Used 4-AA Sanyo Eneloop NiMH rechargeable batteries on my MX-450. They lasted almost the same length of time as my previous remote, the URC-300 using 4-AAA Sanyo Eneloop NiMH batteries - 4 months.

I expected a longer life considering they are AA batteries.

I use the following settings on the MX-450:

Color Display:50% brightness & 5 sec. auto turn off

Button Lighting:Auto on is inactive & 5 sec. auto turnoff

Also, I rarely use the light button on the side of the unit.

I also decided to give the Energizer Ultimate Lithium 8X AA batteries a try. So far after two months of use they are still reading 100% charge. These batteries may last over one year.

Does anyone know how long ordinary alkaline batteries last in the MX-450?

I am sure glad that I don't have to deal with the built-in rechargeable batteries on other remotes such as on the 810, 880 & 980. I hear that they are real pain requiring a charge every 2-3 days.

How long they last has entirely due to use, settings and temperature.

every time you push a button you drain power from the remote. So if you are a user who is constantly adjusting the volume then your battery life will be short.

Yes, I understand what you are all saying. I am an Electrical Engineer and should understand how a battery in a device functions.

However, I have a problem with the comment made on temperature. I do not think that temperature would be a contributing factor for battery drain in this case unless people use their television sets and remote controls outdoors. Most people use their remote controls inside at room temperature.

I am not conducting a scientific or engineering study on the performance of batteries. I am just curious about what the average life for a set of AA batteries are for the MX-450.

I am sure that you realize that some remote controls drain batteries much faster than others. With enough data on the MX-450 average battery life, one should actually see a trend and determine if the device is a battery hog or not.

average lifespan on "Good" batteries is 3-6 months depending on usage, settings (and as stated temperature variance). A cheap/off brand battery can have a lifespan as short as a few weeks with the same kind of usage pattern.

High milliamp hour rechargeable's will generally last the longest based on their drain (output voltage) characteristics versus standard alkalines. For non-tech people reading this, rechargable batteries output a nearly constant full voltage output rating throughout their life/power span (milliamp rating) and then die almost instantly when they are out of power. Alkaline's decrease in voltage output at a fairly steady rate until the power required by the device is greater then what the battery can provide. What you will find is if you take dead (alkaline) batteries from a remote and put them in a less taxing load device you can still use the batteries for a while (rechargeables you can not).

I tried Energizer Recharge AA NHI5 1.2 2300mAh. Made in Japan Those lasted about 1 week, It was very hot weather around 30º Centigrade.

The battery indicator was showing 3 marks . But the remove entered a state where it displayed UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL flashing. This is not the normal screen shown when you change batteries. Replacing with alcalines works fine.

This device needs non rechargeable 1.5 V batteries, period.

As an electrical engineer you should also be aware that a rechargeable battery will have a more constant voltage output until the battery needs to be recharged and then there is a sudden fall-off and the remote dies quickly thereafter.

Alkaline batteries have a more gradual roll-off of their voltage over time until they don't have enough potential to power the device and then they are dead.

Battery life really sucks. For me it's about a month whether I use Duracell pro, or the cheapest kirkland batteries.

My old MX-500 lasted about 3 or 4 months.

It really should have been designed to be used with a charging dock.

I still think its a great remote, but I think any normal person would consider it unacceptable because of the poor battery life.

Note: anyone who is a member of remote central is not likely considered to be normal ;)

It's got a decent sized color screen. If you have it set to a bright settingor if you have it set to turn off after a longer delay, than the battery life will suffer. MIT you are constantly flipping through channels, it will also suffer.

Honestly, anything that lasts less than 2 months needs a charging cradle. Most people expect the batteries in a non-recharging remote to last 6-12 months at least. Most without LCDs will go for a couple of years on a pair of AA.

A device that gets only infrequent use like a remote, would benefit from slow-discharge NiMH cells like Sanyo Eneloop as well.

This is subjective. I personally do not like docking a remote. I would rather change the batteries every few months, which is about how long mine last. I buy batteries in bulk either at Costco or at one of my distributors.

Of course it's subjective. I'm trying to let you know how *most* consumers subjectively see this issue. So I'm speaking from a design, manufacturing and marketing perspective.

There's a certain threshold measured in terms of elasticity between effort and benefit to this problem like so many others. 2 months is a pretty fair benefit versus the effort of changing batteries, when a typical universal lasts many times that.

Here I go on my soapbox again (isn't that what you called it?) There must be a lot of room for landfill in your area for all those batteries you're throwing out. You might consider something with a little less impact on the environment.

Come on, I don't throw them in a landfill. That would just be stupid. I sit out on the front step and chuck them and little kids heads as they ride by on their bikes, and at old people driving by in their big gas guzzling 1970's Cadillacs.