Hey things haven't changed so much, my Line 6 Variax 300 only has a battery life of 2 hours .... if I'm lucky. But I only use it for a few songs a night mainly for acoustic guitar emulations on stage so it isn't so big a deal but would be if I was to use it all night. But it was real cheap ( $350 ) and is so much easier than having a real acoustic on the tiny stages we play on. Plus the emulations aren't bad at all. And it can also double up as a Fender or Gibson type electric guitar if I break a string during a set on my main guitar. I even use it to play a banjo picking part when we play Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" so I live with the needing a fresh battery problem every night or so.