This is also why I have never considered the Switch a portable system. It was a hybrid that was never quite a “real” console or a handheld, and thus made compromises on both ends. I personally never used the Switch undocked, I’d have rather they sold a fixed model with no screen or joycons that just plugged in.
The real reason that Game Gear was so power hungry is that it was just a Sega Master System crammed into a handheld. This is why it felt wildly better and more advanced then the Game Boy. Sega did the same thing years later with the Sega Nomad aka a Genesis crammed into a handheld.
Link@rentadrunk.org 8 hours ago
Sure but the switch 2 has a rechargeable battery unlike the game gear which had to be supplied with new batteries every time.
I’m not sure if rechargeable AA were common in those days.
snooggums@piefed.world 8 hours ago
Rechargeable batteries were common, but in my experience they tended to not hold up as long as normal batteries and took 6-8 hours to recharge. At that time they also degraded quickly, were expensive, and overall just a massive hassle to try and manage.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 3 hours ago
The IBM thinkpad that runs on windows 95 that I have still has a vaguely functional battery. The battery can last a whole 5 minutes still, damned battery was probably more expensive to produce than the entire rest of the laptop.
fancy-straw-simple@piefed.ca 8 hours ago
The biggest problem with rechargeable dry cells is that each one supports 1.2 volts, while alkaline are 1.5. Some devices wouldn’t even run, most run more poorly and run out of battery even faster.
InFerNo@lemmy.ml 3 hours ago
Fwiw, should you need it, there are AA lithium batteries with a usbc slot for charging and they deliver 1.5v. I bought a pack out of curiosity and was very pleasantly surprised.