Harking back to the title of the thread--"Other Options" includes (gasp!) hand tools. These are not mentioned in 11 pages on cords, generators, and different types of batteries. In many instances the total time and bother to use an appropriate hand tool is less than that expended to use a power tool.
To wit: A 2" lilac or dogwood branch breaks under snow load or high winds. I can reach into an unlocked shed, grab a folding pruning saw, cut the limb, and replace the saw in the shed in a few minutes. Or I can unlock a locked shed, fuel a chainsaw, cut the branch, and re-store the chain saw. Or I can go to the basement, move a few cases containing jig saw, grinder, sander, etc. to get at the case containing the sawzall, fit a pruning blade, cut the branch, and re-store the blade and saw. (Time carrying the branch to a brush pile the same for all 3 methods.)
Similar arguments may be made regarding combination wrenches and hand ratchets vs corded, battery, or air-powered impact drivers or wrenches; or almost any hand tool.
Well, given the OP was looking for potential alternatives for
corded (and older
NiCad cordless) power tools it'd seem pretty reasonable to assume that most of the tasks being performed would go beyond where hand tools would be suitable/desirable.
Personally (continuing on with the tree example) in my case the hand pruning saws I have are in a locked storage shed (with the generator, power washer, etc), but the cordless tools are in the house & not that far from the door for the most used items (e.g. blower) as are all the batteries. So in the case of trimming a tree limb it'd actually take me longer to get out the needed hand tools than it would to grab the cordless reciprocating saw (the pruning, wood and all other blades are store in the same bag as the one I primarily use) along with slapping in the appropriate battery as I head out the door.
Of course it may just be me and my property/location, but it hardly ever seems to just be one limb that needs to be trimmed instead it's usually enough that I'm making a decision between a cordless reciprocating saw or a cordless* chainsaw - and whether I'll be use the bucket or grapple on the tractor for clean up.
(*getting out a gas chainsaw or gas polesaw is usually reserved for felling/bucking/trimming trees & limbs over a foot in diameter - or projects that will take a few hours to most of the day)
So in my case 80 to 90% of the time what I need to do seems to fall between hand tools and gas/diesel tools (or heavy machinery) and as a result I store my tools accordingly. Which means the cordless tools usually end up being the most accessible, and that also means I've had a few cases where a hand tool would probably have been the more appropriate tool to use, but since it was going to take longer to find and dig it out a power tool was used instead.
Though there are some applications where hand tools are the preferred option (not sure I'll be switching to any sort of powered torque wrench in the near future) -- and the small pruning shears kept in the tractor tool box for those nuisance branches under 1/2 inch in diameter isn't likely to be replaced any time soon either. Likewise when removing small roots/stumps I'd rather use a mattock than rent an excavator or running a reciprocating saw blade through the dirt (though that apparently works fairly well).
Of course in some cases good quality and/or high-end hand tools may even make cordless tools seem low priced by comparison (e.g. crosscut & rip saws, hand planes) even before the cost/effort to maintain the blade & teeth are considered.
....but then everyone's needs, uses & desires will vary.
