I believe it was Mark who pointed out the dangers of poorly built Li-Ion
batteries as noted as this site.
<http://t5r.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/e1/clonetests.htm> Many are poorly
constructed and lack safety features to prevent fire or explosion if
short circuited or overheated durinc charging.
Since then I have been looking for a "name brand" battery to replace my
one remaining Minolta NP-400 equivalent ebay special. The first of
two of those has already failed after less than 1 year. Since I have
the optional two battery vertical grip (with a pair of real Minolta
batteries) I no longer have a spare pair when the first pair runs out
after powering the anti-shake all night. $45 at B&H for the real thing
was too much and $29 for off-brands at B&H was still putting me off.
I decided to do a further search today and was surprised to find a
Maxell equivalent listed for $19.99 at J&R Electronics
<http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4030542>
I note that they also carry the Canon BP-511 equivalent (10D, 20D, etc)
but not the Olympus BLM-01 equivalent. I did a search on Froogle for
the BLM-01 but didn't find it. Then I decided to go to the horse's
mouth at Maxell
<http://www.maxell-usa.com/Content/Pages/digitalCrossRef.asp?department=consumerbatteries>
and you can see that they do make such a thing. I leave it up to you
E-1, E-300, E-500 owners to find where you can actually buy it.
I knew that I respected the Maxell name but never really knew anything
about the company. I decided to investigate that further and discovered
that Maxell is a subsidiary of Hitachi. Good enough for me. I assume
their Li-Ion batteries have all the necessary safety features and are
well constructed. For all we know the real NP-400, BLM-01 and BP-511
have always been built by Maxell.
Chuck Norcutt
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