Laptop Battery Doesn't Charge if Laptop is off

[bakertime361]

I've got a Sony Vaio PCG-GRT250P laptop that I just recently got a new battery for. The old battery had reached the end of its life, only lasting for about 30-45 minutes if I was lucky.

Anyway, I got a new battery, but it was not the original Sony battery, it was a comparable one of a different brand for less then half of the price of the Sony. When charged, it lasts a good 2 hours no problem, but doesn't seem to charge when the laptop is off. Yesterday I turned it on, it said it had 5% remainng, I charged it for about 10 minutes and then it read 94%. Upon unplugging it, it again read 5%, but with another 10 minutes plugged it, it went up to 94% and stayed there when unplugged. I should also note that I've reformatted the computer, so it only has Sony drivers that the device manager said I lacked.

Was the lower priced battery too good to be true, or is there an easy fix to this problem?

Appreciate the help in advance,
Zach

 

[KingCody]

a bios update is often needed when using a different battery than what the laptop was designed to use, and since you bought a generic battery, i highly doubt that Sony will provide support of any kind for it.

Check Ebay for actual Sony brand batteries (not another generic), you can get them on Ebay for 1/2 (or less) the price that you would pay in a store or from Sony

 

[rikkigrysko]

i had a problem w/ dell about this. i got a battery on ebay but it didn't come w/ bios upgrade. i had to talk to their cust service until they finally agreed w/ me there was supposed to be a cd. once i got the bios it worked