Best place to get batteries for older Thinkpad models

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qviri
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Best place to get batteries for older Thinkpad models

#1 Post by qviri » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:14 am

I'm looking for a couple of batteries for some older Thinkpads, specifically a T60p and an X200.

Is there a currently acclaimed best source or sources? eBay? Any particular sellers?

I went random-eBay-seller route for batteries for X31 and X21 a while back, but predictably the batteries weren't super great (including shoddy electronics on the X21 one). Should I expect something better, or is this what we can get?

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Lenovo lists those for triple-figures, which I think is perhaps a bit expensive. What are the prices like when they run a sale?

I did a couple of forum searches for "battery" and "batteries," the best threads I found in first 20 pages of results were:
- "Replacement Battery" in the T60 forum, where there's a post recommending Anker on Amazon in addition to the usual routes, and they seem pretty well rated there - anyone else here have experience with those?
- "Best place to buy a battery" in the T400 forum, with recommendations for Dr Battery and Intelligent Batteries. Both of these are pretty close to me, but their X200 batteries look undersized in terms of Ah/W compared to stock
- "The lottery called Lenovo/X200 batteries" in the X200 forum, with some recommendations for cmp_battery2011 on eBay, who claims to sell proper-sized reasonably-priced batteries, but no reports after more than 4-5 months

Anything else I've missed? Anyone else you'd particularly recommend?

Thanks!

(And if someone here happens to have flush-fitting batteries for T60 and X200 specifically, here's my WTB thread.)
X220/IPS, T60p/IPS
Nothing endures but change

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Re: Best place to get batteries for older Thinkpad models

#2 Post by rkawakami » Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:49 pm

eBay batteries from random sellers have been hit-and-miss for me over the last several years. Most of the recent purchases have been for my X60 (8-cell) and Z61p (9-cell) systems. Occasionally you can find some good deals like unopened, 0 cycle batteries for under $30 but it's pretty rare:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300849365026 (40Y7003 for $26)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/280933728001 (40Y6797 for $28; was subject to recall and received a new replacement from Lenovo)

I generally stay away from eBay sellers who list multiple items they are invariably aftermarket units. Constructing searches using FRU numbers and sniping help a lot to find and win these gems.

As far as the "best, cheap, official" battery source, I'd go with the Lenovo Outlet store ( http://outlet.lenovo.com/ ) but they don't always have what you need.
Ray Kawakami
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
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