Fake x200 9 cell battery from ebay?

[renhui]

Hi guys, I recently bought a 9 cell battery from ebay seller (s j e b a t t e r y, no spaces). and surpringly the battery can't be recognized by my X200 at all. When you leave the ac adapter plugged in, the battery indicator wouldn't even light up. In windows, power manager just shows no battery.
So has anyone run into a problem like this? I kinda suspected the battery is fake by the appearance and stinky smell.
I am going to contact the seller thru ebay but it seems that I'll have to eat the shipping cost (expensive since it's Canada to China) even though it's DOA.
Any input will be highly appreciated.

[Tasurinchi]

I've also bought a 9 cell X200 battery from the very same seller some days ago. It was advertised as genuine and so far it works without any problems.

Now I can't tell if it's a *really* genuine one, but it does look so, at least compared with the build quality from a real lenovo 6 cell battery I have. I also have some knock off batteries for other models and those one you can immediately tell they're not genuine

Was the battery advertised as genuine? Some sellers sell both, genuine and knock offs.

[DaKKS]

I have also purchased a fake 9 cell and mine works fine. It is marginally better than my 6 cell, but whatever.

As for original vs fake. I have a very good fake battery for my r61. In fact the chip itself seems to be lenovo because it even gives an fru number and full lenovo compatibility, ie battery diagnostics work. I'll take pictures tomorrow.

[Bánh mì]

I think you should buy from Lenovo only then you know for sure its genuine and SAFE. Its not an issue of whether your third party battery will function or not - as it very well could operate well. The issue is it might blow up on you. Then what do you do? What's your recourse against some fly by night operator refurbing batteries with cheap cells made in third world countries? It smells because its leaking acid or about to shatter your notebook like an M80 firecarcker or melt it into a heap of plastic.

You also risk voiding your warranty on your notebook should a fake defective battery fry the motherboard of your notebook.

Do you buy your car battery from Sears or JC Penny or a reputable store or in some back alley auction in some industrial area? Assuming your drive a Porsche or Ferrari which is the creme de le creme as is the X series Thinkpad, you would put bargain parts on it?

[renhui]

thanks for the replies guys and it's good to know to this particular seller is not known for selling countefeit items.
The one I paid for is supposed to be "authentic" but somehow it doesn't work at all.
I recently purchased a fake one for my dad's old Z60 and the battery worked fantastically. Already contacted the seller about this DOA situation and he responded really fast and issued a full refund. So I don't have a problem now.
I think I'll be ordering from Lenovo directly to avoid the hassle.

[DaKKS]

Here's the fake 9 cell for my X201. Honestly, the capacity is [censored], but it works fine.





And this is the "good" fake for my R61. If it wasn't for the shady plastic, it would look completely legit. I'm also suspecting the chip in the battery is original Lenovo, perhaps from an OEM battery with bad cells. It seems to get full support from Power Manager.







And the Power manager screenshots:

[renhui]

thanks for the pics, Dakks!
The more I look at my battery, the more I believe it's a fake.
I tried peeling off the sticker and it came off very easily as one single piece.
I tried the same thing on an two other anthentic lenovo batteries(from lenovo directly) and it seems impossible.
Another suspicious thing is the latch, you can only slide it, but you can't put it in a lock position.
I think the lesson here is to watch out for ebay sellers who carry "authentic" items at a "too good to be true price", even if they have thousands of positive feedbacks.
If this battery happened to work fine, I wouldn't doubt about the authenticity, after all it has an "authentic" sticker.

[Bánh mì]

If it were authentic it probably wouldn't be on ebay unless its a private sales between two individuals. They are 99% fake. You might get a real casing but the cells are fake and the circuitry can light your home or office or you on fire. If you got a fake then by all means contact the seller and demand a refund, then contact Lenovo (in N. Carolina) so they can shut the business down for the safety of everyone.