Getting a replacement laptop battery

[pubrunner]

Hi All,

I'd like to get a replacement battery for my wife's ageing Dell Vostro 3550 laptop - which isn't as easy as it might seem.

As a cautionary tale . . . a few years ago, I purchased a battery for another laptop, from a website which (apparently) had a warehouse in Manchester. I made payment via PayPal on the basis that I'd be able to claim if something went wrong.

After about a month, a battery arrived . . . . . . . from China (via Sweden) and it was covered with warnings that I'd imported a prohibited item. Unfortunately, the battery (which didn't look new) was not the correct one for the laptop.

I complained to PayPal and tried to seek a refund; I was informed that for this to happen, I'd have to return the battery to the retailer by 'Signed For' delivery and when I received notification that this had happened, I'd be able to have my money back.

Unfortunately, I faced two difficulties - the cost of sending the battery back to China via 'Signed For' delivery, would cost more than battery cost in the first place. Secondly, I couldn't send it back anyway, as it was a prohibited item.

I'm now looking for a battery for a Dell Vostro 3550; I can see on Ebay, that there are many sellers who purport to sell the correct battery - advertised as 'UK stock' and with Union Jacks in the adverts . . . but a closer look, always shows that the seller is based in Hong Kong or China.

So can anyone please tell me, where can I get a battery (preferably with extended capacity) from a genuine UK retailer ?

[LordGrover]

Amazon German vendor? Pricey though.

[Munter]

If you are ordering from Amazon, look for one that's "Dispatched from and sold by Amazon." Basically any with the "Prime" symbol next to them. That way you can be pretty certain it's currently sat in an Amazon warehouse in the UK.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Watching as the battery on my Asus is not great. Stupid thing now just kills the power to the PC when it's getting low rather than warning you to shut down or plug in.

[Mr Pointy]

Well this was the first Google hit for "Dell Vostro 3550 battery" & they ship from Portsmouth (or so they say):
http://www.delllaptopbattery.co.uk/dell-vostro-355...

Another one:
https://www.replacement-batteries.co.uk/laptop-bat...

There are others as well. You'll always struggle to post these though as Royal Mail are very fussy about batteries in the post.

[tr7v8]

I actually work for Dell but my personal laptops at home I've had a few ebay batteries & the like & they've either not worked or been wrongly described. So I'd go with a genuine one where at all possible.

[pequod]

Got a replacement battery for my Samsung from this company and so far have had no problems with it, unlike the other (cheaper) version I tried before.

https://www.thelaptoppowersupplyshop.co.uk/dell-la...

[pubrunner]

pequod said:

Got a replacement battery for my Samsung from this company and so far have had no problems with it, unlike the other (cheaper) version I tried before.

https://www.thelaptoppowersupplyshop.co.uk/dell-la...

Thank you all, for taken the time & trouble to reply.

Pequod, thank you for finding what looks to be a reputable and 'safe' company to deal with - worth spending more (imo), for something that will do the job.

[pequod]

pubrunner said:

pequod said:

Got a replacement battery for my Samsung from this company and so far have had no problems with it, unlike the other (cheaper) version I tried before.

https://www.thelaptoppowersupplyshop.co.uk/dell-la...

Thank you all, for taken the time & trouble to reply.

Pequod, thank you for finding what looks to be a reputable and 'safe' company to deal with - worth spending more (imo), for something that will do the job.

Thank you, hopefully they will provide what you need. Best check the spec with them though (6v/9v) before ordering.

[gregs656]

They really need to figure out laptop battery a little better.

I bet if you took that pack apart the first 1 or 2 cells would be junk and the rest are perfectly fine (they will be 18650s). They just don't manage the charging very well at all.

[Burwood]

My experience. A lot of the cheaper offerings are not what they seem. The battery may not fit exactly and the voltage/amps was out a bit, resulting in the OEM charger effectively wrecking the battery in short order. I would buy from a reputable source or just go OEM if it's a decent machine. Don't buy cheap.