Hi,
In regards to the discussion of the batteries, as a representative of the company I have the 'authorization' to /suggest/ the following information. Yes, we had previously done Beta testing on a new, special battery, designed exclusively and specifically for use with the MFLB. It is a LSD/HSD hybred cell, having more power and good retention, with some custom/secret internal features which I cannot talk about. A number of these were sent earlier this year to select members of this forum for testing (we love you FC!), with excellent results. As a result, our custom battery manufacturing integration is moving forward, even though efforts like that (special adjustments to the internal chemistry) generally take years to develop and implement, not to mention exceptional up-front costs.
We expect that the development of improved batteries, and energy storage technology in general, will always be an area of intensive ongoing research -- not just by ourselves, but by a rather large number of companies. To some extent, these are incremental, though important improvements. As such, all that I can really do is beg for your patience as we continue with the effort to bring you the best and best performing products and tools possible. Though it can be a lot of fun to do this sort of work, _Real_Art_takes_time_, and can be very expensive to do right.
Given both the excellent test results with the custom MF cells and the ongoing requests of the connoisseurs on this forum both for alternative woods and better batteries, we have started shipping the new custom cells with the premium Walnut and Cherry wood kits. If you purchase a premium wood kit direct from us, you will get the new batteries.
Unfortunately, at the moment, the premium kits are the only reliable way to get these cells, as we simply do not have very many of them ourselves. Integrating and deploying new manufacturing and cell build processes is *not* easy or fast! It is our hope that we will be able to begin to phase in retail sales of these new cells over the next few months. Once that is done, it is our expectation that we will have completed the general roll-out of the new cells, for all kits shipped, by next summer. In the meantime, for everyone's benefit, my /request/ is that any public discussion of the new MF batteries be limited to the FC forum, if at all possible, until we get a little further along in our efforts.
There are a lot of exciting developments coming -- things we have been working on for the last two years to prepare. All I can suggest in the interim is "watch this space"!
-- Magic-Flight