I'd be real interested in some evidence that the cheapest of the cheap bottom-line cell handsets are sold with lithium batteries.
OK, GO HERE. The Motorola GSM C139 is the Tracfone that Walmart sells for under $20.00.
I'd post a photo of the battery from that phone directly, but they might not appreciate the image and hotlinking bandwidth theft..... But here is the jist of their description of the battery:
"The back cover, which hides the battery compartment, has no backlash, though can be easily removed. A 920 mAh Li-Ion battery is applied. The maker claims it is capable of about 450 hours of standby time and about 11 hours of talks. In Moscow we had the device working for averagely 5-6 days in case of two hours of talks and minimal use of other functions. Full recharging takes approximately 2 hours. Battery life is rather untypical for this class and makes a good advantage of the phone."
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Lithium batteries are getting pretty cheap. I've imported a few at a time from China for as little as $3.50 each for my own hobby electronics use. Imagine how much less Motorola pays for them buying by the thousands at a time.
They are no longer so esoteric as to be used only in top of the line devices, nor are they any longer so expensive that it is practical to re-engineer devices for NiMH or NiCd batteries just to save a couple of bucks on a discount model.
P.S. {to everyone} I finished my BLOG ENTRY on this subject if you want a better idea of where I'm coming from, and what is at the root of some of our minor disagreements from last night/this morning.