Unofficial batteries - any good?

I have a 3 year old Vaio SZ whose battery is starting to show its age. According to RMclock it has declined to 75% of its original capacity, but in real world scenarios I get roughly 1.5 hours battery life, down from 3.5 when I first bought the computer. I've found several unofficial batteries online, all of which claim capacities of 4400mAh. This is less than the 5200mAh of the official batteries but so is the price: official ones cost £140, while unofficial ones are less than £50. I'm not expecting 3.5 hours battery life out of them but I'm hoping for at least 2.5 hours. Has anyone had any experience with unofficial batteries, preferably the standard size 6 cell ones? Also if anyone knows a place to get official Sony batteries for cheaper I'd be very grateful.

 

Unofficial batteries - any good?

Not always; Exploding mobile phone battery kills Chinese man.
I'd at least buy from an not-too-dodgy company/website, so you can sue if stuff goes ' BOOM'.

 

As far from my experience with photo equipment batteries, I can tell that unofficial battery costs like 3x less, but dies 2x faster. The best way is to manually change battery elements(inside battery) but it requires some technical knowleadge and tools.

 

Notice for using Non Sony Genuine Rechargeable Batteries
March 20, 2006


Sony has discovered that third parties supply battery packs for use with VAIO computers that can cause safety dangers, including overheating/firing, emitting fumes or disintegration of the battery packs.

Some of these battery packs may not comply with the Sony quality standards, specifications and requirements for long-time, high-power voltage usages of rechargeable batteries.

For your safety and comfort, we would like to remind you to only use genuine Sony rechargeable battery packs, that meet our quality assurance standards, for your VAIO computer. Furthermore, Sony does not accept any responsibility for any damages or failures caused by third parties' battery packs.

 

I ordered unofficial batteries for my TX and was quite surprised when they came. Nicely surprised, as they were made by Sanyo Japan, which is in general taken as better battery producer than Sony. Until now (a bit less than one year from purchase) they work very well...knock knock...

 

Can you remember what company you ordered that battery from? I'll happily spend a decent amount on a battery, just not £140.

 

140 is a fair price for the quality you get.

you are buyin sony vaio battery, not some crappy HP or acer!

 

I would be happy to help, but the company I ordered from is Czech one and I doubt they'll send it outside (didn't try though). The one I ordered for TX is this one...that time it was even cheaper thanks to strong Czech crown. Now it costs 2 198 CZK, which is around 69 GBP...still much cheaper than the original one (what more Sony Japan doesn't sell TX batteries anymore :/)

It's not fair price for any batteries. Sony just loves to make dirty money on accesories. By a hazard I know very well the company which is making batteries for Sony and they're selling to them for a funny prize....just because they put Sony mark on it doesn't mean that 200 USD for their battery is a fair price...