Thinkpads Forum

I've been looking at replacement batteries for older Thinkpads (T4x/4xx series) and have been horrified at the misleading titles in the various ads. They range from "Genuine OEM battery for Thinkpad T430" which is just any old aftermarket battery, to "Genuine 9Cell 0A36303 Battery For Lenovo ThinkPad T430" - note the careful wording - "Genuine 9 cell battery" again, meaningless, despite the Lenovo label! I contacted the sellers of these various ads and received pigeon English replies of "Be happy!", "The battery is the one in the picture", "I sell you good battery", "will fit good", etc, etc. None of them unequivocally answered "Yes, it's a genuine Lenovo battery" although I'm not sure I would believe them if they did.

Bottom line, you can't trust anything on e-bay (even US Sellers). Get the cheapest one listed and hope for the best.

Hi, but is it not the case that "fake" batteries as such are rare?
Possibly non-existent?

The aftermarket batteries I've seen usually do not pretend to be the genuine article
They are clearly labelled in such a way that you can see they're not the real thing

So if the seller indeed sells what is in the photo, you should be able to use the photo to gauge if it is aftermarket or genuine?
That said all genuine batteries for T430 are pretty old by now and it is probably quite a roulette buying them too

One guys from Greece claimed his local shops sell aftermarket batteries with their own warranty of one year - that's not bad..
Maybe somebody would do this in our lands too?

P.S. I'm using a 6-cell KingSener from AliExpress on my X220.. it's okayish but after reaching 30-40% it tanks to zero pretty immediately. So you effectively have 60% capacity now in about a year from I started using it. Is it good or bad?.. Well you get some life out of it. I'm wondering what people's experience with GreenCell is.. These are sort of brands among aftermarket batteries

atagunov wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:19 pm

Hi, but is it not the case that "fake" batteries as such are rare?
Possibly non-existent?

Oh, they definitely exist, and I have had a couple of them which were counterfeit for sure. One battery 81+ for a T430s, one battery 61 for TP25. Both had genuine-looking Lenovo labels on them, and both were obviously fake (counterfeit). They did not fit as well, and then there was the tell-tale sign: serial number on sticker does not match the serial number embedded in the battery controller.

atagunov wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:19 pm

Hi, but is it not the case that "fake" batteries as such are rare?
Possibly non-existent?

My experience has been that it's the genuine batteries are rare (possibly non-existent in the general distribution chains).
The only way to get one is to pay a fortune and buy direct from Lenovo.

Here are two examples that wouldn't give me a straight answer:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-9Cell- ... %3A2334524

Here's the kicker on this one: Brand: kaislaker

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-44Wh-T ... %3A2334524

And: Compatible Brand: Lenovo

Ive always bought unbranded batteries from Aliexpress and never had an issue. Theyre cheap and theyve always lasted me until Ive wanted to sell the laptop. Id rather pay cheap for what I know isnt original than paying more for a potential scammer.