[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by theducks

Li-ion's claim to fame is high power to weight ratio. This is great in a device like a Laptop or Camera that needs to grab good sized chunks of power right now.

Lithium-ion batteries do not suffer from the memory effect. They also have a low self-discharge rate of approximately 0.1% per month, compared with over 30% per month in common nickel metal hydride batteries, approx. 1.25% per month for Low Self-Discharge NiMH batteries and 10% per month in nickel cadmium batteries.[28] According to one manufacturer, Li-ion cells (and, accordingly, "dumb" Li-ion batteries) do not have any self-discharge in the usual meaning of this word.[19] What looks like a self-discharge in these batteries is a permanent loss of capacity (see below). On the other hand, "smart" Li-ion batteries do self-discharge, mainly due to the small constant drain of the built-in voltage monitoring circuit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery