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Buying LIP-4WM

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unignal

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as far as ppl have had experiences with them overhere... they seem to be.

but the bottom line is:

- if you prefer saving money over security, go Chinese

- if you prefer security over saving money, go Sony

but whatever you do, it is your choice! (I'm currently trying to make this choice myself as well)

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as far as ppl have had experiences with them overhere... they seem to be.

but the bottom line is:

- if you prefer saving money over security, go Chinese

- if you prefer security over saving money, go Sony

but whatever you do, it is your choice! (I'm currently trying to make this choice myself as well)

I guess I will choose Sony ^_^

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My battery from China (ebay- leibflea) took 17 days to arrive. I am using it now, and it seems to perform identically to the original. Why spend more? If you want a backup, this seems the way to go.

I partly agree with you, but what if the battery spoils and it affects the RH-1?.

Is the risk worth while?. I guess not for me taking into account my machine is still under guarantee .

regards ;)

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I partly agree with you, but what if the battery spoils and it affects the RH-1?.

Is the risk worth while?. I guess not for me taking into account my machine is still under guarantee .

regards ;)

What if he has a car accident tomorrow? Life is full of risks and 'what ifs'... bottom line is, I've heard no accounts of battery leakage or damage by ANY LIP-4WM. Sounds like everyone here that wants to pay more is paying for some psychological insurance or are afraid of the "too good to be true" sale.

Slightly off-topic but to illustrate a point, Borders Books STILL sells the 600D minidisc player for $199.99. Does that mean the average REAL price of the unit which is about $80 on line will leak or explode on you? Ok, ok, it's still the exact same Sony product that is sealed, etc... not exactly like this battery situation, but still the point I'm making is there are price gaps out there, don't let that scare you.

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haha blueraja... glad you pointed out yourself that the analogy isn't really one... cause it really isn't one :P

still what I was trying to say before... indeed, as there haven't been any mentions of 'bad LIP-4WM batteries' yet, you are just paying extra for some 'peace of mind' when ordering the certified real Sony battery:

- there isn't anything to say the Chinese are really fakes or - if they are indeed fakes - that they are of lesser quality...except that the big price difference leds us conditioned peeps to believe so... thus if you can live with the agonizing ( ;) ) insecurity, just go ahead and save yourself some money

- on the other hand, just because they haven't exploded YET ( :lol: ) is absolutely no guarantee that they are original Sony batteries or more importantly that they will never explode... which means that if you want security that your battery won't explode (well, that it won't explode because it is fake... wrong usage might make Sony batteries do funny things as well :P ) you should be prepared to pay a lot more

bottom line: unless we have a real authenticity expert here who will examine the stuff for us or one of the Chinese salespersons reads this forum and suddenly feels like confessing :D there really is no way for us to know whether they are real or not. You should just ask yourself whether you think the money saved is worth the guinee-pig status you are adopting as we still only know little about the durability of the batteries (cf. no explosions YET :lol: ) or not...

I personally will probably go the Chinese route at some time... but as for now, I haven't really felt the need for an extra battery (perhaps I will soon, at the festival I'm going to...but it is already too late to get one before that date anyway, so I will wait a bit more)

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I personally think there is a greater risk of damage to the unit by dropping it, or some other form of physical damage. The batteries both probably came from the same factory in China somewhere, one bought by Sony, and the other by a wholesaler who slapped a label on it. I doubt there is a big enough market for some other factory to gear up and produce fake LIP-4WM batteries. It's not like they are AA size and sell by the millions! If anyone is comfortable paying for Sony's huge markup, you are well within you rights to do so, and you are not alone. There are also those of us who look for bargains where we can find them, and feel that Sony has enough of our money already. We will buy the cheap batteries, and be blissfully ignorant of any potential problems of a sort that have only been imagined thus far.

The fact of the matter is, There are both options available. Each person should choose the one that he or she is most comfortable with, and not be concerned about what anyone else thinks.

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I ordered 1 from the Chinese guy on fleabay this week too. So far, the communication has been good and I expect to receive it in time for the Allman Brothers show with 2 opening bands (one of which will be the Derek Trucks Band) on the 19th of August up in Raleigh, NC.

Well, I haven't received my RH1 from Sony yet either. So, really I am just waiting and making sure my RH910 is ready if I have to pull it into primary recording mode.

As for listening pleasures, my 60g IPOD has made me happier every day... but that's another thread, aye? B)

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My experience:

The last month, for a friend of mine I did buy a Sony Lip-4WM on eBay from a chinese vendor: my friend is very happy with its MZ-NH1 and its new battery.

The last week I did buy a battery replacement for my MZ-NH900 (the original NH-10 battery has not a long life and it always want a charge...), so I did buy a NH-14WM (1200 MHm) from a non chinese vendor.

The first time I did charge it for 3 hours and my NH900 did works fine. Tonight I did charge it for the second time and this morning the bad news: I cannot extract the battery from its

compartment probably because the varnish around the battery did burn for the heat... :(

Luckily, my MD recorder works fine, yet...

