[TriLUG] Local source for Thinkpad battery?

[Rick DeNatale]

I woke up this morning to find my laptop had shut itself down, and it
won't power up.  The lights come on briefly but it turns right off.

I'm pretty sure that the battery has reached the end of it's life, it
hasn't been holding charge for quite a while, so I always run it on
AC.  I hope that it's that it just won't run without the battery and
the basic laptop are OK.

The laptop in question is a Thinkpad A21e.

Now I'm pretty desparately trying to find a replacement battery ASAP.
The batteries plus guy tells me that it's a hard to get item new, and
he can't even order it until Monday.  He does say that they should
have them in the warehouse in both LiON and NiMH.

So a short term and some longer term questions.

1) The guy at batteries plus told me that I might try to find a used
computer dealer who just might have a used but working battery.
Anyone know of any local sources to try?

2) Any pointers to other retailers which might be a source for a new
replacement? I'm striking out on the websites of the usual big-box
retailer sites.

3) Is the 40% difference in price worth it to get an LiON instead of a
NiMH for an older laptop like this?

I'm in a bit of a pickle since I've pretty much dependent on the
laptop during my recuperation.  This computer is up stairs which I'm
not supposed to be climbing.  I did manage to grab a copy of the
OOCalc spreadsheet where I've been keeping track of the stuff my
doctors want.  I'd thought that I was saving it on a network drive,
but in my perhaps drug-induced haze I'd only been saving it on the
laptop.

+10 for Backuppc!

-- 
Rick DeNatale