Is buying a generic laptop battery a good idea?

August 17, 2005 10:08 AM

Is buying a generic laptop battery a good idea?

Ive owned a dell 700m, for a year, and the computer is great except for the battery. Is buying a generic battery a good idea? I realize dell propably does not manufactor the batteries in the first place and are rebranded, but id rather put my money toward something that is going to work best, and a warrenty. Im looking at going from the 4cell to the 8cell.

If I go with someone else I stand to save about 30%

posted by chuckforthought.com to computers & internet (5 comments total)

I would tend to say yes. I remember seeing a post on an Apple web page not long ago about a guy that took apart his PowerBook battery. It was filled with 7 or 8 commodity Lithium Ion cells in a AA form factor. The exact same cells could be had on eBay by anyone.

So unless there is some really hi-tech. and hard to duplicate circuitry on the tiny PCB in the battery (any EEs know?), I suspect the generic batteries are more or less the exact same thing as the name brand.
posted by teece at 10:16 AM on August 17, 2005

I have bought 3rd party replacements for my Dell Inspiron 7500 twice. Both outlived the OEM battery, had a higher amp-hour rating, and cost less. So yes, I'd recommend them. I'd tell you where I got mine but I'm not at home and I don't have the link handy. Email me and I'll send it later.
posted by AstroGuy at 1:52 PM on August 17, 2005

Yes.
posted by Nelson at 2:34 PM on August 17, 2005

thanks for the links nick
posted by chuckforthought.com at 10:55 AM on August 18, 2005

any thoughts on a good 700m battery?
posted by k8t at 12:31 PM on August 25, 2005