Amazon Really Does Sell Everything
Jun 12th, 2008 by Alex
I’m a glutton for punishment or lazy, because I lived for months with sub-par talk time that could usually be counted on my fingers. After six months of bitching about my cell phone’s battery life, I decided today to buy a new battery. My Motorola V325 takes one 3.7V Lithium Ion cell, model number SNN5762A.
For whatever reason, most people I talked to just told me to get a new phone. I’m not sure I understand that logic; the phone itself works just fine, at least I think it does aside from the battery. I like that it doesn’t have 3 million features that I don’t use. It does have a few dozen features that I don’t use, but that’s better. Less features, more space for the radio (or at least that’s how it used to work). If the new battery goes dead in super-short order, maybe I’ll consider a new handset.
Craigslist had nothing. eBay sellers wanted $20 for Buy It Now. Verizon Wireless (online) wanted $40 for the normal (880 mAh) battery and $50 for the extended life (1100 mAh). I didn’t even bother going to the physical store because you always get shafted over pricing there. So on a whim I checked Amazon… and yes, there was a regular Motorola OEM for $12 after shipping. Excellent! There were cheaper vendors there and I know that batteries already carry a hefty markup, but some of them looked a tad shady.
You really can buy just about anything there.
I did wonder about what caused the thing to die so quickly. When I took the battery out of the phone to check the model number, the battery cell definitely felt bloated and more fat than it is supposed to be. Written on the back is the following warning.
CAUTION: To prevent injury do not disassemble or allow metal to touch battery terminals. Do not expose to high temperature (140°F / 60°C). Use only Motorola original batteries and charger. Must be disposed of properly. See phone manual for more safety information.
If I had to guess, I’d say the thing spent a few too many days in the sun. I read somewhere that the interior of a car can reach temperatures approaching 180°F on hot summer days. Needless to say I don’t plan on leaving my phone in the car any longer; should I have to for some reason, I’ll be taking the battery with me.
The weird part is that my StarTAC ST7868W took a beating in the sun for a longer period of time. I still have that battery too (SN4814B) and to my knowledge it still holds a charge just fine. Maybe I just got lucky or perhaps they just don’t build ‘em like they used to.
In retrospect I could have just asked around for spare batteries, since most people I know have newer and fancier phones. Oh well, it’s coming and it’ll be new. Not a bad place to start.
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.moundalexis.com/images/delicious.png){kind=small}
I need to check this out. I have a new (as of October) Nokia phone that turned out to be in all ways inferior to the old Motorola phone it replaced. Worst problem is battery life. I think I’ll check Amazon for a replacement battery to make it easier to have to eat this beast until I can get a new phone (in October 2009).
God, how I love Amazon. I bought a battery for my old Motoroloa e815 (which was the GREATEST PHONE EVER) from Amazon, but have yet to use it. But Amazon really does sell everything. Books, kitty litter, soft core porn, you name it, they’ve got it.
Yay amazon!