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Lolito

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 20, 2013
397
34
here
I´m not gonna buy an original battery, I prefer one from ebay as they are way cheaper, but i'd like to hear some opinions first. Anyone buys batteries from ebay asian sellers? are these batteries decent? thanks
 
Generic Apple batteries tend to be bad quality and they die within a few months. Stick with name brand if you can.
 
all generic batteries are bad? there must be a trusted battery seller in ebay, right?
 
all generic batteries are bad? there must be a trusted battery seller in ebay, right?

There is not for me. But there could be for you. My philosophy is to spend the extra money and get something that will work and, on the off chance that it does not, can be replaced quickly.Whether anything on eBay meets that description, I cannot say.
 
I've had quite a few people come to me with broken mainboards after they used a 3rd party battery in their MacBook (non-unibody black/white ones only so far).
 
I bought one and it came bloated right out of the box. So I had to get an apple one.

In this case, you get what you pay for.
 
interesting... what about trusted third party batteries out of ebay?
 
Dude. If you can afford a mac you can afford an OEM battery.
When you spend $2000, you are $2000 poorer. It simply means that you could afford the Mac before you bought it, and now that you have bought it, what you can afford changed. Apple's batteries are expensive.

However, I agree with Bill's remark about taking chances. A colleague of mine bought a third-party battery with a higher capacity than the stock battery, and he told me that every now and then the system won't recognize the battery. At that time he has to shut down the computer, remove, and then reseat the battery. I'm sure you could get one that works flawlessly, but you're taking a risk that may not end up saving you anything.
 
Imyeresting. Well, that is why i asked here. It is just a battery not rocket scince, and as apple is always over-priced, i might look for an alternative when the moment arrives. The laptop gets less and less worthy by the years, so trying a third party battery could be a solution. But still, an apple battery will be always better, and price is not that high. Are there refurbished batteries????
 
I´m not gonna buy an original battery, I prefer one from ebay as they are way cheaper, but i'd like to hear some opinions first. Anyone buys batteries from ebay asian sellers? are these batteries decent? thanks

I would say the answer is a resounding "no". I have looked at replacement batteries from non-Apple sources but decided against doing so. It's had to know which will be quality and which will be crap.

I chose to pay the extra to get it straight from the source. At least that way I know what I'm getting.

As for refurb batteries - same as above.

Don't want to have your aftermarket batter blow up and burn your house down now, do you?
 
Imyeresting. Well, that is why i asked here. It is just a battery not rocket scince, and as apple is always over-priced, i might look for an alternative when the moment arrives. The laptop gets less and less worthy by the years, so trying a third party battery could be a solution. But still, an apple battery will be always better, and price is not that high. Are there refurbished batteries????

I know this doesn't pertain to batteries per say.. but, I bought a 3rd party chinese charger a year or two ago. It worked for a few months, and then it started to warp the plastic brick... eventually I started smelling a burning smell, then, I was getting sparks. Disregarding the problems I had, the construction itself was poor, very cheaply made. It was also noticeably lighter than an original Apple adapter.

Just a battery you say, not rocket science... well, it was JUST a charger as well. Those manufacturers don't care about quality or what may happen.

I would highly recommend just purchasing an Apple battery as you know you are going to get the best, it works, and it lasts.
 
It simply means that you could afford the Mac before you bought it, and now that you have bought it, what you can afford changed.
I call this "living beyond one's means." :D You don't buy a Ferrari or an upscale home without knowing that the care and maintenance of these things will cost more as well.

But still, an apple battery will be always better, and price is not that high.
How much is "peace of mind" worth? I'd rather overpay somebody who is going to take care of me after the sale.

Are there refurbished batteries????
:eek: I thought we were getting somewhere.
 
Well, my chinese macbook charger works flawlessly, since i bought it 3 years ago. it was 20$ shipped. My mini display ports adapter are also chinese, like my macbook, and work perfectly too. Tons of generic macbook batteries are sold in ebay, as we speak, and complaints are very rare. Just those like, a friend of mine told me, i heard somebody that...

I can't afford any kind of ferrari sweetheart. Otherwise i would buy the freaking apple battery, and a crappy retina macbook. or a 256 SSD. But i can't... that is why, genius, otherwise i would buy the ********gapple original battery. but guess what? i won't. i gave this efficient capitalists my money for the laptop and for the crappy 50$ aluminium keyboard, original, that broke down just after warranty and i have to buy another one... yes, original apple keyboard broke down, genius...

now, anybody really tried the ebay batteries on their own or not?
 
now, anybody really tried the ebay batteries on their own or not?
You know that some people have had issues with them, and presumably there are some people who didn't have any issues. It's a gamble. I'm not sure what you're expecting. Even if someone recommends a seller there's a chance that they simply haven't used their battery long enough for a problem to arise, they got lucky, or the supplier has changed something about their battery since the poster's purchase.

It's a peace of mind issue. You know that Apple has quality control requirements and that if something unusual happens then they're likely to cover it. The knockoff batteries, especially on eBay? Those sellers aren't held accountable to anyone and we have no idea what their QC standards are. Best of luck no matter which way you go.
 
