can i trust ebay sellers for laptop batteries?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i need a replacement battery for my gf's 3 year old Dell XPS m1330.

most ebay sellers are not selling OEM, which i'm ok with as long as they don't catch fire and explode.

or is there a more reputable place to buy, without paying exorbitant prices?

 

[IGemini]

Amazon tends to have a good selection. Got a 9-cell for an EeePC 1001PX for $35ish.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Based on a lot of Amazon reviews for non-oem batteries, the majority of them are garbage.

 

[brblx]

not really.

B&M like best buy will have pretty expensive aftermarket batteries made by brands like energizer. probably decent quality but freakin' expensive. same with OEM batteries, though anymore i doubt the quality is even there, in many cases.

if it's like half the price or less, i might have to go for the ebay china special. what are the odds they're made in the same factories as a lot of 'branded' batteries? i'd figure pretty high.

 

[lxskllr]

Based on a lot of Amazon reviews for non-oem batteries, the majority of them are garbage.

That's been my experience with various batteries, but not laptop. Sometimes you get lucky with 3rd party batteries, but not usually.

 

[coloumb]

Yup - as long as the # of feedback ratings are positive. I've purchased a few from ebay without any issues.

You could try Batteries Plus store if there is one in your area. They offer 12 month warranty on laptop batteries - ebay typically only offers "not DOA".

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Yup - as long as the # of feedback ratings are positive. I've purchased a few from ebay without any issues.

You could try Batteries Plus store if there is one in your area. They offer 12 month warranty on laptop batteries - ebay typically only offers "not DOA".

yikes, batteries plus (rayovac manufactured) is 3x the price of an ebay "genuine" dell battery (shipped from china )

 

[0roo0roo]

i'm just surprised there aren't any sites that tear into cheap batteries to see whats up with the prices.

 

[halik]

Based on a lot of Amazon reviews for non-oem batteries, the majority of them are garbage.

That's been my experience - chinese batteries for fraction of the cost tend to be garbage. I bought one for age-old digital elph camera and it last about 40 pictures before the cam refuses to turn on.

 

[Triumph]

bought two batteries for my Thinkpad over the past 3 years from two entirely different ebay vendors. Both batteries have been fine. Lithiums only last 2-3 years as their lifespan is dictated by time not usage, so the concern is that you may be buying an "new old stock" battery. But I have had good luck. A++++++++ would buy again.

 

[gorcorps]

I've bought cheap 3rd party laptop chargers on ebay, and they were terrible. One overheated and burnt out, one had a cable failure within a month, and one didn't even come with the proper sized port to plug into the advertised computer.

With quality like that on just the cable, I wouldn't trust them to make something as important as the battery. Best case scenario is it works for a while but will fail quicker. Worst case is it leaks and you're left with horrible battery acid scars. Fuck that... don't be cheap when it comes to batteries.

 

[edro]

OEM laptop batteries are expensive for a reason. Knockoffs are usually junk.
Battery cells are manufactured in huge quantities. They are all tested and sorted by capacity and matched by voltage.
The real OEM companies match them correctly and use only the best of the batch.

The knockoff companies get the crap batteries.

I would only buy brand new laptop batteries from the OEM.

 

[jupiter57]

I have bought a buttload of laptop batteries from this guy:
http://myworld.ebay.com/sib-usa/

Great (cheap) prices, he ships Fast with Priority mail, he's in the US, and his batteries have always been great. Most have held a lot better & longer charge than the original OEMs.
First place I go when I need a new battery for a laptop.

 

[joutlaw]

I bought an eBay laptop battery with a 3 year warranty. Dies in 2 years... seller is no longer on eBay. No way to contact seller.

Check Amazon. They usually have more trusted brands.

 

[rudder]

sterlingtek.com provided they have your part number in stock. I bet 99% of the batteries on ebay are chinese counterfeit craptastic batteries.

 

[Sheep]

That's been my experience - chinese batteries for fraction of the cost tend to be garbage. I bought one for age-old digital elph camera and it last about 40 pictures before the cam refuses to turn on.

This is exactly my experience too. I haven't purchased any laptop batteries from Ebay but the two camera batteries I did purchase were next to useless for the reasons noted above. I learned my lesson and no longer skimp out on batteries.

 

[geecee]

So far, exactly 50/50 for me. I bought non-OEM batteries for an old Dell Latitude, and an old Acer Travelmate, both off eBay, probably from China (but honestly I don't remember). The Dell battery died after a few months of use (just stopped holding a charge). The Acer battery still works pretty well 3-4 years later, although in truth, I stopped using that laptop regularly around 2 years ago.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Non-oem batteries (even 'branded' ones, BTI, etc) are still a huge risk. In corp environment, in my experience, you're very lucky to get a year of use out of them.


I've completely stopped buying non-oem laptop batteries.