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Aftermarket batteries (and chargers) ?

Hi obviously there's a ton of sources out there for cheap/knock-off batteries and chargers. Anyone had any luck (or horror stories) with parts claiming to be "OEM" ?

For example on Amazon.com there are several companies that sell Droid X batteries for like $5 total shipped, claiming that they are OEM. Most of the reviews are positive too

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-BH5X-Standard-Battery-Droid/dp/B003XW8UPO/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1298293881&sr=1-1

I wouldn't buy one that's obviously a knock-off, as I would be worried it would mess up the phone. But seems liek these sources claim to have new OEM batteries. Whether they are new or not is questionable, but if they are OEM, even if they're somewhat used how can you go wrong at $5 ?

Also on charges same question. I have heard that knock of charges can send your phone on the fritz. But what about ones claiming to be OEM?

Comments

gerio

btr wrote:
Hi obviously there's a ton of sources out there for cheap/knock-off batteries and chargers. Anyone had any luck (or horror stories) with parts claiming to be "OEM" ?

For example on Amazon.com there are several companies that sell Droid X batteries for like $5 total shipped, claiming that they are OEM. Most of the reviews are positive too
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-BH5X-Standard-Battery-Droid/dp/B003XW8UPO/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1298293881&sr=1-1

I wouldn't buy one that's obviously a knock-off, as I would be worried it would mess up the phone. But seems liek these sources claim to have new OEM batteries. Whether they are new or not is questionable, but if they are OEM, even if they're somewhat used how can you go wrong at $5 ?

Also on charges same question. I have heard that knock of charges can send your phone on the fritz. But what about ones claiming to be OEM?

Not had any problems with OEM-badged batteries and chargers, but I usually do a search on pricegrabber.com or eBay for them. If you order something from those sources and the part sez "Motorola" on it, you should be okay. A $5 battery? Ehhh, I don't know, tread carefully with that one.

Funny thing with chargers, I wouldn't use ANYTHING but the Motorola home charger, the one that has a detachable USB cable that's too short....grrr. A while back, my daughter called me to come look at her Droid freaking out. Being lazy, I said "bring it to me". She replied "it's on the charger", which sent up a red flag. I went and looked at it and sure enough, she was using a generic charger because she had lost her OEM charger (number, ohhh, 12, if I remember right... :smileyvery-happy: ). I gave her my OEM charger and her phone was fine after that. I buy those OEM Moto chargers from somewhere on eBay for $12 each (and I buy 4 at a time for reasons that should be obvious by now... :smileysurprised: )).

As for car chargers, the X seems to be a little more flexible tolerating the generic ones. I have had to buy many of those because of losing them between the 5 vehicles and many rental trucks that I am in and out of. I've come across only one that wouldn't charge the X properly. It didn't cause any harm, it just didn't charge it. But I'm partial to that Moto car charger that has the cool "M" that lights up in blue when charging. Again, Pricegrabber.com can be your friend when looking for those.

Geri O

Cody21

+1 for the MOTO Car Charger unit. (Amazon has it as well). I initially purchased the Verizon Car Charger when I got my phone. There is an issue with it that I discovered -- there was interference generated when I was listening to AM radio while charing my phone with it. I returned it and purchased teh MOTO version which is fantastic ... no Radio interference at all. And the Blue M is very cool as well ... :smileyhappy:

crb79

It's a pretty costly gamble to use a non-OEM battery. I have seen knockoff batteries short out phones, Motorola puts out a pretty straight forward disclaimer that you are not to use anything but OEM Chargers and Batteries. If your phone is damaged by one of these batteries your warranty will be voided. This means you'll have a $600 paper weight.

btr

Hi yeah i definitely don't want to put a fake battery in there, but rather a genuine battery that I can get cheaper somewhere other than through VZW.

Is there any way to tell for sure if they are genuine? Obviously they should say "Motorola" on there, but anything else?

LoydroidX

btr wrote:
Hi yeah i definitely don't want to put a fake battery in there, but rather a genuine battery that I can get cheaper somewhere other than through VZW.

Is there any way to tell for sure if they are genuine? Obviously they should say "Motorola" on there, but anything else?

The 'genuine' battery for the Droid X does say Motorola on it, and is coded "BH5X". (The extended life battery is "BH6X")

I strongly recommend only OEM Motorola chargers. There should be the "M" symbol somewhere on the USB portion. The car charger does have a cool, light blue "hologram-like" M symbol that lights up when plugged in.

crb79

btr wrote:
Hi yeah i definitely don't want to put a fake battery in there, but rather a genuine battery that I can get cheaper somewhere other than through VZW.

Is there any way to tell for sure if they are genuine? Obviously they should say "Motorola" on there, but anything else?

You have to be cautious, there are fake "official" batteries that are on the market. These are made in China with cheap low quality materials which tend to breakdown quickly and can short out your phone.

LoydroidX

crb79 wrote:
You have to be cautious, there are fake "official" batteries that are on the market. These are made in China with cheap low quality materials which tend to breakdown quickly and can short out your phone.

Any way to tell which are really fake? Both the battery that came with the phone and my extended life battery (purchased from a Verizon corporate store) say "Cell origin China. Finished in China. Manufactured by Motorola".

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