Laptop Battery
Cheap Laptop Batteries: Good Deal or Risky?
You can save up to 50% with an aftermarket battery for your notebook — if you dare.
It was five years coming, but the battery of my ThinkPad R50 finally met its maker. On a recent trip, it conked out after powering the notebook for only half an hour — three hours short of what I’m used to getting out it. Now it refuses to be recharged at all. Clearly, it’s time for a new battery.
It’s a fact of life that sooner or later, every laptop battery hits old age. Most do well for between 18 and 36 months, depending on how heavily they’re used. Then they slip into a slow decline and lose the ability to take a full charge.
The reason? A typical battery pack can be recharged between 300 and 500 times before the chemicals inside start to wear out, with the result that a battery that once powered a system for three hours can now run for only an hour or less. That’s when it’s time to replace the battery.
There are two basic types of notebook batteries: the brand-name batteries that the manufacturer sells and the aftermarket batteries that are available from third-party resellers — often for a significantly lower price. The trade in aftermarket batteries is growing quickly, perhaps by as much as 30% a year, according to Don Saxman, an analyst at BCC Research in Wellesley, Mass.
“This is the result of the enormous popularity of notebooks,” Saxman explains. “Lots of people buy a second battery, and the longer you keep a notebook, the greater the chance that it will need a new battery.”
We all want to save money, but not if it puts our notebooks at risk. Buying an aftermarket battery often goes against the advice of laptop manufacturers, and in some cases can even void the warranty. Is it worth it to save a few bucks?
I went on a mission to find out whether aftermarket replacement batteries are a good deal, safe and reliable or a dangerous fraud.
Bargain Hunting
With the Lenovo Replacement Battery for my ThinkPad R50 selling for $160 — about half what the notebook itself is worth — there was certainly room to save some money. I also went looking for a new battery for my two-year-old MacBook Pro. Both machines have worn-out batteries that power the systems for half the time or less than they could when they were new.
With the battery part numbers in hand, I did a little nosing around on the Web. I found several places that sell batteries for a wide variety of notebooks made in the past 15 years, from ones introduced earlier this year to relics like the 12-year-old Texas Instruments Extensa 600. Many of the companies also sell AC adapters and batteries for mobile phones, digital cameras and handheld devices.
IBM ThinkPad R50 Series Laptop Battery
It turns out that lots of places carry replacement batteries for the ThinkPad R50; the same battery works with ThinkPad T40 series notebooks. Only a handful of online stores had a Power Pack for the MacBook Pro.
IBM ThinkPad T40 Series Laptop Battery
I was able to find both the batteries I needed at UK Top Laptop Battery Shop, based in 92, Clydesdale Place Moss Side Employment Area Leyland Lancashire PR26 7QS United Kingdom, Ohio. But before contacting them, I did a little research. I Googled exceldigital.org.uk to see if anybody had reported faulty products or bad experiences, or if there were pending legal actions against them.
It appeared to be reputable businesses that have been around for several years. The products they sell include a one-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
It retailers can quickly ship out a battery in an emergency. For instance, exceldigital.org.uk has its warehouse in 92, Clydesdale Place Moss Side Employment Area Leyland Lancashire PR26 7QS United Kingdom for next-day delivery.
How They Performed
Over the course of a month, I ordered six batteries for my two notebooks and tested them out. Two came from Laptops for Less, two came from Laptop Battery Express, and one battery each came from Apple Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. With one exception — a dead battery from Lenovo, which the company quickly replaced — each of the new batteries worked perfectly and powered up the notebooks completely.
Without a doubt, aftermarket batteries are a good way to replace a dead Battery Without spending a lot of money. Despite costing $20 to $70 less, the aftermarket replacements proved to be just as good and reliable as the originals in my tests.
All of the aftermarket batteries I looked at fit fine. They just snapped in, and the systems powered right up. And the aftermarket replacements powered the notebooks for about the same amount of time per charge as the reseller replacements did.
Other than some minor cosmetic differences — for instance, the plastic on one R50 replacement was a slightly different shade of black and not as shiny as the original — I couldn’t tell them apart from the manufacturers’ batteries.
“It’s hard to tell them apart,” says BCC Research’s Saxman. “Often, notebook makers buy batteries made by a third-party manufacturer, while aftermarket battery packs frequently come from the same factory that made the originals. It’s confusing, to say the least.”
Frequently, the only things that separate the two types of batteries are whose name is on the label and how much it costs. In fact, the MacBook Pro battery that Laptop Battery Express sent me was actually an Apple-branded battery with all the markings, including a serial number.
The company’s supplier said it was left over from a production run made for Apple. Whether this violates agreements between the factory and Apple is for their lawyers to fight about. All I know is that I got a battery for $30 less that appeared to be identical and gave me no problems.
Sometimes aftermarket batteries are even better than the originals. Due to added efficiencies that manufacturing plants have developed in the time since the notebook and its first battery pack were made, some replacement cells can be lighter or contain more capacity.
