Thinkpads Forum

Hey All!

as you might of read on one of my forum post you might know that i have received a very good thinkpad X230 for my birthday when i first turned it on for the first time i had no warning about the battery needing to be replaced it then died after a total of 20 or so minutes of use.

after further looking into it from lenovo's power manager it seems like it had 35% of its original capacity and now after 1-2 days later 25% i can now no longer use the laptop without power from the mains due to its extremely short battery life and i am deeply in need of a good quality replacement battery for £20 or below. it needs to be able to ship to the uk for free or a low cost as im having to use my birthday money on this and i am going to end up using all my money from it because of this.

if anyone can please give a helping hand that would be amazing!

Thanks and have a good day!

so far i have found this one on ebay for a total of £17

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-Cell-batter ... OSw241YU5V~

its a 9 cell which is bigger than the 6 cell i have that has a total (when new) of 5300mAh compared to the newer 9 cell which is rated for a total of 7800mAh.

do you think i should go for it?

EDIT: after looking at sellers feedback of people buying laptop battery's it seems like they die after a few weeks leading to the buyer's needing to buy a new battery again.

Well, the no-name aftermarket batteries like those are always risky, but there's a good chance it will work for you for at least a handful of months (and even if it doesn't make it that long, you can have the seller refund/replace or file a case with eBay). Beyond that, it seems like these types of batteries degrade much faster than OEM cells - and can often fail prematurely in various ways.

Thanks for the quick reply terminator!
yes thats my only worry about the non oem battery's as i cant afford a oem one at the moment.
i know that some of these battery's i have seen up for sale have a "one year warranty'' so i think that would help if the battery does indeed fail early.

but from looking around it can also damage the charge circuitry of the laptop, so i might possibly look for a place where i can get the cells replaced or something like that.

EDIT: i have asked my mum if she can kindly contact the seller of the laptop and ask if he can supply a oem battery as he did not describe it as almost dead and needing replacement.

The third party batteries are often low quality, actual capacity could be significantly less than stated, and they are likely to lose capacity faster than a genuine one. So I'd avoid.

Before Christmas there were a few genuine used X230 batteries that sold for around £25 on ebay UK. They should have around 75% or 80% of original capacity left, a decent seller should state that clearly. There don't seem to be any of those for sale at the moment, I'd check periodically over the next few weeks, some should become available.

Note that due to an authentication chip in the X230 batteries, you can't charge an X220 battery in an X230 I believe, so ensure you get the X230 battery type that matches the one you have (series 44 I think).

I doubt the original seller will want to help regarding the battery, sellers normally don't offer a warranty on batteries in used laptops unless it's a really expensive machine. Perhaps you might be able to claim some partial refund though towards the cost of a replacement battery.

Read this X230 thread: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=120776
It tells you how to put on a decent classic 7-row keyboard on instead of that crappy X230 KB.
More important: it also includes instructions to bypass the X230-battery check, so that you can put in AND charge X220 batteries in your X230.

thanks for the reply's!

i will indeed look that thread regarding using X220 battery's in the x230

the battery is a 44+ one with a total capacity at 5300mAh
i am planning on saving up for a new battery that is around 80 pounds which is a lot for how much i payed for the laptop (200)
i will be keeping a close eye on what "genuine" batteries are currently available

Thanks for the help so far!

I once managed to snatch a new genuine 44+ for $30 shipped in the US (eBay). New ones are currently available for ~$53 for 44+ and ~$60 for 44++ (9-cell) on Amazon.com. But I realize that shipping to the UK would not be cheap, if at all possible.

yeah buying things from America to uk is not cheap and i have experienced that when i bought my I7 640m for my T410 last year costing me over 20 pounds then 60 for the cpu!

you lot from america are lucky as computer parts are cheaper than in the uk ;p

Just wondering do i have to buy the exact type of battery which in my case is the 6 Cell 44+ 45N1025 model? or can i get any other genuine lenovo X230 battery so for example to upgraded 9 cell Battery?

Kind regards

You can get any battery as long as it's 44+/44++ for X230. X220 and EC-patched X230 can also take 29+/29++. Well, any X230 can run off 29+/29++, but it won't charge them, unless EC-patched.

thanks for the additional information dr_st!

so i have found a replacement battery that is brand new and is a oem part a 44+ wh one for around 55 pounds with free delivery included. my mum said that she will try and get it as soon as possible and i will be putting some of my birthday money towards getting the new 44+ battery for the x230.

I bought one of these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252690916981

Reports back as a Sanyo battery and so far has worked well and kept a good charge. Had it a few weeks and its holding up well

okay this is absolutely nuts!

my battery's max capacity of full charge is now a whopping 9.66 wH!
i cant afford a new oem battery i am screwed. i have to constantly use a charger which means i cant take it anywhere!
i simply do not understand why this battery is doing this to me! i have not really used it that much maybe a few hours a day i use it nothing more that really so it makes me wonder how an earth its doing it.

i have had this machine in my possession for over 15 days now from 25+ wH to now a measly 9.66 WHY.

lenovo make you pay a fortune for a new oem battery for a nearly 4 year old machine that will almost cost me half the price i paid for it which was 200 pounds nuts!!
its just not worth it for me but at the same time i dont want to be having to use a charger all the time for a measly 20 mins when not being charged.

i love this machine to bit but this is really doing my head in and causing great stress to me why lenovo thinks its right to charge a fortune for a single battery for a machine not worth that much at all any more!

Lenovo (and other OEMs) charge a lot for batteries and accessories, because that's part of their business.

Right now the cheapest I can see on Amazon UK is 63GBP for a 6-cell, 68GBP for a 9-cell. Not quite as expensive as Lenovo prices, but not cheap.

You can try scouting eBay UK for a while as rjwilmsi suggested. Eventually you will find something. Or you can try your luck with a non-OEM cheap battery, if the seller guarantees that it's fully compatible with an X230 (and can be charged there), and gives you money back if it is not.

oh i see that makes sence.

so i was extremely lucky too find a oem 44+ X230 battery for sale that was brand spanking new which was made in 04/07/16 so it is very new so it wont have been just sitting around for almost 4 years like other oem new ones i have seen on ebay. this battery cost me 30 pounds! and 10 pound postage which i find ridiculous as it ships from the uk and im in the uk!? so in total 40 pound for a battery that usally sells for 60 - 100 pounds absolute steal!

if you want to have a look at it heres a link!:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Boxed ... SwnbZYGKev

overall pretty nice find which made my day and i cant thank my mother enough for helping pay for it i cant wait to receive it and take my laptop with me to places, school ect i might even do a unboxing of it on youtube just for a laugh as it comes in the oem box lenovo ships there x230 batterys in.

have a great day and thanks for reading!