Good source for Thinkpad Batteries?

Looking for 8 cell x60s or x61 batteries....there are plenty of places selling them cheap but I'm afraid they'll die on me after 3 months and I don't want to pay $180 for a new one from Lenovo. I did see them on Lenovo's Outlet website for about $60 refurbished...is this the best compromise? Not sure about a refurbished battery. Anybody know of any places selling reasonably priced high quality batteries?

 

If you can one from the outlet for $60, I'd get it. That's probably cheaper than eBay, which is your next best option for a genuine battery. I've bought batteries from the outlet. The one's I've got were basically with zero cycles and a full charge capacity. The downside is outlet batteries only have a 90 warranty, but at those prices, it's worth the risk in my opinion.

 

Yup to what ZaZ said. I would try Ebay first with genuine OEM batteries. Do not buy OEM compatible, those are cheap 3rd party knock off batteries.

 

I've bought a few non-OEM batteries on Ebay from reputable sellers over the past three years. No complaints.

 

Lenovo's refurbished batteries have used/redistributed casings, but the cells inside are new, with 0 cycles. So, cosmetically, it may not be a new battery, but the inside is new, which can be verified through Power Manager.

 

Hrm that is interesting and good to know.

Not to hijack this thread but

Lenovo Outlet - Refurbished ThinkPad T/R/W/Z/SL Series 9 Cell Li-Ion Battery - Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops

Will this work for my Z61t?

 

That battery won't work with a Z61t.

 

This brings up an interesting idea...has anyone replaced the cells in their battery with new ones to save cash? Would it be safe?

 

I recall someone replacing the individual cells of an old Dell's battery pack--but that was with one of those old battery packs where it's just a huge rectangular plastic casing with several cells linked together inside. Newer laptops have much tighter packing and you'd be hard pressed getting everything to come together in a nice package. That, and Thinkpad batteries actually have some additional circuitry and chips inside that support the advanced Power Manager features (ie, charge thresholds)--replacing the cells yourself will likely disable these features. The person who made the DIY Dell battery mentioned that the power meter didn't seem to work, if I remember correctly.

Getting past the logistic issues, unless you're absolutely confident with you're doing, a DIY battery runs the risk of you damaging your laptop/battery/both, or even causing a fire. Also, it won't save you any money as the cells are the main cost of the battery.

 

z61t uses an unique battery, it looks like the batteries on the R400, T400, R61/T61 14.1 inch widescreen, but it is slightly different.

 

I bought my s30 battery from ebay, no complaints so far (its a 9 cell).

Will be planning to but another 6-cell for my X301 from ThinkPad parts dot com, and hope this one will be good.

 

When buying from eBay, go with genuine OEM batteries, as many have said. I bought a genuine OEM 9-cell battery for my T61 (also fits in my T60), factory refurbished, for $40. When it arrived, I tested it in a friend's T61, and it showed 98% capacity. Pretty good for a refurb OEM battery.

 

I have, on the Dell D630 that we have here, it was the 6-cell battery.

To tell you in short - I haven't looked for any guides (doubt any exist anyways) but it was pain in the but_. It required soldering and desoldering. I made it so that the cells inside can be replaceable ... but I ended with some crappy cells that lasted some 3 months or so, for which I paid ~35 bux. Rather than replacing those again I just went and bought another battery from ebay :|

I have bunch of pictures as I was going to make a post about it, but never did.

any laptop battery these days has circuitry inside the battery pack. Power Manager communicates with that circuitry so changing the cells only should and will not affect the software.

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anyways, my advice would be to just go and buy another OEM battery (from ebay or lenovo) rather than fixing yours.

 

I bought a genuine Lenovo battery from Lenovo for my T61 and it has lasted 3 months. Now it won't hold a charge and I need to use it tethered to power all the time.

Reminds me of my first Compaq portable. It was the size of a suitcase and would only run when plugged into 110 V outlet.

Perry

 

Did you rarely use the battery on the laptop. When you do not use your battery and leave it inside the laptop it will reduce the life of the battery.