T430 9-cell external slice battery advice

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mydreamlaptop · #1 Post by **mydreamlaptop** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 6:51 am

I am looking to add a slice battery to my T430.

Does anyone have experience to share on buying ThinkPad batteries? What is the situation on used or new old stock batteries?

Alternatively, is there any battery available that is better than what Lenovo makes? (ie doesn’t reduce as much in capacity after a year or so)?

Thanks...

Whitieiii · #2 Post by **Whitieiii** » Mon Mar 20, 2017 10:46 pm

Slice batteries are only available on x series Thinkpads and you should opt for the 9 cell genuine battery for the Thinkpad T430 never buy the Chinese replacement batteries

nick149 · #3 Post by **nick149** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 10:23 am

Whitieiii wrote:Slice batteries are only available on x series Thinkpads and you should opt for the 9 cell genuine battery for the Thinkpad T430 never buy the Chinese replacement batteries

Actually this battery is compatible with the T430 but its kinda expensive (at least from Amazon), however if battery life is important to you- I have heard that a slice and a 9-cell has more than a day battery life. Another option is 9-cell+Ultrabay battery (EDIT: Not compatible with T430, just the T430s).

Whitieiii · #4 Post by **Whitieiii** » Tue Mar 21, 2017 4:46 pm

Didn't know they made that battery! How about all 3 batteries? Will that work?

dr_st · #5 Post by **dr_st** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 6:57 am

Unfortunately, the Ultrabay battery is not compatible with the T430, only with the T430s.

nick149 · #6 Post by **nick149** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:22 am

dr_st wrote:Unfortunately, the Ultrabay battery is not compatible with the T430, only with the T430s.

I stand corrected, sorry for the confusion OP!

mydreamlaptop · #7 Post by **mydreamlaptop** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:27 am

Oh well. I put a hard drive in there anyway...

I currently have the original 9-cell main battery from 2012 and it still holds more than 50% design capacity (recalibrated pretty recently) so I don't think it's worth replacing yet.

My main concern is sourcing. I can look up specs and compatibility but I don't know what sellers are safe to buy from.
The 28++ slice battery isn't currently available in the USA store at shop.lenovo.com.

My next concern is performance (capacity x cycle life) per dollar. Where to find something that still holds a decent fraction of the nominal capacity (94Wh) and won't degrade excessively in a few months of normal use?

Even if Lenovo has it back in stock, I would be concerned about their quality having seemingly gone down. More recent reviews of the available main battery (70++ 9-cell) said theirs soon lost their ability to hold a charge.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... de=0A36303