JoeSchmoe wrote:
Have you ever opened up your laptop battery to replace the lithium ion
cells inside (if so, I could use the help as I'm stuck).

Here are the pictures of the operation on a Lenovo X61 tablet PC 8-cell
4500 amp-hour battery kidney-transplant operation.

The outside of the IBM Lenovo X61 tablet PC battery pack has the part
numbers:
- FRU 42T4507
- ASM 42T5209

And the batteries themselves, seem to have numbers on them of:
- cylinders BCM 3A6 72653
- rectangles C 3 171353

Any idea where to obtain these lithium ion replacement batteries?

I fix about everything I can but not laptop batteries. Those have an
internal circuit that keep the batteries from over charging and
everything matches up with the computer BIOS to charge and extend
battery life. What I do is search the web and buy a replacement battery
with a decent warranty. I doubt you can even buy the new cells for what
the entire new battery costs.
Worst case of do it yourself repair would be a fire some day when
it's charging or being used.
Here's one on e-bay for 42 bucks says it has a 3 year warranty and the
dude is a power seller with a decent track record. Free shipping
http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-IBM-Leno...em35abb11b e3

and a laptop fire,
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/139145...tc hed_video/