generic battery grip?

[panfocusrio]

I just won an auction for a used Canon 40D, and I am looking for a battery grip now. Would it be a bad buy to get a generic grip that is priced as low as $32?

I currently use a Targus grip for my Rebel XT. I'm a bit "eh" with it because after a few clicks on fully charged batteries, it will show 1 bar for the longest time. It's misleading because obviously it's hard to tell just how much battery life is left knowing I hadn't even used it much. Maybe it's just an old grip (bought it from a friend who never had a problem with it).

Advice would be appreciated, especially if you use generic battery grips. Thanks

[Izzy]

I have these generic grips, the ones they sell on ebay mostly from hong kong sellers for about $27.

I am happy with the ones for my XS and my T2i. The only part I was not totally pleased with was that the XS took a LP-E5 both normally and in the grip. The T2i used a LP-E8 battery normally. However the grip for it uses two LP-E5's I did not figure this out until I bought 2 extra batteries for the T2i. It works fine with the LP-E5's. No real complaints.

Both my grips are the basic ones with only a shutter button. I know I could have gotten the feature laden one for about $15 more. As is I don't barely use those extra functions so my grips work well for my purposes.

Never had an issue with battery levels showing correctly. I charge mine about once a month.

[panfocusrio]

Thanks for your info on this. I'm still left a bit undecided as to which (generic) battery grip to go with, since a few of them are priced as cheap as what you said $27 to about $70. Of course, I fully understand I get what I pay for.