Most products come in a generic and name brand form... Coke or store brand... oreos or store brand... etc.

When it comes to electronics, I've had great luck with generic ink in my Epson 777... nothing beats paying 1/5 the price for the same print outs.

Now comes a new phase in my generic life. I just got my Nikon Coolpix 4500 yesterday, and I must say that I really love it... it is a phenominal machine and I can't wait to learn to use all of its super-detailed functions. Battery life, however, is not so good, especially because my primary card is a Microdrive.

Now, batteries, with the Nikon brand (EN-EL1) cost about $40 a piece... 600 or 650mAh, I don't remember. On the other hand, generic EN-EL1's cost only around $10 a pop, or I can buy a 3600mAh generic external power pack for only $40.

Nikon says that the warranty can be voided with the use of non-Nikon electronics, so here is the question: Buy 2 or 3 spare batteries for half the cost of a genuine EN-EL1, or spend a mere fortune on just one replacement?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Jeremy

I am surprised that Nikon can clame that non OEM parts can void the warenty. Others can correct me here (please do!) but I thought that type of thing was made illegal by congress awhile ago when the Auto industry tried it.

The downside to the external battery packs are that you now have to carry this extra thing around. Kinda annoying. You should also make sure that it works when you don't have a battery in the camera (or how charged that battery can be.) I seem to remember one battery pack which would go where the tripod attaches. That sounded interesting to me. You will have to match up the pack to the power requirements of your camera. Don' t get it wrong, or you could do serious damage to the camera.

Personally, I'd look into after market EN-EL1 batteries first. There is a 800mAh one from VidPro, for example. Don't know anything about the brand, though. Of course, this costs only a little less than the origional EN-EL1. Where did you see them for $10USD? That seems quite low.

Generic ones on ebay run from $10-$15 each.

Until your photos fade in a few years time and you realise those archival or special inks might have been worth the extra!

Vox,

I wouldn't use it for any special pictures- it's not a photoprinter per se, anyway... when I take pictures on a trip, they're going to be developped by pros.

Jeremy