[fullstop]

I was hoping that this is how it would work for System76 -- when I bought the laptop they sold replacement batteries. Five years later I find myself needing a battery and they are unavailable -- not on System76's website, not online, nowhere. My only option is to either replace the laptop or buy a used one and take the battery from that, hoping that it's good.

For the last six months I've just been using a laptop as a mini pc with no battery.

[cogman10]

FWIW, I have a 5 year old dell XPS whose battery I could both find an replace easily.

That is one of the advantages of the bigger name brands, replacement parts are generally a lot easier to find.

[fullstop]

I was in it to support the company and their goals, but the experience was a little souring.

[happymellon]

Aren't System76 laptops just rebranded Cleo, which is why there is no design consistency?

They don't manufacture batteries and never have, I've always had mixed feelings when it comes to "supporting their goals".

I appreciate their work to get Linux working on those models, but they can't provide long term hardware support.

[fullstop]

They are, but a selling point at the time was that you could buy replacement parts from System76.

[Wingman4l7]

Yeah, but is it OEM? Even big names like Dell don't support their parts for that long, and you have to resort to getting sketchy third-party parts from China, or rolling the dice on a used OEM part.

[cogman10]

Yes. I bought it directly from dell.com

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-97-wh-6-cell-lithium-io...

[dinosaurdynasty]

https://system76.com/search.php?search_query=battery

If I search for battery stuff shows up, but they only ship bare batteries to the 48 states and Canada.

Contacting support should be able to help you too.

[fullstop]

Right, I went down that route as well:

> The hardware supplier that we use no longer has the battery. Therefore, we cannot sell you the battery. What we can do is provide you with the part numbers so you can source it elsewhere. If you're considering sourcing the battery for the Darter Pro 5 from another supplier, please note that the model number for the battery is N150BAT-4, and the original part number is 6-87-N15ZS-51E01. Third-party battery sellers may display one or both of these numbers and might also list other compatible part numbers that are suitable for the same model.

It's actually a Darter Pro 6, but the battery part number is correct in that text.

You can not purchase this battery, it no longer exists. There are a few sketchy websites which say that they sell it, but they will cancel your order a few days after placing it and tell you that there is "lack of material".

[abdullahkhalids]

I think it's too much to ask a small shop to do something if the original supplier stops shipping a part. Especially 5 years later.

[f1shy]

I use laptops since the 90‘. I only ever wanted to get a new battery. Everthing else never had anybsignificant problem, or started to have problems when the machine was already obsolete (5 to 10 years). While I like the Frameworks, I personally don’t see lots of advantages in terms of reparability, ovly eventually in making one with exactly what I need and no more. But then they are a little pricey.

[VorpalWay]

Had to replace the NVME SSD in my Thinkpad a few years after it went out of warranty (that Thinkpad has a motherboard replacement on warranty as well). Needed to replace the fan in an older Thinkpad after 9 years.

Unfortunately the quality of Thinkpads went downhill after Lenovo took over, they used to be really good. But there is nothing else with trackpoints these days, which I vastly prefer over touchpads. (And even on some old Dells that had trackpoints, they never felt as good as on Thinkpads.) Also, Linux support was always very good, though that is less of an issue these days.

Never had to replace a battery though, but I always used that "don't charge more than 80%" mode. My old Thinkpad with a Core 2 Duo from 2009 still gets over a hour of battery (though the laptop is largely unusable for any practical use these days).

I don't mind repairing electronics in general, even on a component level if need be (as long as the components are large enough that I can see them, which really isn't the case any longer with tiny SMD components). And I tend to use things for a very long time rather than replace them. I'm still rocking a Dell monitor from 2013 for example.

[Zak]

I've also had laptops since the 90s, but my experience is the opposite. I've upgraded something in most of them. Almost all of them got RAM and storage upgrades. One got a mostly-compatible motherboard upgrade that required grinding down a couple bits on the frame to make it fit, and I got to have a 4:3 IPS display for a bit longer.

I love the idea of the Framework. I don't love the lack of a trackpoint, or the pricing. I'm willing to forgive the latter since it's a small company with a mission I appreciate. There's likely a Framework 16 in my future eventually.

[nilamo]

In 5-10 years, you can upgrade the motherboard+processor on a framework, which is much cheaper than a whole new laptop.

[6510]

Right, next time ill buy 1-3 extra batteries when buying a laptop.

[xorcist]

How will you store them? In the freezer? It's not trivial to keep batteries in good condition.

[Zak]

If you keep them at about 50% and avoid temperature extremes, it doesn't take a PhD in electrochemistry. The thing is, fancy battery packs usually do contain active electronics that drain the cells slowly in storage, so it's necessary to charge them a little a couple times a year.

[6510]

Yes, good idea. I do have a large freezer. Vacuum seal it, charge to 60% one time per year. Adjust charge interval to whatever remains after 12 months. It has to stay above 30%.

[benoau]

That'll probably be the last time that happens since a lot of places are starting to require parts be made available for some years after the last sale of the device.

[fullstop]

I noticed that the battery properties (voltage, etc) were uncommon, as I considered other batteries that would physically fit within the available space.

At the end of the day it's probably worth replacing it with something that probably won't burn my house down.

I almost pulled the trigger on a mini PC over the summer, but said "the laptop still works, you don't really need this" and now it would be 30 or 40% more because of ddr5 and NVMe cost spikes.

It's not a money thing, it's the principal of it.

[6510]

Need a custom battery shop that can scan and build everything.

[vel0city]

A lot of System76 laptops are essentially rebadged versions of Chinese or Taiwanese ODMs. You might have some luck trying to research what model the ODM produces the laptop as and find replacement batteries for that instead of focusing on finding System76 branded batteries.

Hope you find your batteries.

[fullstop]

Yes, I went down the clevo path as well. No dice, it does not exist.

I found a few which said "in stock" but was refunded each time as the part didn't actually exist.

[dexterdog]

I had no idea about this. I don't see how anybody who is buying one of these because of the repair-ability would complete the purchase if they knew this. I also don't see how they can make all of their user-friendly claims if this is the case.

[dtkav]

I'm running my lemur pro with no battery (on a UPS) now too. My first battery ballooned and then I got a second aftermarket one and it balooned too -- Yikes!

[acomjean]

Depending on the model you might be able to find it online. My system 76 had a “Clevo” ID on the bottom sticker ( the company that manufactures the computers) I used to buy a replacement fan.

[fullstop]

I went that route. The OEM is no longer making the part, and it is not stocked anywhere.

[acomjean]

Frustrating.

It’s too bad there isn’t standard cells anymore. I did notice my Bluetooth speaker (which had replacement batteries available) also had instruction videos floating around on buying replacement cells and rebuilding the battery pack.

Laptop packs I don’t think are typically made of replacable cells.