Reliable battery shop?

Time to refresh the battery on my T420. There are many, many shops selling these things but I am really, really worried about some Chinese battery that just don't deliver... any good experience?

I would like to find a good compromise between a $140 battery from Lenovo and a $40 who-knows-what off eBay.

 

One option is to buy a Lenovo battery from Amazon or another retailer. They typically sell them for less money than Lenovo's website, and they're still genuine batteries. The problem with buying second-hand generic batteries is typically the electronics inside. While the battery cells themselves are likely to be just as good as (or even better than) a battery from the manufacturer, the circuitry that determines load levelling and charge/discharge characteristics is typically lacking in comparison to batteries from the OEM. And since you have no way of knowing what electronics are inside, it's impossible to compare second party batteries without opening them up (which defeats the purpose of buying them). Stick with the genuine batteries, in my opinion.

 

To answer your question, no. There aren't any reliable battery shops outside of the manufacturers.

Like djembe said, look on Amazon or Newegg for an OEM battery at a discount cost. Don't go refurbished unless it's factory refurbished. The battery is the only component in your notebook that has a reasonable chance to explode if something goes badly wrong with it. 3rd party batteries are renowned for this, as are 3rd party chargers. Stick with OEM.