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 2 points 6 days 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.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

rechargable AA's before Eneloops were all absolute dogshit