Opinion on knock-off batteries for laptop...?
Folks, What is you opinion on knock-off batteries for a Dell Mobile Workstation laptop? Amazon offers replacements for about 1/3 of what Dell charges for their "official" battery. I am wonderi...
Forum Discussion
The cheap third party batteries *can* be a good deal, but also they can be dangerous.
If you don't go super cheap, they likely use the same name-brand cells (panasonic, sony, etc) that the laptop manufacturers use.
However, the bad thing about cheap third party batteries is that you can't easily tell what thermal protection they have. Thermal runaway is what leads to battery fires, and even the major manufacturers sometimes have problems.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2015/10/28/counterfeit-battery-fakes-with-risks
So, buyer beware. Don't get the absolute cheapest battery you can find as there really is a quality difference between dirt-cheap third party batteries and the OEM batteries. I usually buy OEM batteries (directly from the manufacturer if possible, because there's also a problem with counterfeit batteries sold on resellers like Amazon).
If you don't go super cheap, they likely use the same name-brand cells (panasonic, sony, etc) that the laptop manufacturers use.
However, the bad thing about cheap third party batteries is that you can't easily tell what thermal protection they have. Thermal runaway is what leads to battery fires, and even the major manufacturers sometimes have problems.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2015/10/28/counterfeit-battery-fakes-with-risks
Thermal runaway problems are what's behind all the burning-computer videos we've all seen on YouTube. In the US, the CPSC (Consumer Protection Safety Commission) has logged more than 40 product recalls for lithium batteries in the last 12 years, from companies as prestigious as Acer, Apple, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, Nikon, Sony, and Toshiba, all based on reports of spontaneous meltdowns. You can be pretty sure that these companies have been building battery packs to the highest standards, with good designs, QC procedures and protective circuitry built in, yet they all suffered instances of batteries catching fire.
If mainstream companies like Apple and Sony have had problems with Li-ion batteries, how much more likely is it that an internet counterfeiter selling dirt-cheap knockoffs would have them? And of course, forget about a recall notice; even if they cared, counterfeiters aren't about to call attention to their illegal activities by announcing problems with their products.
So, buyer beware. Don't get the absolute cheapest battery you can find as there really is a quality difference between dirt-cheap third party batteries and the OEM batteries. I usually buy OEM batteries (directly from the manufacturer if possible, because there's also a problem with counterfeit batteries sold on resellers like Amazon).