Two of the six batteries I looked at stand out. The MacBook Pro battery from exceldigital.org.uk weighs 2.3 oz. less than Apple’s battery but delivers about the same capacity; it ran for only five minutes less than the reseller replacement. Then there’s the R50 replacement battery sold by exceldigital.org.uk, which has a higher capacity but weighs 0.2 oz. less; it ran for an extra 10 minutes.
Each was significantly less expensive than the manufacturers’ batteries, which sounds like a win-win to me.
Are They Safe? And What About My Warranty?
The aftermarket battery trade is a fact of life and will likely grow in the coming years, but that doesn’t mean the notebook makers have to like it. I asked several leading laptop manufacturers if they believe aftermarket batteries are dangerous to use and if using them invalidates the notebooks’ warranties. While Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Dell did not respond to my repeated queries, Lenovo and Toshiba agreed to discuss the issue.
Neither manufacturer said that aftermarket batteries are dangerous, but they stressed that their batteries were designed and manufactured expressly for their equipment. A Lenovo representative said, “We do not support the use of nongenuine Lenovo batteries in ThinkPads. ThinkPad batteries are designed and tested with ThinkPad notebooks to ensure safety, compatibility and performance.”
While using an aftermarket battery doesn’t invalidate a notebook’s warranty in and of itself, the manufacturers probably wouldn’t repair a notebook under warranty that has been damaged by a faulty aftermarket battery, according to company representatives. In other words, a faulty aftermarket battery does invalidate the warranty.
As a Toshiba Corp. marketing executive said to me, “Toshiba does not guarantee the system’s performance, reliability or safety as they relate to aftermarket batteries.”
This is ironic, since notebook makers like Apple, Dell, Sony, Lenovo, Toshiba and others have an uneven record when it comes to the batteries they sell themselves. Together, they have recalled millions of bad batteries over the past few years. Some of the power packs weren’t up to spec, while others were potential fire hazards. So it seems that no battery, regardless of who makes or sells it, is immune to problems.
“Most replacement batteries are perfectly safe,” observes Vishal Sapru, manager of power systems at market analysis firm Frost & Sullivan. “But you really need to be wary.” His advice is to seek out a reputable dealer with a history of supplying high-quality products that provides a year’s warranty on the battery and an initial money-back guarantee.
The reward is that you’ll pay between 15% to 50% less than the manufacturer product for substantially the same battery. “In some cases, it really is the same battery,” says Sapru. But he warns against batteries listed for less than 50% of the reseller price: “Below that, there’s potentially something wrong with the battery and the seller.”
Excellent advice is to steer clear of used batteries or those listed on eBay. I wish I had heard this advice five years ago when I bought a battery for my Gateway notebook on eBay for $20, compared with Gateway Inc.’s $150 product. It was listed as a new battery in the original packaging, but it held only a 20% charge, making it worthless to me.
“In other words,” explains ExcelDigital’s Sky, “shop carefully and be comfortable with your battery purchase. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
About the Author
We are the huge battery company on sale laptop battery, laptop adapter, cordless drill battery, Camcorder Battery, camera battery, battery charger, Mobile Phone battery, PDA battery, two-way Radio Battery, all sell with price at rock bottom, 1 year warranty, 30 days money back, brand new, excellent customer service, 100% secure shopping guarantee.
Laptop Battery Rebuilding Part 2
|
|
Cobra CPI 480 400-Watt 12-Volt DC to 120-Volt AC Power Inverter with 5-Volt USB Output $23.95 Cobra 400W DC-to-AC Power Inverter CPI480 Power Inverters… |
|
|
PowerLine 600mA Universal AC Adapter with Compatibility Tips $7.54 The Energy Star Qualified PowerLine 90303 600mA Variable Voltage Universal AC Adapter eliminates the need for expensive batteries. The AC Adapter provides 3-12 Volts DC at up to 600mA. The built-in overload protection prevents the batteries from being ove… |
|
|
16.4 Feet 300 SMD LED Flexible Strip with Waterproof Sleeve,12 Volt Clear White LED Ribbon 5 Meter Reel,3528CW By CBconept $13.50 CBConcept proudly introduce our latest product. LED Ribbon/strip. LED RIBBON (A.K.A FLEXSTRIP LIGHTING) is a low voltage (12 volt) Super Bright LED lighting in a flexible thin PCB strip. This LED ribbon uses super flexible PCB board as base and adopts SMD Chip LED as its luminous body. Designed for the lighting professional, this lighting can be used for architectural lighting, sign letter light, … |
|
|
HP Pavilion DV6149 Battery Replacement $115.58 Batteries from LaptopTraveller are made using the highest quality cells available and utilize all of the proper logic boards, thermal protectors, thermistors and circuit breakers to ensure… |
|
|
HP Pavilion DV6406 Battery Replacement $115.58 Batteries from LaptopTraveller are made using the highest quality cells available and utilize all of the proper logic boards, thermal protectors, thermistors and circuit breakers to ensure… |
|
|
Belkin Mini Surge Protector/Dual USB Charger Protect your electronic devices wile traveling…. |
|
|
Metro Vacuum ED500 DataVac 500-Watt 0.75-HP Electric Duster $44.88 … |
