I have an eight-year-old Lenovo laptop to which I’m rather attached. I don’t use it often - roughly one day a week - and it works fine, apart from the battery. I bought a new battery a while back, which I thought was a genuine Lenovo replacement, but it isn’t and it seems to be faulty. (It worked OK at first, but then it started misreporting the charge state - or even the presence of the battery. I suppose that might be the laptop, but I’m inclined to think not.)
Anyway, I looked for a genuine Lenovo replacement, and the only sources I can find in the UK are charging £130-£160 for the battery, which seems awfully steep, considering the laptop only cost £300 in the first place. Does that sound like the going rate? I’m puzzled, because it seems to be possible to buy the same thing much more cheaply in the US. I’ve only managed to find a couple of UK stockists - presumably because it’s an old model. There are plenty of cheap, non-genuine replacements, but my current experience says there’s no point in going down that road.
Can anybody suggest a good, reliable and reasonably-priced UK stockist I can try, or am I looking at buying a new laptop? However attached I may be to my current one, there seems little point in paying £160 for a battery when I can get a whole new laptop for £350.
For me, I think it is much better for you to buy a new laptop. We can’t really get ourselves too attached on gadgets because we always have to keep it updated. Most of the time, your laptop model gets phased out and finding new parts of it is difficult and expensive.
My wife is in the same situation, but the battery seems to only cost 80-90 US dollars, so we’ve been contemplating replacing her battery or since that is a 1/3rd of the original cost of the laptop, just replacing it (as it seems to have other issues too on rare occasions).
I also read a report a long while ago that many Lenovo’s do not support non-genuine batteries. But it seems to be hit or miss on which models that is true for… (and of course, I can’t find that article now…)
For someone my age 8 years is a blink of an eye. But for technology that’s an eon.
As hardware gets older updating the software on it gets more and more difficult and you’ll likely need to scrap it for something newer sooner than you would like.
I’ve kept my old machines and sometimes use them for certain older apps, but most of the stuff I’ve copied over to my newer machines.
Off Topic:
I wonder if it would be more affordable to purchase the battery elsewhere and have it shipped? Though the US considers some batteries as “hazardous” (lithium I think) so maybe not.
No - I hadn’t even found that site when I searched. But then I was searching for my model number - and it turns out the Lenovo site doesn’t have my battery, which seems to answer the question, really. If they don’t have it, presumably it’s discontinued. (They do have the model number listed in the drop-down list, but that’s about as far as it goes.)
In this case, I do think it’s probably a dodgy battery. The outer casing seems worryingly thin - certainly not as robust as the original.
It’s a real shame, because there’s nothing else wrong with the laptop. It’s a bit slow now, but that doesn’t matter for what I use it for. Unfortunately, the place I most often use it doesn’t have an accessible power socket, so I have to run it on battery power.
Oh well, if I have to replace it, I could always give it to Running Bear for his e-mail. He hates checking e-mail, and when he hasn’t done it for a while, he always claims it’s because I was working at the computer and he couldn’t get near it. If I give him his own laptop, that excuse will go right out of the window. (I wonder how long it will take him to come up with another…)
It’s running Ubuntu and it’s happy enough at the moment.
I did wonder about that, but like you I wasn’t sure about the “hazardous” bit. I know I have to carry my spare (lithium) camera battery in my pocket on the flight to Glasgow; I can’t put it in my hold luggage. And the added shipping costs might not leave much of a saving. (Hmm…I have a brother in Connecticut - I’m sure it’s about time he came to visit me. :D)
I have a laptop that I just have to keep plugged in most of the time, but I can still take it places and use it. It’s portable in that sense, but it only last a few minutes now. I was reading that Windows is taking their price for windows down to $15 per install for vendors, and I’m thinking that may mean a further drop in laptop prices later this year. I’ve looked at Chromebooks, but they are too small so far for my needs, and would probably pay more for the Windows version. I tried Ubuntu a couple of years ago and felt it wasn’t quite ready enough (for me), but might want to look into that again in the future. I think I have to replace this year, but waiting a little longer if I can.
I think that after 8 years, it’s more than paid for itself. I wouldn’t put any more money into it. There’s no telling what else will fail in it. If you’re still using the original hard drive, I wouldn’t trust it. I’d be concerned about a drive failure.
I can usually get 5-6 years out of a standard laptop before performance starts to suffer noticeably.
You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at how much faster a new one will operate.
Unfortunately, the place I most often use it doesn’t have an accessible power socket, so I have to run it on battery power.
I assume it is pretty windy up there - could you get a wind generator to take with you or adapt one of those spinning wheel things that must be laying around everywhere by attaching an alternator? You would get some exercise while you worked then.
That wouldn’t be a disaster, as there’s nothing of any value on there that isn’t already backed up. Mostly, I just copy files from the desktop to work on them while I’m out, and then update the desktop version. And I’m still using the original everything. It’s not had heavy use, which maybe explains why it’s still going strong.
I probably will, although again it’s not really a problem. I’m seldom anywhere with Internet access, so I’m really only using it to work on local files. The most I do is edit/optimise photographs with GIMP, and it manages that pretty well.
Well now - there are some ideas worth thinking about. The hall in which I usually work is so draughty, I could probably run a wind turbine indoors. :eek2: Or maybe I could get Running Bear to customise the dynamo on one of his bikes. Then, as you say, I could exercise (and keep warm ;)) while I work.
It’s a Lenovo 3000 C100 0761 - big, solidly-build and somehow very friendly.
You are using your laptop for more than 8 years and one can understand your attachment with it but I guess it is time to move on and have it replaced with a brand new laptop. For me we should replace our laptop every 5 years to stay away from any problems and keep up to date with the latest technology.
I don’t have any problems (apart from the battery) and I don’t need the latest technology. As a general rule, I see no need to replace something which works well, just to have a more up-to-date version, nor can I afford to do so. I think society (in the west, at least) is far too ready to throw away perfectly good items in the name of “progress”, with no thought for the rate at which we’re consuming finite resources.
That said, I accept that replacing the laptop is now my best option - and I’ll be only too happy if the next one lasts for eight years, too.
I think its better to buy a new laptop. My laptop battery is not working so buy new battery but after few day it is not working. So many one suggest me that better to buy a new laptop. Actually it is luck of anyone.
That makes me think too. I have a 2 year old HP laptop with an already dead battery. Thinking of replacing it anytime this year. But, maybe I could just purchase a new battery. I might start considering going that route.
I have no particular experience with Lenovo, but why should it be a battery from Lenovo. I have been using Dell laptops for the past ten years and I tend to replace it with imitation batteries, sometimes with a larger capacity than the original ones. I agree…it requires some searching to get to quality replacement (pay attention to reviews), but the price drop is certainly interesting.
I don’t use it often - roughly one day a week - and it works fine, apart from the battery. I bought a new battery a while back, which I thought was a genuine Lenovo replacement, but it isn’t and it seems to be faulty. (It worked OK at first, but then it started misreporting the charge state - or even the presence of the battery. I suppose that might be the laptop, but I’m inclined to think not.)
Does that sound like the going rate? I’m puzzled, because it seems to be possible to buy the same thing much more cheaply in the US. I’ve only managed to find a couple of UK stockists - presumably because it’s an old model. There are plenty of cheap, non-genuine replacements, but my current experience says there’s no point in going down that road.
(I wonder how long it will take him to come up with another…
)
The hall in which I usually work is so draughty, I could probably run a wind turbine indoors. :eek2: Or maybe I could get Running Bear to customise the dynamo on one of his bikes. Then, as you say, I could exercise (and keep warm ;)) while I work.