There appear to be two main camps of opinion concerning 95LX batteries. One side, used to working with calculators feels that the battery life is too short. The other side, familiar with portable computers, is amazed by the battery life provided by the 95LX. The fact that there are a number of different types of AA batteries for the 95LX further complicates the discussion.
This article explores the battery types and provides test results that you may find useful in determining the respective uses of the different types of batteries.
There are four different types of AA batteries that can be effectively used in the 95LX; alkaline, nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-metal-hydride (NMH), and lithium. The latter two are brand new and represent some exciting possibilities.
The HP 95LX User's Guide only recommends the use of alkaline batteries. There is a sound reason for this. The battery management software in the 95LX is designed to give you a warning when the charge on the two batteries decreases from 3.0v (volts) to 2.0v, and to shut down the machine at 1.8v. This provides an average user with a wide operating range and time to respond to the low battery warning before the machine shuts down.