Advice for new battery purchase

W500/510/520 and W700/710 series specific matters only
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Helpmepls
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Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 10:15 am
Location: Omaha, Nebraska

Advice for new battery purchase

#1 Post by Helpmepls » Fri Aug 19, 2016 8:34 pm

Hello, I am going to buy a new battery for my Thinkpad W520 but according to these reviews [https://media.8ch.net/word/src/1471656601508.png] it's not very good (It lasts about a year), but it does have a year long warranty. There are 2 places where the battery can be bought:

the shop http://shop.lenovo.com
and the outlet http://outlet.lenovo.co.

On the shop page for the battery http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... de=0A36303

It lists a year long warranty [https://media.8ch.net/word/src/1471656613524.png], but on the Outlet page for the battery It doesn't list a warranty. Because of the popularity of Thinkpads here I find it probable that at least one of you have bought a battery from Lenovo so, I have to ask: does the outlet have the warranty as well?

Oh and I have three minor questions (relative to the main one) that if one of you could answer would be much appreciated.
1. Are the battery’s manufactured by lenovo really the best battery’s for the Thinkpad W520 even though they go bad within a year?
2. Is there a drop in potential cycles (of a unused battery) depending on it's time of manufacturer? For example, will a battery manufactured in 2014 not last as long as a battery manufactured in 2016?
3. Is the 70++ still manufactured today? If not how long has it been sine it was manufactured?

The price in the shop is $160 and the price in the outlet is $96.

brchan
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Re: Advice for new battery purchase

#2 Post by brchan » Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:25 pm

1. Lenovo batteries (and OEM in general) will have the best battery life and reiiability compared to nearly any aftermarket one. I never had a Lenovo thinkpad battery go bad in a year. The 9 cell Sanyo in my W530 was made 4 years ago and still has 88% capacity despite the many cycles. The spare 6 cell I got a year later still has 95%. Setting a charge threshold of 90% (80% even better) can significantly extend the life of a battery.

2. Batteries all degrade overtime. Panasonic batteries generally have higher quality cells and last longer than Sanyo ones. However, if unused and stored properly for only a few years, you can still expect 98% or even 100% capacity. A year ago I got an OEM Sanyo T500/W500 battery made in 2012. Still had 100% capacity when I first used it.

3. There are still plenty new OEM ones on ebay for around $50. Lenovo overcharges on batteries.
Current Thinkpads: W530 (functional classic keyboard mod), X301, T61, T60, T43, T23, 600X, 770
Other: mk5 Toughbook cf-19, mk1 Toughbook cf-53

jcvjcvjcvjcv
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Re: Advice for new battery purchase

#3 Post by jcvjcvjcvjcv » Fri Sep 02, 2016 8:03 am

That 100% is only because a real new one goes beyond 100% for the first few cycles.
W520
T61

ajkula66
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Re: Advice for new battery purchase

#4 Post by ajkula66 » Fri Sep 02, 2016 9:13 am

You can also post a WTB (want to buy) ad in the forum's Marketplace, there are members around here who sell new genuine Lenovo parts for most ThinkPad ranges.

Happy hunting.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

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jdrou
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Re: Advice for new battery purchase

#5 Post by jdrou » Tue Sep 06, 2016 5:11 pm

brchan wrote: Panasonic batteries generally have higher quality cells and last longer than Sanyo ones.
Is this still true since Panasonic bought Sanyo 6-7 years ago?
Current Thinkpads:
X31, X40, X61T, X61, X201, X220 (i7 IPS), W520 (2720QM/2000M/FHD), T440p (i7-4800MQ/GF730GT/FHD)
Dells: Latitude C840, Precision M70, Precision M4400, M6400 (WUXGA), M6600, M6700
Daily driver: Dell XPS 13 w/Kaby Lake+Iris Pro+TB3

cadillacmike68
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Re: Advice for new battery purchase

#6 Post by cadillacmike68 » Wed Sep 07, 2016 9:19 pm

Interesting. I didn't know that.

Whatever you do, I would Not recommend getting a battery via amazon. Ebay has proven (to me at least) to be a better place IF you Verify the FRU you are buying and / or the country of origin for the cells.
760LD 9547 FUBARd
T21 2647; T22 2647 4@ 900MHz, 1@ 1GHz SXGA+; T23 2647 2@ 1.13GHz, 1@ 1.2GHz SXGA+, WiFi
T30 2366-88U 2GHz; 2366-83U 1.8G; 5@ 2366-LU0/66U; 2367-KU6 FUBARd
T61 8897, 2.4GHz SXGA+; 8898, 2.4GHz; 6463, 2.4 & 2.1GHz WSXGA+; 7658, 2.5GHz; T61p, 3 more T61s
T500 2

jcvjcvjcvjcv
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Re: Advice for new battery purchase

#7 Post by jcvjcvjcvjcv » Sat Sep 24, 2016 8:23 pm

I've never had a Lenovo battery go bad within a year... except the ultra-lousy Ultrabay battery that was at like 60% (?) of design capacity after ~20 cycles.
I never get the "88% after 4 years" either though. My W520 battery is down to 2/3 of it's original capacity.
I guess the people that consistently wreck their batteries within a year leave them at 0% overnight in a 45 (C) car or something...
W520
T61

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