( 
)Before I get to the actual "guide" portion of this guide, let me start you off with a little bit of backgroud information.
Do you remember IBM's Lenovo fiasco?
You don't have to be a techie, like me, to have heard of the scandal involving Lenovo batteries from IBM, which were in the IBM Thinkpad Lenovo series of laptops. You may have heard of it in another way: The IBM Exploding Battery Scandal. Why did IBM's batteries explode? The layman's technical answer is: Two of the six-to-eight cells inside of the battery short circuited, heated up, and eventually caught fire. This, in turn, caused a chain reaction, in which each consecutive cell caught fire, exploded, and set off the next. Now, if you'll think of the word "laptop" for a moment, you'll notice that it's actually made of two seperate words, smooshed together, which describe the intended positioning of these portable computers: on top of your lap. Thus, the IBM Lenovo fiasco was bad. Very bad. Not just for IBM, but for the people IBM injured with those batteries.
Why did this happen, you might ask? How could an original battery from a huge company like IBM simply explode? Isn't a battery a battery? Well, these are the questions I'm going to address in this guide, because they are very much related to your search for a replacement battery for your computer. IBM's batteries failed because they tried to cut costs, and bought cheap batteries. Don't let their mistake be yours as well! No matter what make or model you're looking for, whether aftermarket or original name brand, if you follow this simple guide, you should be safe.
1. When buying a replacement battery, price is not your primary concern!
5. The common-sense rule: If you don't know, ask!
Well, that's it for now folks. Thank you for reading my guide! I've worked with computers for many years, and I know the laptop battery business from the inside-out. I've recently branched out into eBay sales of batteries I used to sell in-house when doing service work for clients. My batteries are, of course, very high quality and warranted both through my own company and through the manufacturer. They are tested and carefully packaged, right here in New Jersey! If you'd like to check out my store, it's at http://stores.ebay.com/toskanmarket
Even if you don't buy from me, I hope you've found this little guide useful! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Do you remember IBM's Lenovo fiasco?
You don't have to be a techie, like me, to have heard of the scandal involving Lenovo batteries from IBM, which were in the IBM Thinkpad Lenovo series of laptops. You may have heard of it in another way: The IBM Exploding Battery Scandal. Why did IBM's batteries explode? The layman's technical answer is: Two of the six-to-eight cells inside of the battery short circuited, heated up, and eventually caught fire. This, in turn, caused a chain reaction, in which each consecutive cell caught fire, exploded, and set off the next. Now, if you'll think of the word "laptop" for a moment, you'll notice that it's actually made of two seperate words, smooshed together, which describe the intended positioning of these portable computers: on top of your lap. Thus, the IBM Lenovo fiasco was bad. Very bad. Not just for IBM, but for the people IBM injured with those batteries.
Why did this happen, you might ask? How could an original battery from a huge company like IBM simply explode? Isn't a battery a battery? Well, these are the questions I'm going to address in this guide, because they are very much related to your search for a replacement battery for your computer. IBM's batteries failed because they tried to cut costs, and bought cheap batteries. Don't let their mistake be yours as well! No matter what make or model you're looking for, whether aftermarket or original name brand, if you follow this simple guide, you should be safe.
1. When buying a replacement battery, price is not your primary concern!
You're biggest concern is finding a balance between price and quality. Don't buy from the first listing you see. Don't even blindly trust a seller with a huge feedback rating (although it's a very good indicator!) Look at a few listings. Look at a few different makes. When a battery fails, it's usually a few months after the purchase, long after feedback is left. Email the seller, ask about their average return rate. Ask about their defect rate. Ask about the origin of the cells in the battery. If they don't know where the cells come from, that's a telling sign. Remember, though, just because something is made in China or Japan, doesn't mean that it's poor quality! I can find poor-quality American products, too!
2. Look for the Warranty! Pay more for a Warranty! I'm not kidding, seriously!If you buy something with no warranty, it's going to fail. Know that going in. Maybe it'll last for a year, but perhaps it won't last through the first month. And when something fails, it could fail catastrophically, causing irreparable damage to your computer. Remember, batteries are made of metal, plastic and harsh chemicals. Your warranty is your insurance that the harsh chemicals stay inside of the metal, and the metal stays inside of the plastic. Rule of thumb: Both eBay and the Government bind merchants to the warranties they provide in the listing. If a seller doesn't follow through with a warranty, that's false advertising.
4. Look for some sort of brand-name on the battery! Take a look at the provided pictures, and look for a brand on the batteries. I'm not saying you have to recognize the brand name, but if it is there, there's a good chance that there's a legitimate company standing behind the products. If there is no brand name, then the battery could have come from any random factory, anywhere in the world, and be of any type of shoddy quality, and the seller might not even know it! Perhaps the seller buys these bulk no-name batteries from a distributor, and the first ones were great quality, but the next batch came from a different factory, and were made of refurbished cheap cells. The seller, despite their best intentions, would never even know. Buying a battery with some sort of brand-name on it ups your chances of getting a battery manufactured by a company that knows where it's cells are coming from, and can stand behind it's products. Combine this with a warranty, and you should be good as gold!
I'm not the only battery seller on eBay, and I'm not the only one who will be more than happy to give you a thoughtful, detailed and thorough answer to any question you might have. There are many other reputable sellers on eBay. If, however, you ask a question and get back a one-line reply, perhaps in ALL-CAPS, answer that is vague and generic, this should be a good clue that this seller is perhaps not what you would like.
Well, that's it for now folks. Thank you for reading my guide! I've worked with computers for many years, and I know the laptop battery business from the inside-out. I've recently branched out into eBay sales of batteries I used to sell in-house when doing service work for clients. My batteries are, of course, very high quality and warranted both through my own company and through the manufacturer. They are tested and carefully packaged, right here in New Jersey! If you'd like to check out my store, it's at http://stores.ebay.com/toskanmarket
Even if you don't buy from me, I hope you've found this little guide useful! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Guide created: 01/15/09 (updated 09/21/09)
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