I'm rather fond of my PRS 650, so fond in fact that when it started showing signs of wearing out I couldn't bear the thought of parting with it and purchased a new battery from Amazon, one of the Newegg ones.
Having successfully swapped batteries I was fired with enthusiasm to upgrade the battery on my old PRS 600, now in the firm grip of my 80 year old mother in law. So, on Boxing Day, full of the joys of a hearty meal and having imbibed a few libations, mother in law and I hit the internet and bought a battery for her reader. This was a big mistake as, when said battery duly arrived a few days later, we had ordered one for the PRS 505. Quick return to Amazon and reordered the correct battery, losing out on the cost of return postage in the process due to stupidity in ordering wrong item.
Correct battery arrived and the day came for the big change over. Duly followed DVD instructions, actually much less hassle than for the PRS 650, and swapped over battery. Replaced cover, switched on and nothing! Nada. By this time my mother in law is going a funny shade of blue, having been hovering over my every move. Ever had that sort of sick feeling where you can see your bank balance going down? Yep, that feeling arrived as well.
Dismantled reader again, replaced original battery, replaced cover, switch on. Nothing. Dead as a dodo. Sick feeling reaches boots.
Repeated process again with new battery, fiddled with connection wires, yes the connector only goes in one way. Replaced cover, brainwave, try charging it. Hmm. Not even the little red light showing.
Repeat process with old battery, replace cover, try charging, not even the little red light showing. By now panic is setting in fast, the heart rate is going into overdrive and mother in law looks as though she is either going to burst into tears or kill me.
In a lightbulb flash of inspiration, i.e. desperation, I used the old paperclip trick and reset the reader. Tada! Light flashed, battery charging, reader turns on. Look of relief on mother in law's face, and a lessening of the sick feeling for me.
With some trepidation, repeated process to swap over to the new battery. Reset the reader with the paperclip and Voila! It turned on, whizzed through the home pages, opened a book in milliseconds and the charger worked fine.
So, the moral of the story is, for those who have complained that a lot of the Newegg batteries don't work, and yes, I did read those reviews before I embarked on this adventure, try resetting the reader once the new battery is in place. The DVD doesn't tell you this and I didn't have to do this for my PRS 650. But it worked for the PRS 600.
So all is well, mother in law is now happily reading again and my bank balance is, well if not exactly healthy, at least not any further reduced.
Despite the hassle, the exercise has been worthwhile and we are both hoping for another couple of years of good reading on our current readers.
