Are third-party replacement batteries for laptops as good as OEMs?
My personal laptop, a 2-year old Compaq, has a battery that has "gone bad." It won't hold a charge for more than 3-4 minutes, which pretty much makes my laptop a marginal desktop with a crummy keyboard at this point. I was looking at replacement batteries, and I can get some replacements for 50% of what an OEM replacement will cost. Is it worth paying extra for the OEM, or are the after-market replacements just as good?
Answers
It really varies. I wish I could give a better answer. Some are absolute trash; I've seen new replacement batteries that wouldn't hold a charge, and the output was below specs. On the other hand, I've seen replacements that were just as good as OEM. It really varies by manufacturer. If you get a cheap, generic Chinese replacement, it could go either way. Buy something from a reputable battery manufacturer (it could even be the company that made it for Compaq), and you will probably be just as satisfied with the result as you would with OEM replacement. Lenmar batteries are widely available and usually ok, but they may vary by model - I don't have a large of enough sample to endorse them with confidence.
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It really depends on the battery. I recommend doing some google searches for reviews of batteries you might want to use. See what other people's experiences are with them before you buy one. That might help prevent getting stuck with a lemon.