Best Battery for the CF-28?

Now that my CF-28 is ready to leave the house, I'd like to purchase a battery for it. Of all the batteries I've collected, the best one holds a charge for about an hour (the worst one about 5 minutes). EBAY has listings for batteries ranging from the low $30's to the upper $90's.

Are the aftermarket batteries worth the risk or should I just go with a Panasonic battery? Does Panasonic even make a battery for the CF-28 or are they all old / NOS?

Given the experience you all have accumulated, how long will the CF-28 run on battery power with a 'new' battery? For the sake of argument, we'll just say its a blue tab

 

All CF-28 batteries are at best NOS, that model is discontinued. There were 3 grades: blue tab, orange tab, and green tab. Even with NOS it takes luck to get one that holds a full charge.

A good (blue tab) battery should get around 3 hours, unless the CD drive is running constantly.

There is a chip in the CF-28 and newer batteries to control charging that prevents a simple cell replacement from working correctly. A few members here have had luck getting new cells to work correctly but mostly not.

Based on this, I'd recommend trying for NOS original Panasonic, green tag if you can find it, and get assurance from the seller it will hold a good charge.

 

One thing to watch about aftermarket batteries is that they don't always work in all machines. I had one that worked in one mk but not a different mk in a cf50. I read that some won't work in cf48's. You may want to ask the seller the specific question of will this work in my machine. CF50 mk2 or CF28 mk1, etc..

That way if it doesn't work you may have an easier time returning it or getting a fleabay refund. I always ask using the fleabay messaging system. It leaves a "paper" trail when I need to dispute something.

Shawn

 

My advice for these older toughbooks is to take a chance on an aftermarket battery
The date of production on the original panasonic battery's means that even a brand new panasoinic battery has deteriorated so much that there will not be too much reserve, or life left in them

 

I just addressed this issue here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...tery-charger-module-behavior.html#post7910679

Now... the CF-28 has been mothballed by Panny for at least three years more than the CF-29, so...

No, not gonna find any NOS batteries that'll provide a full, useful life. Aftermarket is your only option; again, those MFRs are a crapshoot at best.

Welshman says he bought a battery from Amstron for his 29; they also make one for the 28. $70-110.

mnem
Ouch.

 

Spotted this new non-OEM battery on Ebay for under $40

Battery for Panasonic ToughBook CF-28 CF-50 CF-VZSU18 | eBay

I don't know anything about this item or seller but he has good feedback ...

 

I just discovered a remanufacturer of Toughbook (and other Mfgrs) batteries:

BatteryRefill.com a/k/a ToughbookBattery.

And for the CF-28:

CF-28 Battery Exchange

 

All these websites are based in Usa,so there would be high shipping cost to Europe. What about european remanufacturers?

 

Try to find battery for CF-28 that has 9 cell and 7800 mah for max battery capacity, I used to import these and sell them for $80-90 on eBay, when cf-28 units were worth a few bucks

Windows would show charge time up to 6 hours ! Actual capacity would of course vary depending on use.

but all I see now are 6600 Mah listed though, Good luck !

 

I got myself one of these little buggers.
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=330543603344&index=2&nav=SEARCH&nid=59207690530

If you're thinking of getting a new one, in my opinion, you should buy an aftermarket battery. The cf-28 is too old to buy 90+ usd battery for. NOS is a lottery and those refurbishing companies are damn pricey.

EDIT: bloody hell! A few days with my girlfriend's grandparents and i've picked up their speech patters... *corrected*

 

How much time does that battery hold a charge?
I think these Hong Kong batteries use li-ion China made cells,I've read they are not so good..not as Panasonic/Sanyo.

What about Ni-Mh cells like Eneloop? Low self-discharge NiMH battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maybe they would last longer.

 

I havent gotten mine yet. But i bought one for my Dell a few months ago, Chinese also. I even think it was the same seller, but i'm not certain. It holds for roughly two hours. Depending on power settings.

I'm expecting pretty much the same for my TB. But with the mods i'm planning, i think it'll be a bit less.

 

Yeah... those are a completely different animal; they're intended to replace disposable batteries. NiMh has about half the energy density per weight as LiIon; that's why they haven't used NiMh in laptop batteries since the 90s.

As an aside - China is where pretty much ALL the LiIon batteries are being made nowadays; their lax environmental policies encourage this type of highly toxic industry. Even the big Japanese manufacturers often buy their cells made under contract or components from Chinese manufacturers, even the slurry that makes the cells work. I don't believe they make ANY LiPo batteries anywhere else except maybe Taiwan, for the same reasons.

My opinion is that for $40, if you get 2 hours runtime and the battery kakks after 1-1/2 or 2 years you've STILL gotten your money's worth. After that, you may get lucky and find that the knock-off batteries don't have the FOAD chip that has been driving us nuts and you may actually be able to rebuild the pack with better cells. I've seen people on here spend $60 in bare cells and still have a paperweight; so $40 for a battery with a 1 year warranty seems fittin' to me.

mnem
Ahhh, memories...

 

My thoughts exactly, Mnem. Even if it kicks the bucket after a year, I'm satisfied. For $40 USD, its well worth it.

 

I just got my battery a few minutes ago. slammed it into the TB and fired it up. Shows 3 hours 48 minutes on maximum performance on a 92% charge.

gonna calibrate it and then i'll check back.

