Battery replacement: potential differentiator?

[Bart]

I have been shopping for days for an Android tablet, and have hit what appears to be a complete unknown quantity: battery replacement.

Apple has publicly posted that they will send a replacement tablet for a service fee of $99. As far as I can tell, the other manufacturers that I am considering (Acer, Asus, Motorola) have thought about how to handle battery replacement. I contacted Acer and Asus customer service, and they confirmed that it can't be replaced by the user, but they didn't have any answer as to how much it may cost to get the battery replaced.

Have any of you looked into this? Are you concerned?

 

[batfish]

This too has me concerned ever since I decided that I wanted an android tablet and this has kept my from considering those brands, currently the only one I seem to be interested in is the thoshiba thrive as I do like the idea that I can change the battery myself. It would be nice to see other brands do this also.

 

[pbrauer]

There are other tablets that allow for batteries to be changed by the user (Huawei does this too), but not many. Apple does have a nice program with the $99 replacement but no, I have not heard of any android vendors having a similar program.

 

[PeteDee]

Acer has has said they will do a $120 replacement and the upcoming Toshiba is supposed to have a user replaceable battery.

For me this is not a problem for a year or more so I am not too worried yet.

Ebay will probably have some kits before long that will allow you to do at home replacements just like all the iPods.

Pete

 

[gtaber]

I ran across this thread doing a search on battery replacement during my tablet research. This is something I dideven think about, I just assumed they would be like phones and open up for battery access. These manufacturers better understand that one reason people like me hate Apple is stuff like this-I guess that's one more criteria to add to my evaluation process. Off subject, if you were given the opportunity to pick out any Android Tablet you want, for your Bday present, which one would you choose? That's available now, or in a month or so? That's what I'm doing right now, and would love to hear what the community thinks.

 

[PeteDee]

I am not that worried to be honest, will be a year or two before it might become a problem, I am sure there will be replacements available by then. Personally I have an extra two years warranty anyway.

I bought an Acer A500 2 1/2 months ago and would still buy the same tablet today, I would not buy a Thrive just because it has a removable battery, it has a poor screen and that is far more important.

Pete

 

[DanU]

The WITStech A81* and new A91 tablets have replaceable 3000 Ma batteries