3rd party battery suggestions?

[mfbernstein]

My X61 has now basically gone through 2 batteries. The Lenovo 4-cell enhanced one that came with the machine did well for almost a year but after 18 months, it can barely hold 15% of the original charge (according to the Lenovo power utility). An 8-cell Chinese clone worked well in sporadic use for a few months, but less than 9 months after I got it, would only support about 20 minutes of light use before unceremoniously dying.

New Lenovo batteries are unhelpfully expensive, and given my previous experience, I'm not sure I want to spend $130 on something that may be a paperweight in a year or so. Even if the 3rd party ones deteriorate faster, I can get 3 for the price of one Lenovo battery. I'm wondering if there are any 3rd party batteries people have had good luck with (on eBay, etc.)? Is it worth just taking my chances with one of the cheapest?

Thanks.

[hausman]

I've had good experiences with http://www.intelligentbatteries.com/

They're a bit more expensive than eBay but their batteries seem to last as long or longer than Lenovo's.

[ssd_thinkpad]

After much reviews in internet I came to the conclusion that you simply have to include the yearly battery costs of a lenovo branded battery into your notebook total cost of ownership. Best way for your pocket would be to buy lightly used original lenovo batteries.

[treker]

I am on month 13 with this 4 cell battery from this reliable ebayer (pokerbridge) and find its capacity still nearly as new. Admittedly, I don't often use up 100% battery capacity before recharge. But, hey at $35 delivered, why not use these...? I can buy almost four of them for one Lenovo considering tax/shipping. I believe four will outlast one Lenovo. Batteries are disposable (please recycle)...why spend needlessly on name. I wouldn't be surprised to find that these batteries are made in the same factory as Lenovo branded or many other "so called name brand" batteries.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-for-IBM-Thi ... 240%3A1318

[Ken Fox]

I am on month 13 with this 4 cell battery from this reliable ebayer (pokerbridge) and find its capacity still nearly as new. Admittedly, I don't often use up 100% battery capacity before recharge. But, hey at $35 delivered, why not use these...? I can buy almost four of them for one Lenovo considering tax/shipping. I believe four will outlast one Lenovo. Batteries are disposable (please recycle)...why spend needlessly on name. I wouldn't be surprised to find that these batteries are made in the same factory as Lenovo branded or many other "so called name brand" batteries.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-for-IBM-Thi ... 240%3A1318

The only reasons not to use them would be if they presented a danger to you or the public (e.g. fire or explosion hazard) or a danger to your laptop, in terms of damaging it and or voiding the warranty. Reading the listing from this seller gives me the impression that this is no fly-by-night operation, so the risk is probably quite low.

With the OEM batteries, you can be quite confident that the batteries are unlikely to be dangerous, and if they ended up proving later to be dangerous, they would be recalled. With a seller such as this ebay seller, there is probably very little likelihood that they would recall batteries for any reason, although (hopefully) they would stop selling them if there were "incidents." Getting a battery like this from Hong Kong would give me less pause than buying one directly from China, where I think that consumer protections are so lax that I would simply not take the risk in anything out of China without the name of a big, well capitalized company emblazoned on the outside (assuming for the moment that it isn't a counterfeit)

ken

[treker]

i believe that almost all batteries are made in China. Hong Kong is China and pokerbridge is just selling these from there, not the actual factory.

There is danger in all batteries. They store power! Even Lenovo had unsafe batteries and a recall. So, I ask how can you tell which is a "safe" battery? You can't! Is the danger high? Or even moderate? NO, I don't think so. Or the entire newsworld would be filled with reports of exploding batteries, batteries on fire. And laptops would be listed as dangerous articles. You would be banned from using them on an airplane...or even carrying them on an airplane. And don't bring up the new FAA limitation on LiON batteries. You can still bring a laptop with a huge 8 or even 9 cell battery onboard!

I am buying cheap...until someone shows me that these are dangerous and Lenovo are the only ones "safe".

[Ken Fox]

i believe that almost all batteries are made in China. Hong Kong is China and pokerbridge is just selling these from there, not the actual factory.

