Peddle to the [lithium] metal

October 3, 2007 7:15 PM

Where to buy a laptop battery?

What's the best place to get a laptop battery for an old Dell Inspiron 3800? I picked one up for $20 at a garage sale, but it won't hold a charge. It works fine when it's plugged into the dock. I was looking online for a battery, but most seem not quite legit. So what's a safe, prompt, cheap, etc., site to buy a battery online? Bonus points if they take PayPal.

posted by trim17 to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

I recently picked up a new battery and charger for my ancient Thinkpad (parts for it are no longer made or sold by IBM/Lenovo) from the Korean Ebay-owned auction site, auction.co.kr. I don't know anything about Ebay itself in other countries, but everything worked out fine for me.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:19 PM on October 3, 2007

Seconding Ebay. I just bought a new power cord for my laptop there and it worked out just fine. Just use a legit seller. Most will guarantee the battery holds a charge and isn't DOA.
posted by theantikitty at 7:21 PM on October 3, 2007

Check out Froogle. Those results include some eBay and a lot of other sites.
posted by RussHy at 9:39 PM on October 3, 2007

Concerned about legit, safe, prompt? You can still get a replacement battery from Dell themselves. Yep, you can use Paypal at dell.com too.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 9:54 PM on October 3, 2007

Laptop batteries are a consumable, and will stop holding a charge. So they get replaced often, so there are lots of vendors for laptop batteries.

Plus, old laptop batteries are full of heavy metals, so make sure you recycle the old ones.
posted by theora55 at 5:29 AM on October 4, 2007

I don't know how cheap you're expecting, but Newegg sells them and they're a great site.
posted by radioamy at 7:28 AM on October 4, 2007

Thanks for this thread -- had not looked on ebay for this before. Ordered one at a great price from a seller in Hong Kong who has a strong feedback profile.
posted by omnidrew at 7:38 AM on October 4, 2007

For what it's worth, I've purchased from http://www.laptopbatteries.com. No problems at all.
posted by Vorpil at 8:25 AM on October 4, 2007

I remember seeing a sign at a Batteries Plus store that said if they didn't have a battery for your device, they'd build one for you. Not sure if that applies to laptops or more hardware stuff like cordless drills.
posted by altcountryman at 7:06 PM on October 4, 2007