This should say "Don't buy shitty non OEM chargers". There are plenty of reliable non OEM brands that sell perfectly reliable chargers. Anker for example.
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
-1 points (47.8% liked)
ThinkPad
1330 readers
1 users here now
IBM and Lenovo ThinkPad laptop enthusiasts!
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
Which reminds me that I need to look into what all options there are. I'd like to get a backup to the oem that came with mine, but I've never looked to see what all is out there.
Same with batteries tbh, though I got a bigger oem one at the same time I bought the t480.
I absolutely support this for batteries, largely because nobody reputable sells replacement laptop batteries. But I feel perfectly safe with Anker chargers, and a few others. I also mostly use a USB-C monitor these days, and have no problems after rather limited use so far. But I'd be hesitant to buy some of the cheap no-name monitors for use in the same capacity, nor the cheap Chinese charger of the week off Amazon.
I mean many chargers/power supplies have and follow standards, ESPECIALLY if its a USB-PD compliant charger. batteries have a lot of wild west aspects to them. Bundling both in the way OP has it is not the way to go.
Yeah, but how do you tell if a USB PD compliant charger is truly USB PD compliant? Remember that dude from Google who was reviewing USB cables, warning people off the ones with the wrong resistor?
Cable and charger are two seperate things like batteries are, they are all.different components.
Usb pd specs has nothing to do with the cable that might end up being used with it.
You arent going to use a low guage wire to carry a ton of power, as you arent supposed to.
I'm saying when there's an opportunity to cheap out and raise margins, before disappearing into the night, a lot of "brands" will. When their Amazon reviews start reflecting that they're shit, they'll just discontinue that brand, and resurface with another.
I've been using Anker chargers and USB-C cables exclusively since the USB-C transition half a decade ago. They fold up neatly and deliver more power at a fraction of the size of a standard ThinkPad charger.
Five countries, both 220 and 120 and I haven't had a single issue and they are used daily.
You can do non-OEM and still be fine.
Regarding batteries, non-OEM is pretty much the only way to go if you are beyond the Lenovo warranty period. You can't even get fresh batteries from Lenovo for 8th generation machines anymore.
In the past I've had a different experience with OEM chargers dying on me and off brand ones surviving longer but that was in a place with frequent power cuts. In general your advice is probably best to follow but I've also used non-OEM replacements without any bad experiences for many different devices.
I got a 3rd party replacement battery for my t420 about a year ago. Maybe I should keep an eye on it...
Hey, sorry for necroposting, but how is your battery doing? If it’s still cranking and not-exploded, would you mind sharing the brand? I’m considering replacing the battery in a T420 and trying to decide between shelling out for OEM or rolling the dice on third-party.