[ale] Slightly OT: Where do you get decent Batteries?

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Neal,

I've had pretty good luck ordering NEW OLD STOCK (NOS) phone batteries 
from some Amazon vendors.  This is inventory that has never been used or 
sold.  It may be a few years old though.  Make sure you look for 
something that says new old stock or that says new.  Most of what I've 
ordered were OEM parts made by Motorola or LG.  I have not purchased any 
laptop batteries like this.  You have to check that you're getting 
actual factory parts, not clones.  Look for a vendor feedback rating of 
95% +.  98% is even better.

This process has a few risks, but it can save you lots of money.  For 
the cost of one battery from Verizon, which is $ 40, you can buy 10 NOS 
batteries which sometimes come with free shipping.  So, even if you buy 
4 and two fail, you're still ahead of the game.  Make sure the terminals 
are shiny.  Scrape off any debris, tarnish, or corrosion.  If it's very 
corroded, don't use it.  This number is a bit arbitrary, but I would 
fully charge and fully discharge each battery 5 times to make sure the 
chemistry is working, and to make sure the phone's charging system is 
calibrated to the battery.  After that, charge the batteries as often as 
practical.  Lithium chemistry batteries don't like being fully 
discharged all the time, and doing this on and on actually reduces the 
life.  I'm carrying a backup battery for my phone in my pocket.  If the 
phone dies while I'm out, I just swap in the backup, then charge the 
original when I get back home or in the car.  My phone doesn't give me 
much warning when it dies.  Once the backup is discharged, I'll probably 
make it the primary and the other one the backup.

These are the Amazon vendors I've bought from.  This is not a full blown 
recommendation for them.  They just happen to be the ones that had the 
parts I wanted.  However, I got the merchandise and haven't had any 
problems with it.

Accessory Outlet, OEM Planet, Best N Price, Battery King, BTO, Inc., and 
Wireless Unlimited.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Ron


On 4/29/2012 9:02 PM, Neal Rhodes wrote:
> Ok, our new post-Easter ritual is to obtain new batteries for all the 
> devices that need them.  I think that has some theological validity.
>
> But where does one go for honest replacement batteries for Smartphones 
> or Laptops?   Getting a replacement for a cordless drill seems 
> obvious, but smartphones, yeesh.
>
> You can't go to Amazon - they do absolutely nothing to police their 
> vendors, most of which are peddling used batteries or knockoffs.
>
> I finally ordered one for my HTC incredible (see, it was almost on 
> target) from Wireless EMporium, and it seems to be no better than the 
> 2.5 year old one the phone came with.
>
> Who do you trust?
>
>
> Neal Rhodes
> Lilburn.
>    


-- 

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
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Ron Frazier

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linuxdude AT techstarship.com

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