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My experience:

The last month, for a friend of mine I did buy a Sony Lip-4WM on eBay from a chinese vendor: my friend is very happy with its MZ-NH1 and its new battery.

The last week I did buy a battery replacement for my MZ-NH900 (the original NH-10 battery has not a long life and it always want a charge...), so I did buy a NH-14WM (1200 MHm) from a non chinese vendor.

The first time I did charge it for 3 hours and my NH900 did works fine. Tonight I did charge it for the second time and this morning the bad news: I cannot extract the battery from its

compartment probably because the varnish around the battery did burn for the heat... :(

Luckily, my MD recorder works fine, yet...

And so the tables turn.... BUAH-HA-HA!!!

(sorry for your misfortune)

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Infact, the battery I bought is in its original package and it does not seems a fake, altough there are chinese words ptinted everywhere on its little box.

However, I did not buy it from a chinese vendor.

Someone with a MZ-NH900 have had a similar trouble?

Is there a solution (I would like to avoid to open my MD recorder to extract the battery locked inside...)?

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The last week I did buy a battery replacement for my MZ-NH900 (the original NH-10 battery has not a long life and it always want a charge...), so I did buy a NH-14WM (1200 MHm) from a non chinese vendor. The first time I did charge it for 3 hours and my NH900 did works fine. Tonight I did charge it for the second time and this morning the bad news: I cannot extract the battery from its compartment probably because the varnish around the battery did burn for the heat...

There were numerous posts (as I recall, before the forum crashed a couple of years or so ago and was rebuilt in its current format...I can't find them any more) about using the higher capacity NH-14WM battery in the NH-900 which inexplicably came equipped with a lesser battery. The concensus was that the NH900 could safely (and fully) charge the higher capacity battery though the unit could get quite warm, and the battery could swell and cause it to get stuck. I don't remember reading whether the swelling goes down on its own after awhile, or if once swollen it is forever swollen (which seems to be the same fate as my waistline :( ). The safer alternative of using an external Sony charger for the higher capacity batteries was discussed, though I'd wonder whether they wouldn't swell by charging that way as well. Is the swelling caused by the charging voltage...length of time on/in the charger...don't know.

Maybe the careful use of some needle-nosed pliers would help you extract the stuck battery without damage to the unit, if it is still stuck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The first time I did charge it for 3 hours and my NH900 did works fine. Tonight I did charge it for the second time and this morning the bad news: I cannot extract the battery from its

compartment probably because the varnish around the battery did burn for the heat... :(

Luckily, my MD recorder works fine, yet...

Oh, man...sorry to hear about that. :( I knew there was a reason why I never charge batteries with the unit; I use my BC-7HT and it works like a charm. Sometimes the batteries get hot, but when i use them in the units they cool down and I've never had the battery-expansion problem others have reported. [touches wood]

peace

WaywardTraveller

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  • 3 weeks later...

Lithium batteries are very very touchy, ever heard of the exploding laptops by Dell? (the lithium batteries were faulty so they exploded) I would never ever put anything from ebay into my precious minidisc player. Think of it this way, would you rather go spend the money and not have to worry about your minidisc player or go buy a sketchy battery from ebay that is probably used or a knock off and ruin go your minidisc player. http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550

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...and yet again I must point out that the two batteries I purchased from eBay back in April have been serving me well through numerous charges. I use the batteries in a MZ-NH1 and a MZ-NH3D. I used them in a MZ-EH1 while I owned it as well. I never once had any issues with the two batteries.

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Lithium batteries are very very touchy, ever heard of the exploding laptops by Dell? (the lithium batteries were faulty so they exploded) I would never ever put anything from ebay into my precious minidisc player. Think of it this way, would you rather go spend the money and not have to worry about your minidisc player or go buy a sketchy battery from ebay that is probably used or a knock off and ruin go your minidisc player. http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550

After all, it's just a machine. I wouldn't exactly call it "precious". It's not like installing a battery in a pacemaker, or something that would kill a person if it was faulty. And , the exploding batteries in Dell, Sony, and Apple laptops are name brand. The fact that they were retail/OEM (Sony, same people who made these minidisc players and batteries that they contain) didn't seem to help the reliability very much. You never know what may happen.

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I'm in Beijing right now, and just bought an NH1 for CAD260 (no tax) at Zhongguancun Electronics Market. Got two spare LIP4WM batteries for Y100 each (about $14CAD each). They look absolutely new and will let you all know when I try them out.

Incidentally, i also picked up a second NH900 for CAD240....and I find out that not only does it have that convenient little optical cable (does that normally come with the NH900?), but someone stuck in an MC40ELK remote with it as well! B)

Add to that 9 blue TDK HO mindiscs at Y10 each (CAD1.40) and me happy. :D

peace

WaywardTraveller

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Incidentally, i also picked up a second NH900 for CAD240....and I find out that not only does it have that convenient little optical cable (does that normally come with the NH900?), but someone stuck in an MC40ELK remote with it as well! B)

Could have been a Japanese world tourist edition, as these shipped with the 40ELK I believe. The optical cable I think was included everywhere (with the possible exception of the US).

