First of all, all electronic stuff require a power source, and most portable ones, if not all, such as smartphones, cameras, etc. require batteries to function. They may vary in appearance but it's still a battery nonetheless. Now we can't really avoid buying batteries since there still haven't been any discovery that aims to replace them and I don't see it happening in the near future. Heck, even remote controls nowadays still use cylindrical batteries.
I've never heard of Kirkland batteries. I'll look out for them and just hope that we have them here. I too usually go for Duracell, which from the name gives the impression that they should last a while but i feel they just don't last long enough. You know, I also worry about the disposal of batteries. I just feel like they don't belong in a regular rubbish bin. I'll have to ask if there's a place that recycles them locally!
Yeah I dislike using batteries for my electronics. I always need to replace them. The only advantage of it is that you can take the electronic anywhere if it runs by batteries. So batteries can be better than having to plug it up for it to work. Plugged up electronics are only able to go as far as the cord can go. But it depends on if you want to move it or not. I used to love that little colorful portable fan that ran by batteries. It was awesome on hot days, but when the batteries ran out it became not so awesome... What's better than plugging the electronic up though is if it can be charged. Charging things up has always been my favorite. Charging things up is more like a combination of both. You have it in the wall to charge, and then you can take it anywhere without the plug having to be in it. But without batteries in it that need to be replaced at some point.
Yeah I hate batteries ever since I was a kid. Since most electronics nowadays drains your battery in a matter of hours, it's even worse when you have to buy a pair every time it dies. I usually stick with devices with chargers since they're cheaper in the long run.
I never used to avoid buying things that need batteries but recently I've noticed just how high the cost of batteries can get so I've definitely started to cut down on the things I buy that need them. Of course some things it's hard to avoid buying things that need batteries, such as controllers for TVs or clocks, but on the whole I tend to try to avoid that now where I can. I think it's more cost effective to get things that don't need batteries. Recently I bought some lights that work from solar energy and only come on at night once it's dark enough. They're great as they'll never need batteries!
Depends on the battery. I have a battery recharger in my home that fits for almost all batteries I can find on market (obviously not car batteries or watch batteries). Given this, I don't particularly avoid buying electronics, even if they use batteries. When they're gone, just take them out, plug the recharger and voíla, full batteries after 30 minutes.
For clocks I don't really mind buying batteries repeatedly, but with other gadgets, I will actually mind buying batteries repeatedly, and to save money I will actually just buy an adaptor, that's what I did when I was actively playing Game Boy Color, or a rechargeable battery set.