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June 9, 2009 12:06 PM PDT

Nikon greens L100 with NiMH battery option

by Joshua Goldman
  • 1 comment

(Credit: CNET/Sarah Tew)

It seems Nikon has realized the Coolpix L100's lack of support for rechargeable NiMH batteries wasn't the greenest move (or maybe it was a secret plan all along). The digital camera manufacturer announced Tuesday an eventual firmware update to correct the situation.

I get the convenience of AA batteries in pocket cameras, but the L100 requires four of them and only supports alkaline and lithium-ion disposable batteries, approximately good for 350 and 900 shots, respectively. The NiMH option will get you around 600 shots before you need to charge up.

According to Nikon, the firmware update will be available in summer 2009, making this budget point-and-shoot megazoom a more attractive option. Of course, this doesn't improve its merely OK photo quality or the fact that you can't control ISO. But for some, that comes second to having a 15x zoom lens and AA batteries as a power source.

Being released simultaneously with the firmware update are a four pack of Nikon AA NiMH batteries (EN-MH2-B4) and a charger/battery combo set.

October 21, 2008 3:41 PM PDT

Logitech keyboard-mouse combo is pricey, but darned near perfect

by Justin Yu
  • 2 comments

You might balk at the $130 price tag, but this time more actually means better. The Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro combo puts two of our favorite products together in one package: the Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Keyboard and the Logitech MX 1100 Cordless laser mouse.

Both products received very high marks from their respective editors, and the MX1100 mouse even managed to win an Editors' Choice award. This time around, we're sticking to our guns and rewarding this winning combo as well.

One of the most significant hardware changes in the bundle that we don't speak much of in the review is the mouse's rechargeable battery. In our separate review of the MX1100, we weren't very happy to see that it used alkaline batteries for juice. We cut it some slack since it meant one less power adapter to throw into our mountain of cords, but Logitech really came through this time and includes a rechargeable battery with the system.

Logitech advertises two months of power per charge, and although we don't have the time or the resources to perform a drain test, we used the device for a full week and kept it on 24 hours a day and barely saw the drain indicator move. In our opinion, that's worth the bimonthly mouse charging.


Read the full review of the Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro.
May 30, 2008 11:17 AM PDT

Xbox 360 gets some base-charging love from Nyko

by Jeff Bakalar
  • 1 comment

(Credit: Nyko)

Nyko has announced the release of an Xbox 360-compatible charging base, much like the PlayStation 3 one the company debuted almost two months ago.

The Nyko Charge Base 360 comes with two NiMH rechargeable batteries fitted with contact points that allow you to simply drop the controller into the included cradle. The base can charge one battery in 2 hours and two in 4. Nyko says that each full battery charge should net you about 25 hours of play time.

Microsoft offers a Quick Charge Kit for around $30 that only comes with one battery and charges a single pack in 3 hours.

The Nyko Charge Base 360 will retail for $35 and is available now. Check back with CNET in the coming weeks for a full review. A limited-edition black-and-gold version of the Charge Base will go on sale June 2.

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