It may be obvious to you, Richard! But surely not all batteries are mission critical, as it were? Can't the Master Technicians out there be left alone to make decisions about whether a (high-price) OEM battery is called for, as against a (cheaper) third-party equivalent?
Quite correct Geoff but what about those individuals that need a bit of guidance because things aren't so obvious to them as they are to others? Where do we draw the line on what devices to and what devices not to fit batteries that aren't manufacturer-recommended? "Equivalent" doesn't mean the same as "manufacturers recommended" nor does it mean "identical to manufacturers specification". Nor is it necessarily "best practice".
At the end of the day, a battery of such-and-such a rating, capacity etc., is just that.
Actually I diagree. I can quite honestly say, hand on heart, that I've had more potentially serious issues with cheaper 3rd party batteries used in defibrillators and infusion devices, for example, than when I've recommended purchasing of the OEM recommended batteries. Buying 3rd party batteries for safety-critical applications such as defibrillation, portable suction, external pacing, ventilation, anaesthetics monitoring, anaesthetics pumps, etc, carries more risk in my opinion.
