.

Dodgy batteries from eBay ? What exactly do you mean ? Is it the following ? :

I have just recently purchased eight (8) Sony NH-14WM 1400mah batteries (all packaged & sealed). They were imported from China and I paid about one tenth what I would have paid if I had purchased them from a reputable Sony dealer here in Australia. I have not tried one yet, and I admit I have been unsure from the start about their quality. But, I figured they were cheap because they were coming directly from their manufacturing site ie.(China OR Asia). Am I wrong ? Are they most likely inferior "knock-offs" ? I hope not ! Because I could have purchased 2 quality batteries for the same total from a SONY dealer. I would prefer to have 2 quality batteries, rather than 8 cheap "knock-offs", as would anybody.

Please supply any helpful info you have, as I am new to the world of GUMSTICK batteries. I have always owned MD-recorders that use only AA-batteries (which I think are better all-round - ie. price, power, availability).

[bdenton]

When I was in China last year I purchased an Okley back pack for $8. It was anot a knock off but either an over run or it "fell off a truck". On arrival in the States I saw a guy with the exact same pack and he paid $150 for it.

I'm sure your batteries are fine.

Cya

[burns3016]

Thnx for your reply matt.... so if the digital amp is more power efficient,is there something else that makes the mznh-900 more power hungry?? does anyone no the reason for this??

thnx

toddz

Given that we're assuming the digital amps are more power efficient, I would say that the MZ-NH900 would be less power-hungry than similar non-digital amp models, not more power-hungry.

I'm assuming you're saying it's more power-hungry because battery life is not very good ?

The thing is however, we are talking about different battery types that power the digital vs. non-digital Hi-MD units. ie. MZ-NH600, 700 & 800 all use AA batteries. Whereas, the MZ-NH900 uses a gumstick with the possible add-on of a AA.

To actually compare the "power-hungriness" of these models you would need to use batteries in each unit with the same power. I have not seen gumsticks that can get up to 2300mah etc., whereas AA rechargeables can. Gumsticks tend to stop at approx 1400mah (with the exception of the 1750mah RARE ones). So by using a 1400mah gumstick in your MZ-NH900 you will not get as much "life" as you would by using a 2300mah AA in a MZ-NH600 etc, even though the MZ-NH900's digital amp is supposedly more power efficient.

These are my thoughts on the subject. Could be wrong though !

Edited April 14, 2006 by burns3016

[MDX-400]

But, I figured they were cheap because they were coming directly from their manufacturing site ie.(China OR Asia). Am I wrong ? Are they most likely inferior "knock-offs" ? I hope not ! Because I could have purchased 2 quality batteries for the same total from a SONY dealer. I would prefer to have 2 quality batteries, rather than 8 cheap "knock-offs", as would anybody.

Please supply any helpful info you have, as I am new to the world of GUMSTICK batteries. I have always owned MD-recorders that use only AA-batteries (which I think are better all-round - ie. price, power, availability).

It is definitely possible to get counterfeit gumstick batteries, particularly from places like China and HK. The thing about the counterfeits is that they are very good at doing it so not easy to tell the difference. You have to buy from a reputable seller. Still they are just batteries and counterfeits may well perform as good as the Sony originals anyway.

Cells made in China are typically lower quality and lower capacity, but the counterfeits are never going to tell you that, lol. The typical MIC gumstick (unbranded, from a manufacturer I mean) is usually 1100mAh nominal. I believe some of the NH-10WMs may now bear the "Made in China" on them as Sony has started to cost cut--in fact that may be the whole reason why the 10WMs are packaged with equipment now. I'm uncertain as I do not have a 10WM. I have seen some NC-6WM NiCd gumsticks that are MIC though.

One way to tell [if the 14WMs bought from overseas are real] would be to load test/capacity test the battery, but that requires either careful testing or more expensive test equipment. But one do a more simple, more unscientific test--if they have a new Sony 14WM that came with a unit and a new battery imported from a seller and compare the play times.

As for AA batteries... Certainly an AA battery will outperform a prismatic cell. Prismatics have both less capacity and lower useful cell life. NiMH manufacturers have gone from 1500mAh to 2500mAh capacity in only a few years; the prismatic in the size we use has gone nowhere. Even the "limited edition" 1750mAh battery is not actually 1750mAh nominal, instead it is 1750 max. Every other battery is rated by nominal capacity (including the 14WM) so the 1750mAh ld. battery is probably more like 1600-1700mAh nominal. Where the prismatics win out of course is their form factor--thin and rectangular--you can't do that with a cylindrical cell obviously.

[RobA]

On my rh10, playing at Atrac3plus 48kbps I get about 8 hours. But I expect that is because I have my EL light set to "always on" as I hate having to click the jog dial to see the screen. Add the AA attachment, and I get about 25 hours, much better with AA's.

[rayzray]

turn OFF the "Quick" thinggy on the 900 and you'll get more power;; IMO ((it's sucking the power from the unit all the time)) even when you are not using it; just like Sony is sucking our patience with their wonders and blunders!

((i quickly read the above posts to see if someone said this; but because i never read a book in my life and hate reading ; i may have missed someting; if i wrongged then gong me!))

