Dell Latitude D830 replacement battery

I need a replacement battery for my Dell Latitude D830. The original Dell batteries are too expensive for me.

Who has experience with 3rd party batteries. Is there any brand you can recommend?

PS: I live in Germany. It should be brands I can order from German sites.

Many thanks in advance!

-- Martin

 

Have you checked Ebay for OEM batteries? I would not recommend aftermarket batteries, they aren't worth the money. They usually have lower capacity and fail much quicker than OEM.

 

Why do they fail quicker? At least some of them claim to have brand-name cells (e.g. Panasonic / LG cells).

 

FWIW I bought a 9 cell battery for my D820 from level8technology.com in August of 2009 for about $75. I've used it almost every day. I have been very happy with it. It holds a charge well, and I get much more life than with the original Dell 6 cell. So far, so good. I'd buy from them again.

 

That is a good question, it's not easy to answer. Poor quality, mismatched cells, use of name-brand reject cells, etc. Safety is also a concern, and with lithium-ion, I wouldn't take any chances with regards to safety.

New OEM batteries aren't all the expensive on Ebay though, so I wouldn't even bother to look at aftermarket.

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370403641669

 

I, for one, appreciate the info, Robin24k. I hadn't ever even thought to look on e-bay. I just figured the batteries there were all used and on their last legs. Thanks for enlightening me for future purchases. Repped.

 

Glad I could enlighten you.

 

@Robin24k:

many thanks for your help - much appreciated. I share your concerns regarding safety, which is the main reason why I didn't buy an aftermarket yet.

BUT: how do I know that the one from batterystars (your ebay link) is really genuine? After all, China is known for making all kinds of fakes...

-- Martin

 

Most of the time, batteries on Ebay that say OEM and genuine are indeed OEM. Of course, buying from reputable sellers with lots of feedback will help, but a visual inspection upon arrival is the only way to identify. While there are some minor design differences between different OEMs, fakes will stand out with poorly printed labels and possibly size differences.

I searched "Dell D830 battery OEM" as I don't know what battery in German is, so if you use German to search, you might be able to find sellers in your country.

 

I have had mixed results with Dell Original and after market batteries. First off, the quality of the more recent Dell batteries stinks. They barely seem to last more than about 15 to 18 months (with a 12 month warranty, of course).

So it did not seem possible to get something worse, but it actually is possible, as I learned. Some aftermarket batteries are a physically bad fit in the D630 and D830 - and one battery from a German supplier on ebay (I split my time between Germany and Canada) lasted all of three weeks before failing completeley. That said, another aftermarket battery has now been giving 24 months of good service and is still at almost 80% of original capacity.

Bottom line: Dell batteries for the D-series are junk, aftermarket can be better or even worse, it is a lottery

What I would do: check ebay for the ratings of the seller, check if they have a website of their own and seem to be a real business (and not some garage operation). Check the warranty they offer and how confident you are that they will actually be around and honor the warranty if needed.

If you run Linux, use the battery monitor included to see discharge and charge curves, maximum capacity (versus design capacity) to get a feeling if the new battery is operating within specs. If you run Windows, try to find something similar.

When not using your new, good battery for a longer period of time: store at about 30% to 60% charge in a cold, dry, non-freezing environment. Your fridge (NOT freezer!), with the battery in a sealed plastic bag with some silica gel inside would be ideal. This is especially true for docked laptops that run 24/7 and/or with the lid closed. The old battery can be a good stand-in during prolonged times of AC-only operation.