Are non-DELL batteries good ?

I have a 2-year old Inspiron 1520.... The 6-cell battery it had come with is almost dead, giving hardly 20 - 30 mins backup.... I'm gonna get a new one...

I checked the DELL battery prices which seem to be around a whooping $130+....

I checked the prices of few non-DELL manufacturers for 1520 on Amazon and few other websites.... This is one good 9-cell I could find for a good price: http://www.amazon.com/Inspiron-312-...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257615801&sr=1-32

Does anyone have any experience with using non-DELL batteries ?

BTW my warranty has expired a long time ago and I'm planning to make this purchase sometime in the Black Friday deals...

 

I would recommend buying from ebay. You can get the battery for around $60 and it's usually dell original, in most cases. I have only had to buy a battery once from ebay for my inspiron 1720 and it's working great till now, but it was a dell original battery. Haven't had any experience with a non dell battery.

Hope this helps a little bit.

 

I agree, look on Ebay for OEM batteries. Aftermarket batteries are usually "you get what you pay for."

 

I would recommend www.pacificbattery.com - I've had good luck with them, and they seem to have good reviews.

I would be very careful buying "genuine" batteries on Ebay - many of the auctions will say "genuine" but they are not genuine Dell, they are genuine Chinese aftermarket batteries. I've bought a couple of these that failed unusually quickly, or never charged correctly in the first place, giving me the impression they were knockoffs or genuine factory rejects. Read carefully.

 

The lowest price I saw for a 9-cell battery on e-bay was around $65 or so.... On pacificbattery the price is $135 which is the same as on DELL store....

I would be keeping this laptop for at most 2 - 3 yrs, that is why not sure if I should invest this much on the laptop....

 

Ah yes, I see on the 1520 Pacific Battery doesn't have the aftermarket replacement. They usually have a house brand alternative to Dell that's cheaper with same or higher capacity than the original.

 

I would recommend, when you buy from ebay, to make sure that the battery is dell original. Ask seller this question as well.

Also if you buy from a power seller chances are you wont be getting a dell original battery, so always better to ask. Try to look for someone who's selling lots of refurb dell items.

However the safest choice will be buying from dell as the battery will come with warranty. You have a great notebook and I think investing around $100 for the battery will be worth it.

Only buy from ebay if you are confident otherwise buy directly from dell.