Buying Laptop Batteries

[ronbo 613]

I've had a heck of a time trying to buy a battery for my IBM Thinkpad T30. It's an older computer, but a fully worthy rig. I'll be leaving on a long road trip and needed a battery or two, figured it would be easy, boy, was I wrong.
Maybe we can get a list of laptop battery vendors that can actually ship a working battery.
So far, here's what I have:

Key Battery, they do business on eBay as batteryguys-usa. These guys are crooks. Took my money via PayPal, did not send the battery I bought on eBay and never returned emails or phone calls.

BatteryRefill.com takes your battery does a little surgery on it to install new batteries in it. These guys get good reviews at Thinkpads.com and I would have gone with them because their "rebuilt" battery prices are good, but I couldn't spare the one and only battery I have.

BestCompu.com, eBay name cbk_usa_electronics. These folks seem nice enough, but after sending me a defective battery, they accused me of switching batteries(from another Chinese importer) to avoid an exchange or refund.

Any suggestions for laptop battery vendors?

[Gorganzola]

Lenovo - Batteries - 2367

All things considered, this is probably your best bet. Get it from the people that make them.

[pointreyes]

Definitely try the original manufacturer of the laptop first.

If you don't want to go that route, maybe try BatteriesPlus - worked out great for me when looking for a battery for an old Hi8 camcorder.

Laptop Batteries - Laptop Battery - Computer Battery - Laptop Computer Batteries - Batteries Plus

[ronbo 613]

There are a couple things that warrant consideration when buying these batteries.
You could buy the battery(in this case for an IBM laptop) from the original manufacturer, but the cost of one Lenovo/IBM battery would buy three aftermarket batteries. Odds are the manufacturer's battery and the aftermarket battery were made in the same Chinese factory, with different stickers. The batteries at local retail battery stores like Batteries Plus fall into this category. I buy batteries for my camera gear, kayak fishfinder and bait tank there.
If you were to buy an original IBM battery for the T30, it would be at least three years old. Is a three year old battery that's been sitting in some warehouse better than an aftermarket battery with more modern cells?
On top of that, add these people who sell them, many times a middle-man type import operation out of some industrial building in Southern California.
I really have enjoyed using this Thinkpad laptop, until I needed a battery, that is.

[ronbo 613]

There are a few things I've learned about replacement batteries while looking for a battery for my IBM Thinkpad, what I've learned might help should you need to replace yours.
There are three basic choices for a replacement battery; an original factory battery, an "aftermarket" battery and having the cells replaced in the battery pack you have.
The original battery is probably the safest choice, however it is, by far, the most expensive. At least you are pretty sure the battery will work with your laptop and it comes with a warranty. Buy these directly from the manufacturer.
"Aftermarket" batteries, often advertised as "OEM compatible batteries" or "OEM replacement batteries" are very inexpensive, about a third of the cost of an original manufacturer's battery. This type of battery usually has good quality cells, but may not have the internal circuitry in the battery pack to work correctly. Because the computer and battery pack do not interface correctly, charging and discharging cannot be correctly monitored and can cause overcharging of the battery and unregulated discharge which can cause the computer to crash and also causes the battery to overheat. These batteries will not display correct information with Windows battery management software. Because this type of battery is so inexpensive, it is very tempting to use these batteries, and they may work fine in other brands of computers, but for many laptops, you are really taking a chance, not only on wasting your money, but damaging your computer as well. Many vendors advertise "original -BRAND NAME HERE- batteries" when in fact, they are these "OEM replacement" batteries. In my search for laptop batteries, I found very few vendors that sold actual original manufacturer's batteries.
The third option is having your battery refilled with new cells. In my opinion, this may be the best way to go. You keep the original battery circuitry and you get fresh new batteries. This is a very cost effective way to replace the battery. The only disadvantage is that you need to exchange your battery. If you only have one battery, you'll have to plan ahead.
A good place to have your batteries refilled is BatteryRefill.com. They offer reasonable prices, prepaid shipping to exchange your battery and money back guarantee the battery will work. I was in a jam, only had one battery and needed a replacement battery quickly, they said they would ship a rebuilt battery and I could send them my old one when the rebuilt one came, so some good customer service as well.
I bought a couple batteries on eBay from BestCompu.com who advertise "100% OEM compatible" replacement batteries. The batteries for my Thinkpad T30 were cheap Chinese units that did not charge correctly, showed no information on battery management sofware, caused my computer to crash without warning after a few minutes and got really hot. None of the batteries I purchased from them ran more than ten minutes before crashing the computer. When you return batteries like this to the vendor, they test them with a voltmeter that shows the correct voltage, they claim the battery is good and you are left to try and get your money back.
As far as buying OEM replacement batteries on eBay, I went 0 for 3 in getting a working battery from vendors with feedback ratings as high as 99.5%. Would not recommend buying a battery on eBay to anyone. As far as OEM replacement batteries in general, while they may appear to be a great deal, you are really taking a gamble with your computer and your money by using one.
One thing I think makes it tough to buy Chinese OEM replacement batteries is internal SMBus, the internal circuits inside the battery pack. The Chinese-made OEM replacement batteries I purchased were completely incompatible with my T30, but based on reviews for the company I bought the batteries from, the OEM batteries worked fine in Dell and Toshiba laptops. These batteries displayed no information in either Windows info screens and would crash the computer with no warning at all after 5-10 minutes. Kind of scary. It took about the usual time to charge the 4400mah packs but because of the interface problems with the T30, I figure the cells are good but the SMBus circuit is bad.
I realize these battery importers can't check every battery, and I most certainly hoped a $50 battery would do the job, but the "you get what you pay for" mantra applies here. After all, LiIon battery packs for a sophisticated laptop are not the same situation as soldering a few NiCads together for your R/C car.

[pcmanabc]

Wow ,good post but I hope I will never need to replay my Laptop Batteries . Anyway thanks for sharing .