Hungerdunger Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 I'm looking to buy a replacement battery for my NH1. There are a couple of online retailers who are asking around 20 UKP (approx 36 USD) for one, which seems quite expensive; certainly much more than I've paid for any gumstick battery before.On Ebay I can get one from Germany for 10.50 UKP (including P & P), or one from China for around 14.00. However, the huge difference in price make me concerned that I may not be getting the genuine article.What would you advise - spend out more to fairly safe, or take a risk on a cheap battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strungup Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 the real sony's are about 48-52 dollars here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I bought one of the cheap ones, and it looks and acts perfectly fine, to me. I think if a battery has the right characteristics, you can tell. If you can get the right amount of charge out of it, and there is no sign of swelling or discolouration (heating is probably normal) then I wouldn't worry about it. Yeah, the "clone" was very slightly differently marked, looked like different recycling regulations, so intended for a different market. My guess is a lot of these parts are seeping out as excess stock from the real factory where Sony has them made. Sony would probably like to be like De Beers with diamonds, and make sure that no "excess" ever gets out, but I think that is what happens.I just swapped the "clone" battery in after leaving it out for 24 hours, and no problems. Neither it nor the original seems to display any "deviant" behaviour, so if the definition is that they behave to spec, then it is just as genuine as the one that came with the machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strungup Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 well then your one of the few , who hasnt had a bad battery ruin a machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 On the contrary, I have bought other obvious fakes (not battery, admittedly) and they didn't work. This one looks and acts like the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekdroid Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 wasn't the swelling confined to fake Ni-MH gumsticks?I have a couple of LIP-4WM from China and my money's on them being originals, just priced relatively sanely. I have looked for any obvious differences in plastic, construction, etc and really... nope, I think they're the real deal. In any case they have been working well for me for some time now.further reading:http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=16019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Interesting. I just had a battery swell on me... for the first time.I have 3 NiMH 14WM gumstick batteries. One came with the MZ-R91, and worked fine for the last 6 months. The other two were from Australia made by a company called Vapex. Guess what? The Sony one was the one which suddenly swelled up during charging today. I got it out no problem, guess I was lucky.Go figure. The Vapex ones were 1/4 of the cost of the Sony one. They work great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strungup Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Well the thing is the Sony is liable to be the Fake , that is what China is doing ( you would have to visit here for me to show you ) in Akiba you can find them all over the place , Fake iPod nanos for 4,900 yen , Fake Sony batteries complete Label copy's , fake whatever you want . Fake girls for that matter ( just think Aerosmith here dude) It is really bad , The bootlegging of DVD's CD's , anything and everything , is Voracious here and done in the open with no shame . If you lived here , and watched the news you would understand , .......... but I wont even try to convince someone who is convinced that they already know . I have seen with my OWN eyes , and I know . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avrin Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 I once bought a fake NH-14WM (grey). The packaging was superb, but said MADE IN JAPAN. The battery itself said "NH-14WM" on its face, but "USE ONLY WITH SONY BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM DESIGNATED "FOR NH-10WM"." on its back. It was only able to power my RH10 for 2 to 3 hours. It never had a chance to swell - went to the trash can the next day.One more thing - it was totally flat when I bought it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strungup Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Thank you Avrin . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Actually I am sure this was the original battery.As to the LIP-4WM, just like everyone else, mine was identical physically, and a minor variant (one of the ones seen in the other big thread) in the recycling marking.So I still concur with all those who bought one of these, that at least mine is genuine but excess stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culp4684 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 How did we get on the subject of gumsticks? The original poster is talking about his NH-1. Besides, gumsticks are readily available from genuine e-tailers like Budget Batteries and others at relatively inexpensive prices.I've bought two li-ons for my NH-1 and RH-1 during the past year from a Chinese seller on ebay. Both have had absolutely no problems and are still working fine. Like anything else, just deal with the sellers who have great feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 While we are still on the subject of gumsticks, I will say that after cooling down, the said NH-14WM went back to its normal size and is now producing much longer play times than since I inherited it about a year ago.Maybe it's when they run right down, some Hydrogen gas is given off on recharge, just like someone suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sector001 Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 i had bought one of the fake China ones, for cheap, and they worked like the real ones... