New battery for an R31

[bobmyknob]

I recently purchased an R31 off of Craigslist, and it has worked perfectly. Except that obviously the battery is dated and doesn't run as long as it would if it was new.

I'm interested in purchasing a new battery that will hold a full charge. I've looked at a couple of different sites, but haven't really found anything that I trust. I was hoping someone could point me in the way of one.

A site that interested me the most was batteryrefill.com, but I checked them out at resellerratings.com and did not find the best reviews. I'd be interested in a battery refill like the site offers instead of a new battery even.

[underclocker]

There are a lot on eBay, just make sure you find an OEM IBM model and the LION model.

Here is an example http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Brand-New- ... dZViewItem

[ThinkPad R]

get one new from IBM/Lenovo.

You know that R32/R40 batteries that you get from Lenovo are 8 cell batteries.

That's why R40 (not sure about R32) used to have 6 hrs of battery life & got editor's choice on CNET.


1 question. does the manufacturing date matter? or is it just the usage?

[bobmyknob]

It's the manufacture date that matters. So a battery that sat on the shelf for 2 years will have a lower battery life then one that was used heavily for a year.

I thought about going with eBay, but then I run into the problem of manufacture date. I want to be able to purchase a battery or a refill that I'll know will work and be long lasting.

I also don't think that R32 batteries work in R31s and R30s.

[danieldavid]

Hi bobmyknob,

As I posted in a prvious thread, for the last three months I've been using a generic replacement battery on my R31 (model 2656 77U with 384 MB Ram) bought for slightly under $70 from http://www.camera-battery.net . In my case, I could not justify the cost of an original IBM/Lenovo replacement part, nor wanted the risk of purchasing on eBay from dealers usually situated in Hong-Kong.

As far as I can tell, the new battery pack is every bit as good as the original IBM battery pack, and I haven't had any problems with it so far.

Whatever you decide, I strongly recommend setting your power management profile carefully. In my case, I've reduced processor speed, my LCD will switch off and my HDD will go into standby mode after 3 minutes of inactivity. For my use there is no noticable drop in performance, however the battery will actually power my R31 for slightly over 3 hours, and it runs cooler and quieter - the cooling fan very rarely going into action.

When I'm working at my desk, I usually remove the battery and use the R31 with the AC power supply or charger thus avoiding unnecessary charge/discharge cycles and prolonging battery life.

Please keep us informed about your progress

[r. aster]

A site that interested me the most was batteryrefill.com, but I checked them out at resellerratings.com and did not find the best reviews.

I sent an A30 battery to them for refill about 10 days ago. Got an e-mail that they received it 7 days ago. No sign of the battery here yet. I'll post when it shows up.

RA

[In an A30, most/all generic batteries won't work with recent Embedded Controller Program versions, so a refill seemed the best choice.]