x230 Aftermarket Batteries

[Terrice]

Hey!

I am planning to buy an x230 on kijiji that comes with no battery. I've looked into it, and deemed genuine batteries as too expensive. In fact, it basically costs almost as much as the laptop. I am wondering about your experiences with aftermarket batteries, whether from aliexpress, amazon, or ebay. I'd also like to hear about your recommendations.

I've heard fairly good things about KingSener batteries.

Thank you for any advice!

[mpcook]

I have bought Lenovo batteries on Amazon for about $75 - $80. I bought two aftermarket batteries, that I returned. The Lenovo batteries are still going strong.

[whqdz]

You can find genuine battery at a good price on ebay. Just take a look and be aware of new items.
Two years ago I bought 2x genuine 9 cell battery for less than 30$ on ebay, both wth 0 or 1 charge cycle count.

Just don't buy to chinese sellers because the quality isn't the same that to UK or US sellers (or others).

[RealBlackStuff]

FYI: if you want to use non-Lenovo batteries, you MUST do the battery-check EC firmware mod as described at the top of this forum.

[Terrice]

I have bought Lenovo batteries on Amazon for about $75 - $80. I bought two aftermarket batteries, that I returned. The Lenovo batteries are still going strong.

That is around $100CAD. A genuine battery on Canadian Amazon costs $130CAD. That's over 50% of the price of the laptop.

You can find genuine battery at a good price on ebay. Just take a look and be aware of new items.
Two years ago I bought 2x genuine 9 cell battery for less than 30$ on ebay, both wth 0 or 1 charge cycle count.

Just don't buy to chinese sellers because the quality isn't the same that to UK or US sellers (or others).

This is interesting to me. Unfortunately, it does not appear I can do something like this currently. 2 years ago, x230 batteries were much more popular.

FYI: if you want to use non-Lenovo batteries, you MUST do the battery-check EC firmware mod as described at the top of this forum.

Yep. I know about this

Additional Update: I am likely going to go for a different listing. There is one with an x230 that has a TN screen and 4gb of ram. However, it has a brand new battery (supposedly changed by an IT guy as the seller has no techincal background). It appears that adding more ram and replacing the screen is cheaper than buying a new battery.

Therefore, if someone could give me advice towards a panel, it would be great This is what I am considering:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12-5-IN ... st=ae803_5

[dr_st]

Therefore, if someone could give me advice towards a panel, it would be great This is what I am considering:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12-5-IN ... st=ae803_5

The consensus is that -SLT1 is the best quality of "drop-in" compatible screens, -SLB3 is second best, and -SLB1 is the old panel with frequent image retention/white spot issues, best to avoid.

I don't know if -SLT2 is compatible.

Beware of Aliexpress sellers, and any sellers in general who say they may send a "compatible" screen. "Compatible" may not necessarily by IPS. Make sure that you communicate with the seller and get a guarantee on the exact panel model they send out.

[whqdz]

You can find genuine battery at a good price on ebay. Just take a look and be aware of new items.
Two years ago I bought 2x genuine 9 cell battery for less than 30$ on ebay, both wth 0 or 1 charge cycle count.

Just don't buy to chinese sellers because the quality isn't the same that to UK or US sellers (or others).

This is interesting to me. Unfortunately, it does not appear I can do something like this currently. 2 years ago, x230 batteries were much more popular.

That's the deal : keep an eye on the market

Months ago I was looking for a genuine brand new x240 72w battery but the prices were too high to me, around 60-70€ on the bay. I finally found one, from a individual seller that got 3 of these, still brand new and genuine it costs me 25€ with charges. I agree that when you want a good deal, you have to check constantly for good deals.

[Terrice]

Therefore, if someone could give me advice towards a panel, it would be great This is what I am considering:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12-5-IN ... st=ae803_5

The consensus is that -SLT1 is the best quality of "drop-in" compatible screens, -SLB3 is second best, and -SLB1 is the old panel with frequent image retention/white spot issues, best to avoid.

I don't know if -SLT2 is compatible.

Beware of Aliexpress sellers, and any sellers in general who say they may send a "compatible" screen. "Compatible" may not necessarily by IPS. Make sure that you communicate with the seller and get a guarantee on the exact panel model they send out.

Ah yes I've researched this

I decided to go for SLB3 as it is less expensive than STL1. Unless there is something about the STL1 that is better than SLB3 that could change my mind

[Terrice]

This is interesting to me. Unfortunately, it does not appear I can do something like this currently. 2 years ago, x230 batteries were much more popular.

That's the deal : keep an eye on the market

Months ago I was looking for a genuine brand new x240 72w battery but the prices were too high to me, around 60-70€ on the bay. I finally found one, from a individual seller that got 3 of these, still brand new and genuine it costs me 25€ with charges. I agree that when you want a good deal, you have to check constantly for good deals.

Wow! Great find!

I am constantly looking around for good prices on batteries. Problem is, those that ship from China are probably scams, and those that ship from the US have intense shipping costs and import charges. While the Canadian market is quite low on these batteries.

[RealBlackStuff]

Get yourself a shipping address or a (girl)friend just across the US border.
Toronto isn't that far out!

[Terrice]

Get yourself a shipping address or a (girl)friend just across the US border.
Toronto isn't that far out!

hahaha I wish! Unfortunately I'm still a minor and those options are not available to me. I'm simply chasing thinkpads because: #1, the absolutely amazing keyboard, #2, I don't wanna use a chromebook, #3, tinkering with linux is lots of fun

[whqdz]

That's the deal : keep an eye on the market

Months ago I was looking for a genuine brand new x240 72w battery but the prices were too high to me, around 60-70€ on the bay. I finally found one, from a individual seller that got 3 of these, still brand new and genuine it costs me 25€ with charges. I agree that when you want a good deal, you have to check constantly for good deals.

Wow! Great find!

I am constantly looking around for good prices on batteries. Problem is, those that ship from China are probably scams, and those that ship from the US have intense shipping costs and import charges. While the Canadian market is quite low on these batteries.

Yeah I agree with the great deal I had. It didn't need time to me thinking about buying it, I knew it was a great deal after weeks and weeks of f5 refreshing on ebay searchs.

I'm in the same boat looking for specific parts as screens and complete lid, some are from trusted sellers located in US and shipping to US / Canada, and the others are from China but from my own experience I won't take the risk to spend more than 30$ in a product from china sellers. Too many problems (batteries, keyboards...) and the delivery delay is just terrible.

I have a US address where I can ship it but the problem is to bring it with me in the plane : I have to pay a lot in order to protect it well in a good package, the risk of breaking it is too high, and I don't want to have to explain (and loosing time, especially at the US border that is so... long) to the security why I have some "weird stuff full of cables and batteries" in my bags