EDIT: "Always on" setting in XP, load in OCCT, screen on maximum brightness and wifi on. Result: 3 hours and 34 minutes at critical battery shutdown with 3% battery left.
Now that's pretty damn good for $42USD.

 

I recently bought a new battery from a firm in hong kong advertising in australia They sell a range of batteries for many laptops. The battery is for my CF-28 . The battery liion with blue tab 11.1v 6600 mah when loaded shows 100% and charging and the orange battery light continually flashes -4 days!
I tried it on a higher temperature setting but to no avail . Is there some where that a setting needs to be changed so the laptop accepts the new battery When I unplug the power the laptop goes off ie no battery runtime despite showing 100% charging or 99% in power monitor. Any advice please

 

After reading all the posts, I think I'll go with one of the refurbishing companies. I'd like to keep the one I have; it lasts about an hour.... so I'll have to buy a dead one from ebay to use as an exchange unit.

 

Yup. If you have access to a known good battery, even one that only lasts for a few minutes, try it in your laptop. If it continues to work when you unplug the AC, nothing wrong with your laptop & new battery's junk. Get a refund. There is no "setting" to fool the laptop into thinking a junk battery isn't junk.

mnem
Stuff: Junk we keep. Junk: stuff we get rid of.

 

I have put the cf-28's dead battery (blue tab) in the freezer for one day,but it seemed to be still dead,then some days ago it started taking a charge and now it works very well.I get 2-3 hours and more,according to laptop usage.
48.6 Wh of 60 Wh are still available according to monitoring programs

The calibration is still not good,I did it too early (when windows shut down the battery can last another 15-30 minutes),I'll redo it after few full charge/discarge cycles.

Meanwhile I received another used bluetab from the UK that has about 3 hours runtime,now I have 2 well working batteries.

 

I thought that may be the case my original battery still works so its back in I am pursueing a refund but like a lot of these companies they dont like to reply !

 

Like CF-28 Frankenstein, I'm looking for a new battery for my 28, so was interested to come upon this whilst pootling around amazon.co.uk;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Varta-4297...30?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1318797421&sr=1-30

Of course you all may be quite familiar with this particular battery, but as it hasn't been talked about before, I felt I should mention it. The main point of interest is that it's not some no name from the Orient, but a well known manufacturer, Varta, or at least they are in Europe.
The price is high, more than twice what I paid for my CF-28, but if it's of good quality and holds its charge, well...
Worryingly it's listed as being out of stock, and who knows when new stock will arrive - its high price may stop any new orders and so they may decide against making any more.

John.

 

Have you read the description, mate? Its for a Packard Hell Easynote. And as far as I know, it doesn't even remotely resemble the battery in the CF-28.

Oh, and its a bloody robbery. You can buy, what, five aftermarket batteries for that? Get a new one every year and yer set.
Cheers

 

My bad, esteemed sir, and I apologise for raising your hopes about a cheap (or not so cheap) come on by amazon.
So it's back to fleabay.

 

My God, mate. Esteemed sir? You make me sound old! I'm not even in my twenties yet.

 

Don't you realise that esteem can be thrust on just about anyone, whatever their age? Even someone as juvenile as you...

 

It was a joke, . Smileys exist for a reason...

EDIT: Seriously? Editing away "twonk"? That's just wrong, mate... Whoever did it. That's like barely even an insult. My girlfriend's seven year old sister uses it.

 

Maybe the board auto editing edited it out.

 

Strewth, Ares, I am well aware that your reply was a joke, and so was mine, even if it was more of a lame attempt at irony!
And as for "twonk", where did that come from? I only added in the line about you being a juvenile (which was meant to be a jokey dig at the way you insisted about being less than twenty) when I edited my original post, and have at no time used that word, before or after my editing.
Still, sorry if you were annoyed by my reply, but if you really want satisfaction, then it will have to be pistols at dawn; just name the place and time.

John

 

I was the one who said "twonk", not you. As you can see in the punctuation of me post, it was removed. But as Shawn pointed out, it must've been either auto editing or a moderator decided it was obscene and edited it out. Since you are British, you must be aware that its barely insulting. That's why I found it strange that it was edited.

Never mind, mate. While your post did come across as rude, at least for me. I shouldn't have taken it to the next level. I'm having a difficult time and I tend to blow up at people easier than usual. My apologies.

 

Got several good used CF-28 batteries from this Ebay seller

Genuine working Panasonic CF-28 CF-48 CF-50 Battery CF-VZSU18A Guaranteed #Y101 | eBay

Got 2 green tab (extra long life) batteries that he guaranteed at least 2.5 hours. They ran for 3.5 hours with the battery refresh utility, with no evidence of shorter life on the second half which is the common sign of a dying battery.

 

Good catch, mate. Might even pick one up. Even though i have a good 4+ hours aftermarket battery...

 

Been awhile....

Finally bit the bullet and bought a 6600 aftermarket battery off EBay. My CF-28 is sitting on the desk doing the battery refresh right now. It has been running GREAT since finishing it up over a year ago. I'll let you know how things work out with the battery as things progress.

 

After 2 weeks of daily use, my new China replacement battery holds a charge for about 4 hours. It was $44.00 from some company in California.