Originally Posted by
VegasTriker
I will speak out in defense of the cheap batteries. I've used them myself for a flashlights and some DIY LED bike light projects. If you want an inexpensive but workable battery, they are a very cheap alternative to the expensive throw-away alkaline batteries like Duracells. The Panasonic 18650 batteries on eBay run between $6 and $9 each including shipping. Most of the Ultrafire and Trustfire batteries I used or gave away as gifts with flashlights were around $1.50 each. Six bucks to make a 12V DIY battery pack sure beats $24. I don't expect them to last as long but for a buck fifty, who cares. Nobody has complained about being given bad batteries in the flashlights I gave to friends.
From what I've been seeing there's more to the bogus battery issue than just fake performance numbers, apparently the real batteries have protection circuitry in them that keep the battery from overdischarging and overheating when charging that the fakes lack.