Any experience with unofficial batteries?

[SaltWaterHippo]

My 17" mac book pro (2008) is having issues, when running from battery power it will randomly cut out. I've tried a few things but it looks like I'll have to book an appointment at my local apple store and I get the feeling I'll have to cash out £100 for a new battery.

However, I had a look on ebay and theres a bunch of batteries that are 50% to 80% cheaper than buying from Apple. From the price and the pictures I'm guessing they are unofficial batteries. Does anyone have any experience or information regarding these?

 

[GGJstudios]

I wouldn't trust or recommend any non-Apple battery, due to the number of problems reported with "knockoff" batteries. Also, there is no assurance that knockoff batteries have the same charging technology that Apple uses, involving the battery, the MagSafe adapter and the Mac's logic board.

Battery Replacement
Replacing the built-in battery in your MacBook Pro
Replacing the Battery in your MacBook Air
Intel-based Apple Portables: How to replace or service a built-in battery

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[Interstella5555]

My 17" mac book pro (2008) is having issues, when running from battery power it will randomly cut out. I've tried a few things but it looks like I'll have to book an appointment at my local apple store and I get the feeling I'll have to cash out £100 for a new battery.

However, I had a look on ebay and theres a bunch of batteries that are 50% to 80% cheaper than buying from Apple. From the price and the pictures I'm guessing they are unofficial batteries. Does anyone have any experience or information regarding these?

Don't be stingy on a part for your $2k machine. There have been numerous reports of problems with batteries like this, my roommate got a third party one for his 17" mbp that died after about a week, luckily it didn't damage his computer.

 

[Freyqq]

not a good idea

 

[SaltWaterHippo]

Damn I thought they would have been too cheap to be any good.

Thanks for the replies

 

[wordoflife]

Yeah, I would just get an Apple battery. Wouldn't want the replacement to supply improper voltage and damage components, expand and break components/casing, etc.

 

[flintstone314]

I´d say the same until a few months. I chewed through 3 Macbook Pro (2008 Model) Batteries (from Apple) in 4 Years and was deeply disappointed by their Quality. All Batteries died within 120 Cycles which was a lot less than the should have (my MBA battery, even after 300 cycles is this still working at 85%).
I was pissed enough a few month ago to give some cheapo knock-off battery a try and to my surprise, it works perfectly fine after 4 months of usage and roughly 30 cycles done.
I paid 34€ for it so even if it does fail in 2 months, and I would have to buy a second one for the same price, it would still be cheaper than the 130€ I had to pay for 1 Apple Battery every 16 months (2,6 x 34€ still 40€ less than the Apple battery).
From my point of view I refuse to any longer by Apple batteries. Though, I do have to say that if I were to change my MBA Battery I probably would use an original battery. Its a hassle to change a built in battery compared to one you could easily change).

 

[Mrbobb]

Damn I thought they would have been too cheap to be any good.

Hey, *something* gotta give.

Are there any reputable (they've been in business for a few years) third party battery vendors? So at least they pick battery from the better manufacturers and not the cheapest, zero-QA.

Somebody says "your 2K" machine. Well for a 2008 model, I'd think it has drop to maybe $600? So just like an old car, how much you gonna spend maintaining it we all ask. Same thing with your old laptop, how much longer do u think it's still usable.

Now eBay batteries (OY) only if u plan to use this laptop for another year because u can't afford to upgrade now. I have purchased eBay battery for my old Windows laptop and NONE blew up on me, but invariable they are not reliable (what meter says doesn't match with actual juice left) and while an original battery lasted me 400 cycles, the eBay ones lasted 150 cycles. But there I had no choice because the laptop was so old Sony stopped making original battery for it!

 

[SaltWaterHippo]

Yeah I've gone threw a few batteries myself, the first one lasted the longest but eventually expended, the current one just didn't last very long. I can't complain much since I got the replacement via Apple Care.

I think I'll go for one of Apples batteries one more time, and move to a cheaper non-official battery when that fails.

 

[sandbergc9]

unofficial batteries

I've bought 6+ MBP laptop's broken as is from e-bay. I've fixed 6 of them, I've purchased new apple power adapters and new apple batteries. I've since then started buying the clones of the batteries and power adapters.

I've had a similar experience with the new apple batteries and the unofficial variety. I've seen failure of new power adapters of both the official and unofficial variety.

What kind of failures? Apple batteries tend to have shorter life span, non apple batteries aren't as "smart" and don't charge as well as they age. Of course the smart batteries just quit charging forcing you to quit using them.

Both power adapter type's tend to fail at the magSafe connector. I've started using a tight sealing tape on the connector when the failure begins.

Of course, if had bought these MBP's new I'd use only official parts! (at least until it's older)