|
|
HP Pavilion DV4401RS Battery Replacement $105.38 Batteries from LaptopTraveller are made using the highest quality cells available and utilize all of the proper logic boards, thermal protectors, thermistors and circuit breakers to ensure… |
|
|
Duracell Coppertop Batteries Long Lasting Power.8 ~ C 1.5 Volt Batteries.Guarantee: If not completely satisfied with this alkaline battery product, call 1-800-551-2355 (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST). Duracell USA guarantees these batteries against defects in material and workmanship. Should any device be damaged due to a battery defect, we will repair or replace it at our option if it is sent with the batteries, postage prepaid,… |
|
|
Duracell Instant USB Charger with Lithium ion battery / includes universal cable with USB and mini USB, $15.49 Includes universal cable with USB and mini USB. Compact on demand power. 1 charger, 1 cable. 5 volt/1150mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery. USB power port. On/off switch, charging status light (illuminates when the charger is operating). Charging indicator light. In port used to charge the charger with the provided USB cable. Additional Run/Talk Time: iPod Classic: Up to 50 hours. iPod Nano: Up … |
|
|
Replacement HP Pavilion DV5, DV4, DV6 6-cell Laptop Battery $37.49 This battery for HP laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for DELL Inspiron 1525/ 1526/ 1545 $31.49 This battery for DELL laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Replacement HP Pavilion G50/ G60 6-cell Battery $43.99 This PCMS replacement laptop battery features high grade lithium-ion technology for high performance. This battery is designed to meet or exceed the original battery of your laptop. |
|
|
Replacement HP G60-100, G60-200 6-cell Laptop Battery $36.49 This battery for HP laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Replacement Dell Inspiron 1545/ 1525 6-cell Laptop Battery $43.99 This PCMS replacement laptop battery features high grade battery cells for high performance. This battery is designed to meet or exceed the original battery of your laptop. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for HP MU06/ MU09 Series $39.99 This battery for HP COMPAQ laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare |
|
|
iceTECH i-12K Solar Charger $282.99 Solar i-12K series from iceTECH is the most potent portable solar charger/battery in its class today. This solar charger can charge 99-percent of laptops, mobile phones, e-books or USB interface digital products. |
|
|
Replacement HP Pavilion DV7 12-cell Laptop Battery $85.99 This PCMS replacement laptop battery features high grade battery cells for high performance. This battery is designed to meet or exceed the original battery of your laptop. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for Gateway NV52/ NV53 $35.49 This battery for Gateway laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Replacement Dell Vostro 1520 9-cell Laptop Battery $55.99 This PCMS replacement laptop battery features high grade battery cells for high performance. This battery is designed to meet or exceed the original battery of your laptop. |
|
|
9-cell Laptop Battery for TOSHIBA PA3534U-1BAS/ PA3534U-1BRS $47.49 This battery for TOSHIBA laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for HP G60-500/ G60-600 Series $36.49 This battery for HP laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Travel Charger for Dell PA-21 Inspiron/ XPS (Pack of 2) $25.99 This is a set of two travel chargers for Dell PA-21 Inspiron. This portable lightweight travel charger allows you to charge your laptop on the go. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for TOSHIBA PA3534U-1BAS/ PA3534U-1BRS $32.49 This battery for TOSHIBA laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for HP G72/ G72t $42.49 This battery for HP COMPAQ laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for GATEWAY NV53/ NV54 $37.49 This battery for Gateway laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Replacement HP Pavilion DV5, DV4, DV6 12-cell Laptop Battery $47.49 This battery for HP laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for HP Pavilion dv6700 Series $29.99 This battery for HP COMPAQ laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for Toshiba PA3817U-1BAS/ PA3817U-1BRS $32.49 This battery for Toshiba laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
9-cell Laptop Battery for HP G62 Series $47.64 This battery for HP COMPAQ laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Lenovo ThinkPad 73P5168 ThinkPad X41 Tablet 8-Cell Li-Ion Battery $24.99 This high capacity battery has a notched design to accommodate tablet screen swivel hinge for notebook or convertible tablet function and fits in the standard ThinkPad X41 Tablet Series system battery slot. |
|
|
HP Compaq Presario CQ60-100 Series 6-cell Laptop Battery $37.49 This battery for HP laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
6-cell Laptop Battery for Toshiba Satellite A500/ A505/ A505D $37.49 This battery for Toshiba laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Replacement HP Pavilion DV6-1000 6-cell Laptop Battery $37.49 This battery for HP laptops is a superb method of powering your device. This battery makes for a great replacement or spare. |
|
|
Replacement HP Pavilion DV4/ DV5 6-cell Battery $49.99 This PCMS replacement laptop battery features high grade lithium-ion technology for high performance. This battery is designed to meet or exceed the original battery of your laptop. |
