Recently I ordered a NP-FP71 batt and a BC-TRP charger costing around USD60, as the ebay seller claim its real and photo shows a Sony packaging. So I order and arrive 5 days after (Frm HK-Singapore)

Upon receiving it, I have the feeling someone is wrong. Any old timer Sony users will know the quality in their packaging. The one I received have printing alignment slightly off, and the color isnt as bright. Anyway I tell myself.. "if it works then at least its better then those unbranded 3rd parties"

So took it home, and did a test on the NP-FP71 batt on the HC42 since I read a lot about hving lousy batt life on 3rd parties. I leave it on and see how long it last.. to make it a fair and lazy test, I just leave it on "tape mode" and zooming it every 3 mins so it won't auto shut off. I found one problem: The batt remainder time does not update that accurately unless u switch mode (no really a problem eventually when i found out the original FP50 batt does the same).. this FP71 perform quite alright.. anyway i need to use it more frequently to tell on a more accurate basis.

The charger, well its hard to tell how it performs.. but it sure working so far.

Below are some photos, anyone can judge if its real or fake??

(btw the packing have a sony hologram stickers)

The smaller (FP50) is original for sure.. the larger(FP71) is the one i think is fake



Any BC-TRP can tell if this is fake???

Viwen,
My case is quite similar to yours. After purchasing of HC30 (10m ago) I needed extra battery and external charger for it. Browsing through eBay I found FP70 and BC-TRP charger for about 70 USD (from H.Kong).
After receiving them, I have noticed that my battery doesn't match the original in two small details:
- "InfoLithium P series" batery sticker (top) was a bit "blury" (and slightly darker than my FP50 (original)
- product documentation was printed on brilliant white and glossy paper (Sony always use recycled paper for paper documantation, which follows the product)

From those two small details I felt that my battery is not original (although claimed by seller it is). After all, the price can show another "non-original" convincing detail. But...
Apart from these small irregularities, my battery is working flawlessly. Indeed. I was on skiing last winter and NP70 has saved my "life" there (-20 degrees C. I don't know in F).
Until now I've been rechaging it more than 30 times, and no difference in its performance. Finally - am I satisfied? Much more than that. I really don't care if it was not original.
Your comment about false remaining time info - it is the same problem even with original NP50. Not very reliable detail, so better not to focus on it.

External battery charger BC-TRP looks the same as mine. Very difficult to say if it is original or not. Even the paperwork looked original (recycled paper). Mine works perfect. When the battery is fully charged internal switch stops further battery charging, so there is no danger to destroy the battery.
Since the time got it, it has performed more than 50 charging cycles. Working flawlessly also.

If your case looks like mine, leave "origin question" by side and enjoy your camera. After all, enjoy huge savings you made, by not buying these accessories at Sony dealer shop.

yes I agree with you totally. Reading through the threads here I found many complains which worried me a bit...but it turns out these stuff is performing well.

I emailed the seller, and he use the OEM term. So initially I see if I have the option to return it and get a refund. To my pleasure he agree to let me return the 2 items and refund me the money. Well, at least he is honouring his sales and trying to keep up his reputation.

so I have decided to keep it...

I got a QM91 batter from Ebay seller from Hong Kong for about $80. Considering the same battery was about $200 at my local Circuit City, this was a deal. After receiving the battery I found the package was not quite the same nice blister pack typical of Sony and the instructions was a poor photo copy quality. This is not a big deal but most importantly, the battery did not fit well in my Sony TRV-950. To make the battery fit, I have to use force to snap it into place. Since I just spend $1600 on a new camcorder, there was no way I wanted to keep using this battery. Because my brother's wedding was 2 weeks away, I ordered a legit battery from Amazon. And this one fit perfectly.

To me this battery is counterfeit Sony!!

Emailed the seller many times and finally got a reply after 2 weeks. Seller said it was SONY OEM but Asia quality. I asked to return it but he said no.

I paid with my credit card through Paypal so I disputed the charges with Visa. I ended up getting credit for the purchase price. Though I still have the battery I doubt i will ever use it unless it was an emergency.

Oh dear , looks like i too may have purchased a fake on ebay . It looks real enough and i did buy it from a UK seller but thats not to say it did not originate from Asia. My problem is that the charge light never goes out when charging and it may say you have about 175 mins left and then 5 mins later the battery low light comes on and it shuts down . Battery is NP-FP71 for DCR HC96 . If you really look close there is a slight difference in quality of the printing on the label between this battery and the supplied NP-FP50 battery that comes with the camcorder just like the photos above.

I will rater pay more and deal with a seller from the USA and buy the 3rd party battery, and never deal with a seller from HK all similar.