[arantius]

In late 2010 I bought "24 Centura AA LSD NiMH Rechargeable Batteries" from eBay (for $33, so just under $1.66 each) -- specifically the long-life kind, that was around when I heard of their existence.

I've used them in remote controls that sat for months and continued to work fine, and in wii-motes for similar periods. I haven't measured the life/performance much more carefully than that. Except I do have a nice LaCrosse charger that measures things and claims to be putting in an average of 2Ah, which compares favorably to the (2300 or 2600 mAh if memory serves) usually inflated rating that they claim.

The trick, though, is that with rechargeables (and especially long-life like these), you keep a small but sufficient stock of charged batteries ready. When something goes dead, the dead batteries go in the charger, and the stock (immediately) goes in the thing. By the time the next thing dies, the previous set is charged and ready.