Thinkpads Forum

Hi, i was wondering, if i buy a battery for my X61s at ebay, what i have to take care of. I dont want a battery that could maybe damage my notebook...

for example this one has no FRU:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Laptop-battery-IBM- ... dZViewItem

or that one looks mysterious too:

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-2A-Battery-For-IL ... dZViewItem

Anyone has experiences with those cheap batterys from ebay??

Cu



Penecho

I have had very good results over the years ordering various generic batteries from several different reliable ebay suppliers. Now I know that the faithful here will blast this statement: I would rather buy three or four generics for the same price of just one Lenovo branded battery. I believe this is most cost effective.

Folks will probably say I will have problems with generics. They are a gamble, for instance. However, look at the Lenovo battery problem with name brand Sony! I wouldn't be surprised to find out that my generic batteries were made in the same factory as the name brand.

My last battery purchase was just a month ago for a 4 cell X61 battery. It looks and fits identically compared to the OEM battery. It has the same 2.6aH rating. It just doesn't say Lenovo. It cost only $34.95 delivered versus $130 plus shipping and tax from Lenovo.

Can you PM me the name of the ebay seller you had good experiences with, regarding to the batterys?


Cu



Penecho

Can you also PM me as well? Thanks.

a PM here would be appreciated as well!

Hello treker, can you also PM me the ebay seller from whom you bought from? Thanks.

Since several people asked what ebayer sold me the battery: auctiontrove. However, I just noticed he did not have any X60 batteries currently.

I did a quick ebay search and found several 4 cell 2.4 or 2.6 amphour for $35 shipped. Many others slightly higher...around $50-60. Some have 1 year warranties.

I would not hesitate one minute from buying another generic one from ebay in the $35 shipped price range. When this one dies, I will do exactly that. It's been working just fine for a couple of months.

These batteries have no FRU or any information because these are NOT genuine Lenovo. I would not recommend using these, because they will lose their capacity very quickly. Try to find a genuine battery and confirm this with the seller and you will definititely be pleased. The batteries must have Lenovo written on them. Some 2006 batteries have IBM on them, but these are too old anyway.

when buying generic batteries, make sure you check the connector and fit.

For 732:
Of course, these are not Lenovo... no one here even thought they were original genuine Lenovo batteries. We are talking about GENERIC batteries. They cost about 1/4 what Lenovo charges.

Are they good value? I think so, as I discussed above. They may not be good for you if you must have a Lenovo sticker on your battery. For me they have performed excellently for the months I have used the generic. I notice absolutely no detrimental effects. They fit just as tight (or loose) as original battery. Look identical in all features...just doesn't say "Lenovo" anywhere. But the yellow sticker looks nearly identical. But more importantly, the battery lasts just as long as the original Lenovo battery...about 2.5hrs or so on wifi. I'll tell you in a year or so how the durability compares.

YMMV..."your mileage may vary"

There are many different variety of generic batteries, with varied fit and finish. I have tried generic batteries in every model of my Thinkpad, and there are many different quality that generic battery come in.

I recently bought a battery from ebay to replace the one in my X60, which died after about 16 months.

I knew that I wasn't purchasing an OEM battery, but rather a "compatible" unit and I was OK with that. I paid under $40 including s/h from Hong Kong, compared to about $135 for a high capacity OEM battery from Lenovo or elsewhere.

When I received the battery, the first thing I noticed is that it was smaller than I expected. I thought I was purchasing the high capacity battery (8 or 9 cell) because that's what this ebay battery was listed as being compatible with. Instead, I received the regular 6-cell battery.

I would've lived with the reduced capacity, but as it turned out the battery wasn't very compatible; a minute or two after showing 30% of power left, the laptop would abruptly turn off without going thorugh Standby or Hibernation, losing all the unsaved work.

The seller agreed to replace it, but I decided that S/H to HK was not worth the effort. From now on, I'll order batteries only from US-based vendors so that I can at least have it exchanged easily if it fails.

I decided to purchase the original Lenovo battery but unfortunately it is back ordered everywhere, so it looks like I'll have to wait a couple of months, meanwhile limping along with the HK battery.