Tired of hearing the same stuff. This is like saying i should buy SSD's from apple, not from samsung... I reasearched quite a bit. It's veeeery veery hard to find on the internet issues with these batteries, and lots of technical services, non authorised ones are selling them. they wouldn't sell them if they were dangerous batteries.

It's peace fo mind for sure. problem is that spending 129$ in an item i can get for 60$ with the same performance, makes me feel like quite a big stupid person, you see. So it's not peace of mind at all what an original battery gives me. Same thing with the charger, bought one for 20$ and works perfectly. Getting the same thing for 80$ is not peoce of mind for me, it's more like doing the stupid. that is the problem i have, hehehehehe.

Still, my battery holds two hours no problem, it has 320cycles. Will not change it just yet, but i will buy one of those chines ones with 99,9% of positive feedback.

Again, it's a battery, not rocket science. And knowing apple, knowing they rip you off by definition, paying just 50% can be considered still as extremely expensive.
 
Your posts gave me such a genuine chuckle, Lolito-- as does your name, if it implies what I think it does: It must be that deadpan Scandinavian sense of humor.

If some people would take the time to read some of the comments left by unsatisfied customers on their overpriced but less-than-premium-performance products-- particularly their batteries, on Apple's own site, I think they would be less quick to recommend Apple-only products. But then again, I get the impression that some around here would happily sell their firstborn to support Apple.

3rd-party batteries: I've purchased from www.batterybuyer.com and it's been doing reasonably well. At least it hasn't expanded like the original Apple battery. I don't know if they sell on eBay, but you can always search for them there. This particular company is Canadian BTW.
 
Tired of hearing the same stuff. This is like saying i should buy SSD's from apple, not from samsung... I reasearched quite a bit. It's veeeery veery hard to find on the internet issues with these batteries, and lots of technical services, non authorised ones are selling them. they wouldn't sell them if they were dangerous batteries.

It's peace fo mind for sure. problem is that spending 129$ in an item i can get for 60$ with the same performance, makes me feel like quite a big stupid person, you see. So it's not peace of mind at all what an original battery gives me. Same thing with the charger, bought one for 20$ and works perfectly. Getting the same thing for 80$ is not peoce of mind for me, it's more like doing the stupid. that is the problem i have, hehehehehe.

Still, my battery holds two hours no problem, it has 320cycles. Will not change it just yet, but i will buy one of those chines ones with 99,9% of positive feedback.

Again, it's a battery, not rocket science. And knowing apple, knowing they rip you off by definition, paying just 50% can be considered still as extremely expensive.

i spent less. 3 of MacBooks I take care of (in family) including mine got the stupid battery swelling after a solid year of moderate use. I actually tried to kept mine on as low cycles as possible. All asian knockoffs (30$/piece) still work flawlessly... 3... 3... I'm not going to buy another battery from them if 3 of them got swollen!?
 
I guess it depends on the macbook model, for mine price is 50$ shipped home. That's 40% apple price.

AAAAAAWWWWWWEEEEESSSSSOOOMMMMEEEEE!!!

Apple rip off someone else, but not me this time. Perhaps one of your loyal fanboys...
 
Tired of hearing the same stuff.
So, if you're not prepared to listen to what people are saying in response to your question, why did you even bother asking the question?

This is like saying i should buy SSD's from apple, not from samsung
No, completely different. SSDs are a different technology, and Samsung is a reputable company with a reputable manufacturing process.

I reasearched quite a bit.
So why bother asking the question then?

It's veeeery veery hard to find on the internet issues with these batteries,
You must have been searching on goggle, not google...because when I was researching a replacement battery, I found plenty of web feedback discussing quality concerns.

and lots of technical services, non authorised ones are selling them. they wouldn't sell them if they were dangerous batteries.
Most people - myself included - have stated there are good non-OEM batteries out there. You were asking about Asian batteries available on eBay, however...and I think it's safe to assume that the vast majority of them are a tad on the dodgy side.

It's peace fo mind for sure. problem is that spending 129$ in an item i can get for 60$ with the same performance,
If you can guarantee the same performance, you're right. However, I'm thinking you can't guarantee the same performance, but whatever floats your boat.
 
Well, my chinese macbook charger works flawlessly, since i bought it 3 years ago. it was 20$ shipped. My mini display ports adapter are also chinese, like my macbook, and work perfectly too. Tons of generic macbook batteries are sold in ebay, as we speak, and complaints are very rare.
Then WTF are you asking? :confused:

I've used the crappy chinese magsafe adapters in my whitebook days. I'm lucky the house didn't burn down. :eek: Knockoff display adapters and keyboards are one thing... but to "transplant" a non-OEM battery inside the machine is another. I say go for it "genius".
 
I´m not gonna buy an original battery, I prefer one from ebay as they are way cheaper, but i'd like to hear some opinions first. Anyone buys batteries from ebay asian sellers? are these batteries decent? thanks

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.
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.
 
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