Edited April 15, 2006 by rayzray

[Spare Tire]

Indeed. I've had experience with both fake gumsticks bought on ebay from guys in hongkong or china and original gumsticks and it not only makes a big difference in terms of battery life for a charge but also the original ones will be able to go through more recharge cycles, and they don't bloat up the way fake ones do.

Watch out guys, don't charge fake batteries in your unit, use an external charger. Fake ones have cheap separators inside, if slightly damaged, when you recharge instead of charging up your battery would short curcuit internally, heat up, and expand. First time i didn't know about that, after an overnight charging, the fake gumstick expanded so much it didn't want to come out of my sharp mt877 anymore. That's the last time i'm buying batteries off ebay.

I don't see why you guys complain about gumstick batteries and wish you had AA instead when all the models using gumsticks have external AA battery cases for you to extend battery life anyways. It's a good solution for those who don't want the extra weight AND for those who want the extra battery life.

Edited April 15, 2006 by Spare Tire

[Top Cat]

Do you think GP 1450mAh $6 gumsticks are "fake"?

Aren't they safe to charge in recorder? I mean - if I agree to use only 900mAh of their capacity

[rayzray]

i've been using TWO GP gumsicks forever now; and charge them ONLY in the GP Charger; (because it's convienient for me).

i never have any problem (yet); love them; and ,, combined with the "AA" they last soooooooooo swekin long; they are like a bunch of Ever-readies but lay flatt like a corpse in a casket. (they are both 1400's).

[SHion]

turn OFF the "Quick" thinggy on the 900 and you'll get more power;;

BTW the "quick" thinggy on my NH900 has never had any functional effect.

OS bug ? Guess it !

[rayzray]

BTW the "quick" thinggy on my NH900 has never had any functional effect.

OS bug ? Guess it !

i (rayzray) would turn it off anyways; maybe a "phanthom off" is better than "no off". (it's strange how all the units act differently; if they were made in America; they would truly have better quality control; it's the law; and gives a few more jobs to ppl; thus leaving more jobs open for the illegals. eagles too; weebles no; girbles ; "eat em"; seagulls "meet em"!

[SHion]

i (rayzray) would turn it off anyways; maybe a "phanthom off" is better than "no off". (it's strange how all the units act differently; if they were made in America; they would truly have better quality control; it's the law; and gives a few more jobs to ppl; thus leaving more jobs open for the illegals. eagles too; weebles no; girbles ; "eat em"; seagulls "meet em"!

Excellent concise thesis rayzray.

[Tiesto]

burns3016, you can get higher capacity batteries but they may not charge to full capacity within the minidisc player as it was designed for a lesser capacity battery.

I wonder if the NH900 tourist model came with the NH-14WM battery...

[burns3016]

Indeed. I've had experience with both fake gumsticks bought on ebay from guys in hongkong or china and original gumsticks and it not only makes a big difference in terms of battery life for a charge but also the original ones will be able to go through more recharge cycles, and they don't bloat up the way fake ones do.

Watch out guys, don't charge fake batteries in your unit, use an external charger. Fake ones have cheap separators inside, if slightly damaged, when you recharge instead of charging up your battery would short curcuit internally, heat up, and expand. First time i didn't know about that, after an overnight charging, the fake gumstick expanded so much it didn't want to come out of my sharp mt877 anymore. That's the last time i'm buying batteries off ebay.

I don't see why you guys complain about gumstick batteries and wish you had AA instead when all the models using gumsticks have external AA battery cases for you to extend battery life anyways. It's a good solution for those who don't want the extra weight AND for those who want the extra battery life.

It's very true that the external AA battery case adds heaps of extra life, BUT ..... as I have said, why not just build all units to take ONLY AA's given that they have such a great relative playback life (compared to gumsticks) ? Who out there really wants to bulk their unit up with a flimsy AA-addon pack ? (I can see all the Apple iPod Nano uses out there gawking at my MD-unit's size already, so I imagine an AA-addon would have them in hospital with split sides from laughter). I absolutely hate the AA-addon because it adds heaps of bulk, and it feels very vunerable to damage. The only practical use I can see for the AA-addon is for stationary recording eg.band rehearsal or a concert. But in my case the AA-addon is useless, so I long for good-old AA power that lasts.

I originally held back on my purchase of my MZ-NH900 because it used the gumsticks (I already owned the MZ-NH600 & MZ-NHF800 Hi-MD units which both used AA-power only). Actually, at the time I wished they had sold the MZ-NH900 in two model types ie. one that uses AA only and one that uses the gumstick plus the AA-addon), as I would have immediately gone for the AA-only model.

Not to mention how easy & cheap AA's are to find & buy. If you find yourself out in public with a flat gumstick and no back-up insight, you are stuck. But, with the AA-powered models, you can buy an AA from any petrol-store or general store no problem. But, I guess that's what the AA-addon is for right ? I still hate it though.

[Top Cat]

Now I'm too the happy owner of GP Power Bank Audio which came with coupla 1400 mAh GP gumsticks for $25

I was able to record THREE FULL 1 GB discs from the 1ST charge of each GP gumstick!

Then, to completely depleet the batteries (to "train" them) I had to play (there was insufficient power to record) those PCM recordings for quite long, like another full disc...