This is what I call a Battery!
Written: May 25 '03 (Updated Oct 08 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Long life, no memory effect, infolithium system
Cons: it is very big, price
The Bottom Line: This battery is great if you're going to be away from a plug or if you have a big LCD, like mine. Even though the size is big, highly recommended
|
|
|
| ellesboro's Full Review: Sony InfoLithium M Series Battery with SQ NPQM91 |
I own the Sony DCR-TRV38, the new 2003 camcorder. Now the battery included stinks. Only about 50 min. I also have a 6 hour battery, the QM71. But still, with my big 3.5 touch LCD screen, this wasn't enough. I had to go for the big guns. I picked up a NP-QM91, a Sony M-Series battery, at Best Buy, where I work, and so far it's been great.
BATTERY LIFE
My camcorder says it can get up to 9 hours of battery life using the NP-QM91. That's bare-bone recording. No zooming, no nightshot, no switching modes. Well, any normal person uses these features sometimes and so you don't get 9 hours on a normal charge. I was surprised, however, at how long I actually did get on the battery. After using it during for a normal day of filming, I got about 6 to 7 hours of use, which is great compared to my QM71, on which i got about 4 hours.
CHARGING THE BATTERY
To charge the battery, just attach it to the camcorder. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to charge completely. Since this is a Super Quick Charge battery, you can purchase Sony's quick charger and that cuts the charging time by about 50 - 60%. When charging the battery on the camcorder or the charger, you can see how many minutes are on the battery. The amount goes up as it continues to charge.
NO MEMORY EFFECT
Since this is a lithium-ion battery, it means there is no memory effect. On older batteries, like Ni-Cad (Nickel Cadium) a memory effect would occur. This means if you didn't completely discharge the battery before recharging it, a memory would remain on the battery, reducing its life. Because of this, Ni-Cad batteries were unreliable and didn't last long. Lithium-ion has no memory effect so the life of the battery is a lot longer, and even after a year of continuous useage, charges very close to a full charge. But like with any battery, using it will eventually start to decrease its life. Therefore, the life of the QM91 is about 3 years.
INFOLITHIUM METERING SYSTEM
Sony employs a very neat system to show how much battery life is left. When using your camcorder, it tells you how many minutes are left on the battery, and it is very close. There is a special chip inside all Sony batteries that allows the camcorder to detect the amount of life left. This feature comes in very handy.
SIZE AND PRICE
Well, since it does have a very long life, the battery is quite large and somewhat expensive. However, it is worth the money purchasing one large battery than having a bunch of little 2 hour batteries. I found that even though the battery is big, I was still able to hold the camcorder steady and didn't disrupt the center of balance too much.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a great battery, it last long, and has the no memory effect. It has saved me many times when I have had to film for long periods of time. For me, since I film a lot, and my camcorder has the 3.5 inch touch screen LCD, it's very useful. If you don't use your camcorder that much and don't want something too big, get the NP-QM71, which is the same thing except you get about 4 1/2 hours of use instead of 7 hours with the QM91. If you have any questions, email me at jamesporemba@gmail.com
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ellesboro
|
|
Member: James Poremba
Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
I'm 20, love photography, cinematography, and post -production. Currently attending RyersonU for film studies.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.