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Has anyone found the LIP-4WM for under $60 (US)? There are Ebay listings for $20 shipped, but I have the feeling those are fakes--the LI-ION logo on the left is different from the RECYCLE logo on the Sony.

If I recall correctly there are 3 different recycle logos on the Sony batteries. Some US versions have a circular graphic, then there are the ones which have the the 3 interlocking arrows and then others that just say Li-Ion in text.

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If I recall correctly there are 3 different recycle logos on the Sony batteries. Some US versions have a circular graphic, then there are the ones which have the the 3 interlocking arrows and then others that just say Li-Ion in text.

Yeah, the one that hasn't been confirmed is the one with just "Li-ion" on it because no one has seen it packaged with any Hi-MD units and they're found on eBay. There are 2 legit ones that I know of - the circular graphic with the toll-free phone number were found with a North American unit, while the interlocking recycle arrows with my Japanese units. That's the pattern I've found with the units I've got or seen first-hand (see pic below). Don't know how it is with European/Aussie units though.

IPB Image

From Nismo96. Note the "Li-ion" one at the bottom.

IPB Image

Edit: I forgot to mention that no one's had any problems with the eBay Li-ion batteries so far. (lol Didn't want to sound like I was against buying eBay batteries because I think they're a great bargain.)

Edited by jaylen
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The Li-Ion "text-only" ones do definitely exist as legit versions as I had one with my Australian NH1 and possibly another with the JE DH10P (I think).

I can't make up my mind on the Chinese ebay ones, as to whether they are refurbs or just ones that have gone astray from either factory or the Sony spares dept.

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I'm beginning to think we're all worried about NOTHING. When I journeyed to Europe this past summer I saw several different looks for a Coca-Cola bottle. Still the same company and product. I think all these batteries are fine despite subtle differences in the label.

This thread is starting to repeat itself.

"These batteries are fine"

"I heard they explode"

"This one looks different"

"These batteries are fine"

"I heard they explode"

We get the point. Either spend more money and feel "secure", or find the cheapest deal and move on.

:P

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I'm beginning to think we're all worried about NOTHING. When I journeyed to Europe this past summer I saw several different looks for a Coca-Cola bottle. Still the same company and product. I think all these batteries are fine despite subtle differences in the label.

lol When I was typing my answer, I thought, "Hmm, this feels like deja vu." I went back to the previous posts and sure enough, this topic was kind of talked about already. Oh well, at least it helps out people who are in a hurry and don't want to read through 5 pages. Or, it helps those who just need more reassurance.

I've been to Asia and other countries and I've found that although Coke cans and bottles look the same, they can taste very different. I don't know what it is, but the Coke flavor isn't quite the same everywhere. ;)

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lol When I was typing my answer, I thought, "Hmm, this feels like deja vu." I went back to the previous posts and sure enough, this topic was kind of talked about already. Oh well, at least it helps out people who are in a hurry and don't want to read through 5 pages. Or, it helps those who just need more reassurance.

I've been to Asia and other countries and I've found that although Coke cans and bottles look the same, they can taste very different. I don't know what it is, but the Coke flavor isn't quite the same everywhere. ;)

Cool, well while the "off topic" police aren't looking, we can turn this into a Coke thread! I think your different tastes are part of the physical AURA that is part of any dining experience... ever notice how people go to the same restaraunt and have a completely different experience?

Just kidding, I think you're right actually - oh well, bad analogy I guess.

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Cool, well while the "off topic" police aren't looking, we can turn this into a Coke thread! I think your different tastes are part of the physical AURA that is part of any dining experience... ever notice how people go to the same restaraunt and have a completely different experience?

Just kidding, I think you're right actually - oh well, bad analogy I guess.

coke is manufactured & bottled locally, most countries have they're own plants, hence the slight local variances, even to a set recipe.

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My RH1 battery has FEH on it. I ordered a battery for $18 from libflea, and am waiting for it to arrive so I can look it over. I have a feeling that these are genuine, because if you look at the other Sony things he has for sale, they are also going for low prices compared to retail as well. I find it hard to believe that he is selling all kinds of knock-off Sony products that look virtually the same as their retail counterparts. What we seem to have here is a case of sale at reduced mark-up. Jewelry, for example is marked up considerably, and can be had much cheaper at outlets than at merchant retail stores.

Mexican Coca-Cola uses pure cane sugar, and US Coke uses high-fructose corn syrup. I happen to prefer Mexican Coke. ^_^

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  • 3 months later...

Haha, thats right I'm digging up an old thread! So how are those batteries working for you guys? I've personally concluded that these batteries are genuine but stolen by factory workers. Of course I maybe be very wrong. I just might buy from these ebayers, have to fight my urge to buy the more expensive ones.

Edited by Sparda
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