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Li-ion or NiMH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sector001 Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Lion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekdroid Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 How did we get on the subject of gumsticks?Well, the original poster mentioned them Tho only the LIP-4WM, which is Lithium-Ion.The original poster is talking about his NH-1...which takes a 'gumstick' battery, the LIP-4WM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culp4684 Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Well, the original poster mentioned them Tho only the LIP-4WM, which is Lithium-Ion....which takes a 'gumstick' battery, the LIP-4WM.OK...I guess when anyone mentions gumsticks, I always think of the Ni-MH battery. But in all fairness, the original poster was referring to the LIP-4WM. Two totally different technologies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekdroid Posted November 1, 2008 Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 OK...I guess when anyone mentions gumsticks, I always think of the Ni-MH battery. But in all fairness, the original poster was referring to the LIP-4WM. Two totally different technologies...Right, and unless I'm totally mistaken I haven't heard of the Lithium Ion one asked about in the original post swelling.Exploding perhaps, but never swelling jk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Hopping Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 So in the end, what's a good place to order? I need LIP-4WM as well as NH-14WM, I would like to get them both at the same place.Having said that, I own an original SOny CD discman, the battery c/w the unit, sealed by Sony. There is green mole coming out of the battery. And the discman is only a few yr. old. By comparison, the older discman from Sony, their NiMH battery is still fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Seems you won't get both from the same source. I have purchased the NiMH from hereThe LIP-4WM are harder to find, maybe Sony is asking Ebay to take them down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterworks Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 I bought a cheap one, Chinese I think. It works, but needs to be recharged as often as my very old original battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levanel Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 I bought a cheap one, Chinese I think. It works, but needs to be recharged as often as my very old original battery.Is there any way to tell the difference between fakes and genuine batteries? (eg: grammatical error on stickers, wrong dimensions, non-gold plated connections?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomzilla Posted December 7, 2008 Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 (edited) purchased a couple from mini disc canada...using one & works just like the one that came with my player...g Edited December 7, 2008 by boomzilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levanel Posted December 23, 2008 Report Share Posted December 23, 2008 (edited) Just recieved a LIP-4WM rather cheaply (not new though). The difference between this one and the one that came with my RH1 unit is the three-letter serial DHA compared to FLA for the authentic one, and just a recycle icon on top of "Li-ion" on the far right of the sticker instead of "RECYCLE" and a 1-800 number. Should I be worried?The writing on the sticker appears to be identical but is lighter (or rather washed out) than compared to the original... Edited December 24, 2008 by Levanel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
se325919 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I bought one of the China LIP-4WM last year from ebay for £2 or something. Yes it work, but used in the DH10P, you can barely take 6 or 7 photos before it is completely dead, and thats from fully charged. It is in the same condition as the original Sony battery that came with the unit. I don't know therefore whether it is fake or original because it looks absolutely identical in every way to the original one, including all label information. The only thing I know for sure about it is that its life is rubbish. Where can I get a decent one from? I like the sound of these Australian compatibles for 1/4 of Sony's price but where can I get them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I wonder if it can be conditioned? I'm sure someone here has ideas on that. I have had good luck with NiMH, but none with Li (I am thinking of laptops, not MD). Supposedly you should discharge the Li battery as far as possible a number of times. Maybe the units are too conservative and need to discharge them to a lower voltage than they are set to; I actually suggested this (in a post) to Avrin, the expert on firmware, but I don't remember hearing a meaningful (to me) response. Someone could perhaps figure this out and build a DIScharger?????The other explanation to all of this is maybe that these are not fakes, but rejects from the manufacturing process. I'm surprised they get labelled first, but that might be the only really dishonest bit - if they simply pinch the labels (or print some extras) and stick em on the ones that fail testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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