Someday computers will run on rainbows

December 21, 2008 8:14 PM

Are there ever any other reputable vendors for laptop batteries other than the laptop manufacturer?

I need to get my dad a new battery for his Inspiron 6000 but the 150$ price tag just kills me. If I have to pay it, I will, but I just wonder if there are other options. I do not want a refurb.

Any other advice on a long-lasting battery for that model of Inspiron is much appreciated. Dad is not a power user, but he likes to wander around and read the paper online. The computer itself is a couple of years old but that is fine because he does next to nothing with it, other than read the paper online and check email.

posted by oflinkey to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Ive never had any problems with third party stuff. Frankly, chargers and batteries are simple pieces of electronics. I dont think Ive ever bought name brand batteries or laptop chargers for work or for my own personal laptops.

Battery capacity is measured in mah (milliamp hours). The higher the better. This list at nexttag shows me a couple 9000 mah batteries for this laptop for well under $1000. The stock OEM battery is only 6600 mah.

Id feel pretty confident about buying it, especially if the vendor has good reviews and has a good return policy.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:35 PM on December 21, 2008

err, that should be "well under $100."
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:36 PM on December 21, 2008

Check eBay. I've bought batteries and power adapters there, generally direct from China, with few problems.
posted by k8t at 8:59 PM on December 21, 2008

Seconding ebay for Chinese origin 3rd party batteries. Good savings, and often with a higher capacity than the original.
posted by bystander at 10:29 PM on December 21, 2008

I posted this link in another thread, but it also applies to your question too. Basically, there are some good 3rd party battery vendors out there so you're not always stuck ordering direct.
posted by Geppp at 10:31 PM on December 21, 2008

Check Trezr.com for the latest deals on laptop batteries. You'll probably end up buying from an unknown vendor with a name like 'Laptop Battery Barn,' but I've never had a problem.
posted by prinado at 11:14 PM on December 21, 2008

Ebay seems to have some genuine 9 cell batteries pretty cheap.
posted by JonB at 12:48 AM on December 22, 2008

Given the number of recalls of (among others, Sony, Toshiba and Dell) laptop batteries, I wouldn't place any more faith in the manufacturer's batteries than I would in a third party.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:59 AM on December 22, 2008

I would.
posted by flabdablet at 3:38 AM on December 22, 2008

Also what tends to happen is the third party battery manufacturers tend to have the newest battery tech in there batteries. Hp,appl,sony,dell tend to have their batteries manufactured the same way every time .

So what happens is that the third party batteries tend to have better performance then the computers manufacturer batteries.
posted by majortom1981 at 9:25 AM on December 22, 2008

Kahlon, while specializing in memory, also has batteries for most laptop models. Sometimes you might even find double-capacity batteries, which literally look like two of them stuck together and sealed inside a new case. Makes your laptop prop up at an angle, though.

Of course. I actually like them because baseline shipping is practically overnight since their warehouse is, like... less than two hours from where I live. Hah!
posted by Yoshi Ayarane at 11:20 AM on December 22, 2008