3rd party laptop batteries--any good?

[farmkid]

My laptop battery is no good. It got cooked when I left my computer in a car for part of a day in Las Vegas a while ago, which shortened its life to only a few minutes. Since then, it's gotten worse and worse, and as of today, it won't run the computer at all. It shuts down as soon as I unplug the power cable.

Here's where I need your experience/advice. A new one from Lenovo costs $150, but 3rd party batteries on eBay and elsewhere can be had for as little as $25. These are new batteries that are supposed to be replacements for the Lenovo one. Some even have greater capacity than the one from Lenovo. So, are these batteries any good? Can I trust them to work with my computer? Is there any chance they could harm my computer? Has anyone ever used a 3rd party replacement laptop battery?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It really depends on who manufactured the battery. There are good third party manufacturers and bad ones. I'd recommend finding a battery you think is good, then searching for reviews to make sure it's not a piece of crap. Also google the company manufacturing it to see if they're some fly-by-night or are actually reputable.

I don't know any manufacturers off the top of my head or I'd call out a few for you.

 

[ngc7293]

Also check the return policy. Some are very strict on their rules and others are not. Look at Bad reviews for that product instead of the good ones to see what people are saying.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

If you could figure out what company actually makes the Lenovo battery, you could see if they sell under "their" name.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

.. as long as the voltage regulator electronics on the motherboard aren't also fried. Toshiba laptops, for example, used to have a bad habit of doing that. A new battery won't be much use if that is indeed the case.