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Vanzam

Hi, newbie here!

I've got a VGN-NR11S & had it for about 4 years. Everything fine except the battery has died (after I went away for a few days, switched it all off & unplugged it then returned to find the battery had died & 'cannot be detected') & I'm struggling to find somewhere where I can buy a genuine Sony replacement battery for it - battery VGP-BPS9/B 11.1V / 4800mAh.

I was hoping someone may know where to purchase them from?

Couldnt find anything on the sony site and although there are many places on the internet supplying a VGP-BPS9/B 'compatible' batteries, I'm not sure how 'compatible' they really are?

Any information would be appreciated.

Many thanks for your time.

Thalamus.

flogger12345 wrote:

Hi Vanzam. I think this could be a good excuse to buy a new one.

Vanzam has already posted that they have bought a replacement laptop..

mca422

I'm having the same problem. People should know that the Viao's are locked down so that you can only buy genuine Sony batteries (Google it!). The problem is that Sony don't seem to stock any "older" models. Not that my Vaio is that old, I bought it in late 2006. I've upgraded the HDD to a newer 750GB 7200rpm model (£110), upgraded the memory to 2GB (£17), the screen is still fine, styling is same as the current ones. It's just the battery, which only lasted 3 years.

There is a workaround to get aftermarket batteries working. I tried two aftermarket ones, the second one was advertised and badged as Sony OEM, and I paid OEM prices for it, but the laptop still refused to detect it (why are all these places selling aftermarket Sony batteries if they don't work?? Are people just taking the hit and not returning them?). After trawling the forums for a solution, I found a workaround which involves disabling the service that locks the non-OEM batteries out (I think it was isbmgr.exe), but the side effect is that you lose the power meter display that shows you how much power is left in the battery. Some users didn't experience the side effect on their model, others like me did (I have a VGN-FE28B).

I went to the Sony Centre at Westfied, but they couldn't supply a genuine battery. They gave me a second hand dealer's number, which I rang only to find that the number has been disconnected. They also gave me the Sony spares number, 08702 402 408, which just asks you for a service reference number, and then hangs up if you don't have one! The 090 phone number on this site doesn't work either!

Dell, HP, any of the other big suppliers don't lock their batteries, only Sony! I like the styling of the Sony's but I would get a Dell or maybe HP next, you really should be able to get more than 5 years out of a £900 investment.

Message was edited by: mca422

Thalamus.

The problem is that Sony don't seem to stock any "older" models.

Hi All,

as I mentioned earlier replacement batteries should be available from Vaio support, link to support details

The Sony online store & Sony centres normally only carry replacement batteries for the current range of Vaio's..

If anyone is having problems getting a batterey please post & let us know & we'll see if we can help..:smileyhappy:

mca422

Thalamus,

My notebook model is VGN-FE28B

The Battery model is VGP-BPS2B

BTW the Vaio support phone number on the link you provided 0905 0310006 is not a valid UK phone number.

If anyone can help I would definately appreciate it

Bonzo-1

Hi all,im also after the same battery as Vanzam for a four year old VGN-NR10E, Ive looked at the ones on ebay,Amazon ect ,& it seems they all come from China & the average price is around £30.00.

Ive seen sites selling the same ones for around £70.00 plus (marked as genuine,lol!) & check the sites out & yes there in China too,

Most of the ones on Ebay also come with a software disk & instructions to use it as the battery wont work otherwise,i think this disables the sony software & Patche's the Bios,(not sure if im happy flashing the Bios with some unknown software from china)

Some sellers say it dont work if you have updated your Bios to the latest,& one seller stated it dont work on windows 7 :smileysad:,

Yes i wiped the original Vista & done a clean install of windows 7,

Now ,do i take a chance with the software supplied with the battery ?

Or should Reinstall the original Vista before useing the software ?

If i could get one from sony for a resonable price i wouldent need to this

The laptops great ,but to lock you into Sony only batteries even after 4,5,7 years ,I would'nt buy another or recomend others do.

Thalamus.

mca422 wrote:

Thalamus,

My notebook model is VGN-FE28B

The Battery model is VGP-BPS2B

BTW the Vaio support phone number on the link you provided 0905 0310006 is not a valid UK phone number.

If anyone can help I would definately appreciate it

Hi mca422,

hopefully someone from Vaio support should be in contact to discuss your battery replacement..:smileywink:

Bonzo-1

Yea its been running fine for maybe 2 years ,its just the battery is at the end of its life

I dont even like flashing the bios with a manufacturers update ,lol!

But if a genuine battery is a stupid price ,the sort of price were you think about buying a new higher speced laptop ,then i might just take a chance with patching the Bios ,ill find out soon as ive got to email sony customer support the laptop serial & wait for them to get back to me,when they do post back here the Price.

Message was edited by: Bonzo-1

vogler

Thanks, Vanzam - really useful to know how this worked out for you.

Thanks for taking the time to post back...

Thalamus. - I guess the frustration everyone in this position is sharing is that if the OEM batteries exist then why do we have to call a premium rate 'Out of Warranty' phone line to (possibly) get one? It's hardly cutting edge eCommerce, is it?!

Message was edited by: vogler@ab65

Thalamus.

Bonzo-1 wrote: