Lenovo battery vs. third party battery?

Hi, I would like to buy a battery for my brother's T61. Is there any difference between a Lenovo brand battery and a third party brand? What are some suggested stores to purchase batteries for ThinkPads?

 

original battery = expensive and safe
third part brands = chance of blowing up
lenovo batteries off ebay = cheap and original

 

I bought two replacement batteries (both non-IBM) for my T40.

The first was from some random seller and a POS (it would drop from 80% to 5% instantly).

The second was from CalCellular and was very good, and inexpensive.

I would recommend you buy from Calcellular as the prices are reasonable, selection is decent, and the stock should be newer than the parts you find on eBay (Li-Ion batteries have a shelf life).

 

Beware ebay. There are a lot of chinese fakes. You can't really get that cheap of prices from LEGIT sellers. I'd go with jon's recommendation if you want something below normal lenovo battery cost.

 

If you are worried about cost then buy a used one. I have a used 6-cell battery that is for sale in the selling section of this forum. It still lasts almost up to 100% of it's original span.

 

The Lenovo-native power and battery management utilities work extremely well. How do these work when using a non-Lenovo battery?

 

I never had any problems with the CalCellular battery and Power Manager. The first one (from a seller I can't remember) would drain quickly and randomly (I think it had a bad cell).

 

I bought a battery from CalCellular for my T60 under jonlumpkin's advisement and it's been fine for me. Power management software works just like it does with a Lenovo battery save the annoying occasional message about not using a "genuine Lenovo battery."

 

So all the statistics and related reported by the Lenovo Power Manager for a Lenovo battery are, pretty much, the same for the CalCellular batteries as well? Are any statistics omitted when using these batteries?

 

From CalCellular page:

"# 100% original manufacturer compatible
# Guaranteed to meet or exceed original specifications "

I don't have the battery anymore (I sold the T40 [and all batteries] when I got my x200), but I believe all the stats (design capacity, current charge, max charge, serial, etc.) were present.

 

I can verify this. [Screenshot]

 

The other problem with buying off eBay is that Li-Ion batteries start losing capacity the moment they are manufactured - if they have been lying round some hot warehouse for a few months before being sold they'll not be fantastic.

 

That could be problematic with any old stock; however if they were legit sellers they probably would not be the case. The issue with ebay is fake chinese batteries that are branded as lenovo. If the price is too good to be true, so is the product.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone! I will save my money and buy the battery from CalCellular. Hopefully, I will receive a good quality battery and my bro will not know the difference. Lenovo's battery is a bit overpriced.

 

bumping in hopes of updates from anyone on the CalCellular battery. my stock T61 battery is totally dead, and the price difference between Lenovo and CalCellular is appalling.

the "no free lunch" adage makes me cautious about going 3rd party but it sounds like this CalCellular is legit?

thanks in advance for any additional reports.

 

I've bought several batteries for Thinkpads from Kahlon.com and have been satisfied.