# 6 Cell Vs 9 Cell Battery for Laptop?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-cell-vs-9-cell-battery-for-laptop/704308>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 11, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-cell-vs-9-cell-battery-for-laptop/704308 "2014-11-11T04:34:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

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**Author:** ![SuperAbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@SuperAbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperAbe)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-cell-vs-9-cell-battery-for-laptop/704308/5 "2014-11-11T16:21:43Z")

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> [@What Crawled Up Eutychus's Ass?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crawled-up-eutychuss-ass/91484/78):
>
> So basically i wanted to know if its better for them to get a 6 or 9 cell battery. I will get the battery through ebay even though most of you dont recommend it. Price isn’t a factor b/c its 13 dollars on ebay for the 6 cell and 21 dollars for the 9 cell.

If they don’t use the battery much at all and the price difference is minimal, it doesn’t matter at all which battery they use.

> [@What Crawled Up Eutychus's Ass?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crawled-up-eutychuss-ass/91484/78):
>
> The thing is they also might want to use the laptop say on their lap sometimes with the battery or on the bed. If that’s the case, don’t you agree a 9 cell would be a bad idea then?

Probably.

> [@What Crawled Up Eutychus's Ass?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crawled-up-eutychuss-ass/91484/78):
>
> I will get the battery through ebay even though most of you dont recommend it. Price isn’t a factor b/c its 13 dollars on ebay for the 6 cell and 21 dollars for the 9 cell.

Might also want to budget for the insurance to cover their losses when the battery shorts out and causes havoc. :dubious:

Look, I get the idea: this laptop is on its last legs and they just want to keep it going for a minimal investment. And I’ve used plenty of aftermarket batteries in laptops, cell phone, even refurbished power tool batteries, but $13 for a 6-cell Li-ion battery pack is beyond cheap - it’s “dangerous cheap”.

There are plenty of example of these problems - [glance](http://www.howtogeek.com/172680/danger-why-you-shouldnt-buy-cheap-third-party-batteries-for-laptops-or-smartphones/) at a [few](http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/buy-thirdparty-laptop-battery/) of [them](http://deals.woot.com/questions/details/641640b4-fd6b-4030-a8de-a2b5ad2a9d3f/is-it-worth-the-risk-to-buy-cheap-ebay-laptop-batteries-or-just-go-oem) before jumping into Dangerous Cheap-land. At the very least, buy an OEM battery from someone (Amazon, NewEgg, TigerDirect, etc) who you can at least get a hold of after the sale if/when something bad happens.

Why do you think so many folks recommend against crazy cheap batteries? Do we hate money or hate crappy products? Your call.

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