There is danger in all batteries. They store power! Even Lenovo had unsafe batteries and a recall. So, I ask how can you tell which is a "safe" battery? You can't! Is the danger high? Or even moderate? NO, I don't think so. Or the entire newsworld would be filled with reports of exploding batteries, batteries on fire. And laptops would be listed as dangerous articles. You would be banned from using them on an airplane...or even carrying them on an airplane. And don't bring up the new FAA limitation on LiON batteries. You can still bring a laptop with a huge 8 or even 9 cell battery onboard!

I am buying cheap...until someone shows me that these are dangerous and Lenovo are the only ones "safe".

Nowhere did I say that these batteries you suggested were any more unsafe than any others.

Hong Kong is part of China, however it has a separate governmental administration, and there is at least some reason to think that consumer safety there is more highly valued than it is in China.

OF COURSE all these batteries are manufactured in China; no one has suggested otherwise. The question is whether anyone is taking responsibility for what is being manufactured there. With real Lenovo batteries, Lenovo is exposing itself to the real risk of lawsuits if there are incidents. Because Lenovo has a physical presence in many countries other than China, and because they need to export their products outside of China in order to be a viable company, they have a stake in making sure that their products don't get them a bad name, and that their products' misbehavior doesn't end up biting them in the butt with lawsuits in places where there are ways to get at them financially (which probably does not include China).

The Chinese approach to "customer safety" is very well documented in the press over the last several years. You can do almost anything you want and get away with it, but if you kill enough people the government will have a "show trial" and possibly execute you if you are the head of a company proven responsible. This is a deterrent to really bad behavior, unfortunately the impact is very much delayed and it only comes about after the fact. The profit motive in China is strong enough to motivate people to disregard these unfortunate possibilities until it is too late.

Hong Kong has a different tradition, even if they are now clearly a part of China. I might be wrong, but if buying unbranded batteries made in China, I'd be more comfortable buying them through a seller based in HK, than a seller based in China.

I have bought Lenovo knockoff accessories from ebay dealers based in China, and would not hesitate to do so in the future, however I would not buy anything from them that I think could lead to death or severe injury were it to prove to be an unsafe product, as could happen (rarely) with lithium ion batteries.

ken

[Cunha]

lenovo.com has some in the refurb section. Buy theirs.

[mfbernstein]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I didn't realize that Lenovo.com had a refurbished section. Looking there, it seem I can get an 8-cell for about the same price that I'd pay for a 3rd party one on eBay or elsewhere. Is there any downside to going this route? I imagine the refurbs carry the standard warranty, no?

Thanks!

[Ken Fox]

I wouldn't try to dissuade you from buying those batteries out of HK; the seller seems to have good feedback, and you don't have a lot to lose, assuming for the moment that you don't start a fire anywhere, such as on a passenger aircraft (highly doubtful, however, would you please give us all a heads up the next time you're headed out?)

The refurb/"scratch and dent" batteries from the Lenovo outlet are a mixed bag. First, you have to deal with Lenovo's poor order fulfillment, which goes doubly for outlet items.

Secondly, these batteries are highly variable. I have received 2 that were very decent, and one that was 17 months old with several cycles on it, the first of which was 8 or 9 months before they sold it to me. Given the relatively short life of LI ion batteries in the best of circumstances, a 17 month old used battery should have been sent to the dump, not foisted off on a paying customer. They will, however, take the stuff back if you complain loudly enough, but expect to have to talk to several people, probably in India, before you get that return accomplished.

As to the warranty on outlet items, they are very vague when it comes to "scratch and dent" batteries. Unless they have recently changed the terms of sale shown on the website, I have yet to find anywhere that they spelled out specifically what guarantee this type of battery has, as opposed to a complete computer system which does carry the normal guarantee.

ken

[mfbernstein]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I ended up going for a 'scratch/dent' 8-cell from Lenovo. The price seemed reasonable, even though they were insanely slow processing and shipping the order. Ah well. I'll just hope that it remains useful at least a bit longer than my factory battery...

Cheers.