Don’t get me going on the topic of
batteries. The only thing I have read that
so called “Heavy Duty” cells are good for
is a flashlight and I am not even convinced
of that. The name “Heavy Duty” is at least
50 (probably more than 100) years old and
describes an improvement of the original
carbon cell. The alkaline cell was
developed later (apparently during World
War 2) and it is far superior. The only
reason you can still buy "Heavy Duty" cells
is that there are suckers out there who are
fooled by the name and keep buying them
(very frequently since they don’t last very
long).
It is interesting to note that Consumer
Reports did an evaluation of different
types of alkaline cells and discovered that
although there are minor differences
between the no-name alkaline cells and name
brand alkaline cells, the difference is
very small, especially when compared to the
price difference. They also discovered
that the “High Drain” alkaline cells do
provide slightly better performance in
highest drain devices (digital cameras
primarily) they are not worth the extra
cost even when compared to the regular
cells of the same brand. When used in
other devices (MP3 players, CD Players,
flashlights, etc) “High Drain” cells
provided practically no improvement
whatsoever.