Secondary Laptop Battery - OEM or Generic?

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
3,643
1
76
Hey guys,

I have a Dell XPS m1530 and am looking for another 9-cell backup battery for longer plane rides without power.

Looking online, there are generic "100% compatible" replacements for ~ $70 (even lower on ebay), and then there are Dell batteries that run $200. Or i can get a 'refurbished' one for less.

Anyone have any insight on where the best bang for the buck is? I would assume a brand new generic $70 battery is probably the sweet spot, but i have no idea.

Any advice is appreciated.
 

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
I've bought generic before.
Make sure the vendor (online or ebay), you buy from is rated very high.
It's not a bargain if you're not satisfied. :roll:

* Reseller Ratings
* I wouldn't buy from an ebay vendor with less than 98 on thousands of transactions.
There are just too many high quality sellers to try and save $1.95 on a dodgy one.

 

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,586
4
81
my mother bought a replacement 6-cell for her inspiron 1525 off ebay and it works great.
 

richierich1212

Platinum Member
Jul 5, 2002
2,741
360
126
I've bought generic batteries for my laptop and Canon DSLR cameras off ebay before and have no problems. I just made sure I bought from a seller who didn't have many negative feedbacks in the past year (I don't look at the total percentage)
 

JackMDS

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 25, 1999
29,474
387
126
If the length of time is very essential buy the Original.

If you can be more flexible buy generic.

With generic it is a little of a Crap shot, you can end up with less Battery time than the original.

I just bought a generic for a Sony VAIO. The original Batter when was new held 2.5 hours.

I bought a generic from a good source I opt to a battery with 20% more charge capacity than the original, and I get 20% less time than the original.

So the Battery actually providing 40% less than comparable original.

However I paid almost three time less than Sony battery, so it is fine with me to get only 2 Hours for much less money.