Third-party laptop batteries.. Is anybody reputable or is it all just cheap tat?

[Garacesh]

I loathe to purchase non-genuine parts - especially batteries, but we really need a laptop battery for a Lenovo Thinpad B580 and I can't seem to find genuine ones for reasonable costs.

 

Has anyone bought any third-party batteries and not ended up on fire?

 

Amazon is bringing up Ninjabatt, BLESYS, Smarthhw, Uniamy, Dtk, GRS and Battpit on the first page alone and I've never heard of any of them.

Edited September 13, 2017 by Garacesh

[DJ-1701]

We've used LaptopsAndSpares.com in the past. The original and non-original products have worked well for us.

 

Laptops and Spares

[NB9457]

I've always gone for 2Power branded batteries and never had an issue

[ricki]

My Dell will not work with non original

[hardtailstar]

I've always gone for 2Power branded batteries and never had an issue

Us too. But the chargers don't seem to last.

[NB9457]

Us too. But the chargers don't seem to last.

 

Can't say I've ever tried the chargers but at my last place we used to get genuine chargers for around £10, so the extra few quid was worth it.

[witch]

Use 2Power here - they are fine

[Garacesh]

Huh. So apparently Duracell also do laptop batteries. Whodathunkit?

Lenovo 42T4763 Battery - Alternative Products

 

(Noted: The DuracellDirect site is actually registered by PSAParts, not Duracell, but their own site only shows battery which is a tenner more)

[NB9457]

Huh. So apparently Duracell also do laptop batteries. Whodathunkit?

Lenovo 42T4763 Battery - Alternative Products

 

(Noted: The DuracellDirect site is actually registered by PSAParts, not Duracell, but their own site only shows battery which is a tenner more)

 

I mean, the Duracell brand is strong, so I can't imagine they'd put their name to something that isn't much cop. I'd say maybe get one as trial and a run a few stress tests on it, there are tools available to help you test battery life by mocking mixed usage scenarios, then if they're any good, you've saved a few quid!

[Garacesh]

Yeah that's what we've done. Ordered the Duracell one and we'll see how it goes.

 

Slight pedant: I said Duracell make them but that's probably not the case. They're probably bought off a supplier that makes and tests them and sells them off to multiple different brands. That being said, I'd expect they'd hold their manufacturer to higher QA standards, just like what happens with things like SD cards. The ones that pass QA go to known-brand companies. The ones with slight failures go to off-brand names you find at your Saturday market stall.

[NB9457]

Yeah that's what we've done. Ordered the Duracell one and we'll see how it goes.

 

Slight pedant: I said Duracell make them but that's probably not the case. They're probably bought off a supplier that makes and tests them and sells them off to multiple different brands. That being said, I'd expect they'd hold their manufacturer to higher QA standards, just like what happens with things like SD cards. The ones that pass QA go to known-brand companies. The ones with slight failures go to off-brand names you find at your Saturday market stall.

 

My thoughts exactly. Be interesting to know your findings anyhow as it could save a few people a bit of cash. We've only stuck to 2Power purely because we tried the unbranded ones are they simply didn't last, even from day one and obviously most of the time, the price of OEM batteries could render a good laptop obsolete.

[Fazza]

I've always gone for 2Power branded batteries and never had an issue

 

Same here, it's the only brand we use and no issues for 5+ years.

[difinity]

It's all about the quality of the 18650 inside these batteries. Some of the really cheap ones use recycled cells.

Interestingly on the Duracell website they say they use brands such as 2-Power for when they don't have their own.

[Garacesh]

Interestingly on the Duracell website they say they use brands such as 2-Power for when they don't have their own.

Aye, that's a substantial advocation towards 2-Power as far as I'm concerned (as if you lot weren't enough ) so I'll be keeping them in mind for the future.

[synaesthesia]

Necrothread, for awareness.

every single 2power battery device we have is being written off

These are from refurbished laptops with new 2power batteries, only 2 years old.

 

There is an extreme fire risk.

[PotNoodleTech]

Be VERY careful with low quality lithium batteries - given that they are explosive and have a track record causing house/car fires etc I would not put myself anywhere near the litigation potential by using non OEM batteries on hundreds of school devices.

 

That's just me but.....some of the garbage semi fake stuff you can get out of china is proper dangerous a syn says above.

[Fazza]

I loathe to purchase non-genuine parts - especially batteries, but we really need a laptop battery for a Lenovo Thinpad B580 and I can't seem to find genuine ones for reasonable costs.

 

Has anyone bought any third-party batteries and not ended up on fire?

 

Amazon is bringing up Ninjabatt, BLESYS, Smarthhw, Uniamy, Dtk, GRS and Battpit on the first page alone and I've never heard of any of them.

 

I wouldn't touch any of those to be honest. See if your regular suppliers can get hold of PSA (AKA 2Power) batteries as they're a proper reputable company - they also make/sell screens etc. and Duracell use them for some of their non-OEM laptop batteries I believe.

[synaesthesia]

I wouldn't touch any of those to be honest. See if your regular suppliers can get hold of PSA (AKA 2Power) batteries as they're a proper reputable company - they also make/sell screens etc. and Duracell use them for some of their non-OEM laptop batteries I believe.

 

See above - every single 2power one I have is looking like they've had a few too many mince pies. I would avoid 2power like the plague.