M200/M400 Replacement Battery

[sipoyraj]

I have seen several sites that have "100% OEM compatible" batteries but have marginally different specs than the official battery from Toshiba.

Toshiba's Battery: 4400mAh @ 10.8V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834996134

Replacement: 4000mAh @ 11.1V
http://www.dsmiller.com/html/Laptop-...-TS-R10-15.htm

Marginally different ratings that probably would reduce life by 20-30 minutes (not a big deal to me since my current battery only runs for 20 minutes when fully charged!)

My question is this: will a "compatible" battery be acceptable, or should I dive for the official Toshiba replacement? The price difference is this: $106 for the Toshiba, $75 for the replacement.

[Steve S]

Ryan: There is a third potential alternative; you can have one of your existing batteries rebuilt (fresh internal cells).

I've recently become aware of a website that may offer a quality service:

www.primecell.com

Primecell will give you a cost estimate before you commit to their service. In fact, I'm about to try them myself for a rare instrumentation battery. Primecell's prices appear to be about 1/3 of what you'd pay for a new OEM battery...

[deepak]

You may also want to check out eBay. My battery was also diminished significantly (~30 mins) and I found a brand new Toshiba replacement and it was of slightly higher capacity as well (4700mAh vs. the original 4400mAh). They tend to go for about $35-50 brand new.

I would be wary of a third-party alternative, especially after the rash of overheating/exploding batteries that recently occurred. Who knows what kind of cells these people are using... an unscrupulous seller could be using left over at-risk parts.

[holicow]

Careful with 3rd party batteries. I bought a "completely compatible" battery from eBay, and while it did seem to work OK in the tablet, it would NOT charge with the Toshiba external charger.

[deepak]

I just re-read my last post and I realize I may not have gotten the point across as I intended. The battery I purchased from eBay was a genuine Toshiba brand battery... I would definitely stay away from third party / generic. That being said, there are some good deals to be had on new, sealed OEM batteries.

[DaveTN]

I bought a "compatable" 4400mAh battery form a seler on ebay fo rmy M200. He had great feedback and the battery arrived quickly. I think I paid something like $39.00 for it about a year ago and it has served me flawlessly since then.

David