Hi,

I ordered some Nokia BP-5L on Ebay (from a Hong-Kong based seller) for my N800 and when I got them I noticed that they did not have the Nokia hologram or the 20 digit security code on them. They also had BOTH "Made in Hungary" AND "Fabrique en Chine" (yes, in French) on them. Otherwise, they did look exactly like the real thing.

I complained to the seller and his refunded me no questions asked (so he most likely new that he was selling fakes).

However, I still wonder. Is there really any risk in using fake Nokia batteries? I would see that fake batteries would be of a lesser quality than the original Nokia ones, but must I really throw them away? Do they actully present any real risk for my N800 if I try using them?

Many thanks for any pointers,

VS

They could explode. Been a lot of that going around lately...

You gotta be kiddin'! Why would anyone even bother selling batteries which would damage a unit? That just does not seem a smart way of doing business, even a counter-fitting business ;-)

BTW - do they explode while being used or explode while being charged?

Fake tends to mean cheap. Cheap tends to mean less quality assurance. When a company says "purchase knockoffs at your own risk", that is exactly what they mean.

except that the said company has a vested interest in holding a monopoly on the distribution and pricing of batteries. no offense to Nokia, but *any* corporation would spread rumors indicating that everybody else's hardware is not as good, if not outright dangerous, while bloating the price on their own hardware. no?

Any company? No. Only an unscrupulous one.

You asserted that part counterfeiters should have a vested interest in product success. This tends to be largely untrue. They operate VERY near-term, and lack the developmental and product lifecycle overhead of a legitimate, monolithic organization like Nokia. They typically illegally reverse-engineer products and dump them on the market with the intent of a quick buck, not a committed effort. If they are caught, there is rarely any successful prosecution-- often they simply move on to something else. They have no real incentive to do right by the customer, or even their distributers.

It makes sense to OEM or ODM some products, but batteries have proven to be problematic. Companies prefer to exercise more control over them than for other products with less disaster potential and exposure. It's easy to blame such companies for being anticompetitive, but then, they'd catch hell for allowing a proliferation of poorly-controlled and shoddily-built OEM/ODM parts, too. Given the extreme options, door number one tends to be more attractive.

Well, I have do admit that I personally do not believe that there can be such thing as a "scrupulous multinational company", one that cares for its reputation - yes, but one with any other motives than profit - no.

However, that there is no doubt that a reputable company like Nokia would have far more incentives to make high-quality products, and in particular batteries, than some semi-anomymous Chinese outfit.

But if you guys really know of exploding batteries than I guess I will get rid of mine and continue to dish out $$$ for Nokia ones :-(

Thanks a lot though!

VS

I don't like the high prices, either, and there is no employee purchase plan available to me for batteries. So, it is with gritted teeth that I pay full price if I can't weasel a battery from some tech...

As for exploding batteries, I've seen reports here and there, but the most common risk is batteries that don't fully charge, have the wrong voltage, etc. Typical knockoff stuff.

Oh, and Nokia does indeed have motivations beyond simple profit. Note that the company is a leader in environmental responsibility. And I've never worked for any company that treated its employees (generally) this well.

I am just curious - do they treat they employees equally well in all countries?

I have seen some complaints, and I can only speak for what I personally have experiences in several locations.

The point is that the corporation has beneficial policies in place, for all employees, but it's entirely possible that local representation is different. I for one am very pleased with my experience and the nature of communications and directives from corporate.