If you own a notebook, sooner or later you will need to exchange the rechargeable battery that was supplied with the computer when it was originally bought. This is a fact, and is not due to any fault of the battery itself but simply because the current science and battery chemistries result in batteries that have limited lifespans.

A laptop computer battery is obviously a rechargeable battery, which is also known as a secondary cell. The usual battery chemistries that have been utilized in laptop computer batteries up to date have included nickel cadmium batteries, nickel metal hydride batteries, and lithium ion batteries. Nearly all laptop computers today are equipped with lithium ion batteries.

Lithium ion batteries are most commonly used in today’s laptop computers because they have excellent energy to weight ratios, are not affected from the memory effect phenomenon, and because they lose their charge slowly. Lithium ion batteries have been hypothesized as long ago as the 70s, but have not found practical application until fairly lately. Lithium ion batteries are also more friendly to the environment as they don’t carry any heavy metals as most of the earlier battery chemistries.

Over time, you will begin to notice that your laptop computer’s battery does not run the computer as long as it did when it was a new and fresh battery. This is due to the fact that the internal resistance of the battery grows as the battery ages and effectively cannot hold as great a charge as a new battery. Your computer’s utility software package will normally indicate the charge level of your laptop’s battery and will let you know when the battery starts to fail.

Now that you know that you need a replacement laptop battery, you will find that there are several sources available from which you can buy a battery. These include the original equipment manufacturer, otherwise known as the OEM vendor, stores that sell computer equipment including OEM and generic battery brands, and a number of online sites. When shopping for a replacement laptop battery, you certainly would like to save money.

The easiest way to find a direct replacement battery for your laptop computer is to simply purchase a cell from the company that manufactured your computer. The trouble is that you will always pay the most money when you buy the battery from the computer maker. You may be able to find the OEM battery from a nearby computer dealer or an online source, but sometimes there is no cost benefit associated with buying the OEM battery from another source and sometimes you may even end up paying more.

Most times, generic batteries provide the best value when you need to exchange your laptop’s battery. It is true that the factories that make these generic batteries also provide the batteries for the OEM providers. So essentially you could be getting the same battery that the computer’s manufacturer packages with a different label on it. These generic batteries are available from your local retailer and from online shops. These batteries can save you a sizeable amount of money over the purchase of a battery supplied by the computer vendor.

Even So, these generic batteries can be manufactured at a number of different factories and, like anything else, some factories produce better batteries than others. When buying a generic battery, you need to consider the reputation of the source and, more than anything else, you need to ensure that the battery supplier will warrant that the battery will work with your computer. Laptop batteries are generally assured for a period of anywhere from 3 to 12 months and it is critical that you verify that the battery operates correctly when you get it. Just place it in your notebook computer and charge it as you normally would. If it charges fully and there are no warning messages from your power management utility, you know that you are all set. You also will have saved yourself a sizeable amount of dough by buying discount laptop batteries.

An analysis was performed to see if cheap laptop batteries could result in a savings to the consumer. The results were definitive that a savings of 50% could be realized.