OEM/Generic/Original Battery Replacement for SZ

So after reading through 38 pages of the forum or so, I guess I have the same problem lots of people are having with their sz's which is that suddenly my battery is not recognized and won't charge at all. I am looking at replacing it with a large capacity battery. Can someone clarify to me the differences between OEM/3rd party/Original batteries and their experiences with it? Most people seems to have good luck with it.

If you recommend going OEM or 3rd party, where should I get it? I have an SZ220 btw so I need part #: VGPBPL2C. Thanks in advance!

 

For all we know OEM and 3rd party batteries might come from the same factory. However, I don't want to pay Sony's price for a new battery and will got 3rd party when I need a replacement.

The only difference would be warranty, you know Sony will replace the battery but will a eBay seller if the battery doesn't meet the claimed specs or stops charging.

I bought a 3rd party battery for a Dell X1 last month which stopped charging after 3 days, luckily the seller replaced it within a week but I haven't had much luck with most other eBay seller.

Sorry, I keep mentioning eBay because you see 100s of laptop batteries for sale there

Isn't your battery old enough to fall in to Sony's battery replacement thing after a few overheated / caught fire? You could get a free battery from Sony.

 

If it's within a year sony will replace the battery. They did for me but then the replacement died and I was forced to buy a new one. I tried a third party one for $100 but it refused to charge. When I put it in the battery indicator would blink fast so I guess these laptops can tell when a non-sony battery is trying to be used. The battery did work though - until it ran out and then I had no way to charge it. So I was forced to return it and buy the sony one for $200.

 

Are you sure that it's covered under the 1 year warranty? My FZ's battery died in 7 months and Sony refused to replace it because it is not under the 1 year warranty. After many emails and phone calls, they claim it is not covered and there's nothing they can do.

 

I guess technically they shouldn't but in my case they decided to I forget exactly why I thnk because it was around the time they were having all that trouble with their batteries and thought it would be a good PR move. It didn't matter much anyway because all they did was just send me another junk battery which was dead in three months.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I went ahead and ordered a generic 7200mAh battery from ebay for around 60 bucks. *crossing fingers* hope it will work.

 

I have a huge issue with the Sony batteries also. I purchased two extra batteries with my SZ. One standard and one 9 cell. They both died in year two. The standard size battery was replaced with tech support at 1-800-222-7669. Sony argued that I was outside the 1 year warranty and I just explained that the battery failed which is different than loosing effective charge.

Sony doesn't want to admit that the batteries are a problem but 2/3 batteries of mine failed. The large capacity battery was eventually replaced by contacting Sony Consumer Relations. I sent them a letter - short and sweet, along with the battery. They called me, when they got my letter and said no way they were going to replace it. I spent another 2 hours on that guy and eventually they replaced it as well. Bottom line is those two batteries cost $500 and that is a lot of money. Sony makes it difficult for aftermarket brands to work, forcing you to purchase oem. I have a household full of Sony product but the SZ batteries are not holding up. Sony should be handling this better, imo.