Ted, Over the years on the list we have had mixed reports about Batteries Plus. Some Optacon users have had good luck but some have had their machines damaged. It really depends on how much risk you want to take. Personally I wouldn't risk the Optacon but if you do take it to Batteries Plus I would suggest the following: Meet the person who is going to replace the battery. Get a feel for whether or not he has seen this kind of configuration before in some other type of machine. Stay to answer any questions the technician might have and if you spot reluctance or unwillingness, take your unit out of there. The other fact to consider is that if you send the Optacon to an authorized repairer, the unit is cleaned, the pins are checked, and probably a dozen or so potential problems are prevented from happening. If you think your repair bill would be high if you ship your Optacon just for a battery replacement, think of the cost if the unit id damaged. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -Catherine Thomas braille@xxxxxxxxx / ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject.