I would go ahead and buy a new laptop but not from Dell. My new Inspiron, just over a year old, has had a completely dead battery for about 4 months now and the battery life before that was just terrible.

Hi Ron……

My VOTE IS NEW LAPPY…….
with……VISTA…….on–it

he should think him self lucky i couple of months ago in Japan a dell laptop caught fire because of a faulty battery. I would go and buy a new laptop as others have said. I would go for a Macbook or Macbook Pro. If he doesn’t like Mac OS X uninstall it and put Windows On. Mac products are made from quality components and Windows runs much better on the Mac. They are a little more expensive buy you get what you pay for.

Hi Guys,
What brand should he buy?

GATEWAY

Unless it is a laptop with problems I don’t know why it should be replaced.

I know that batteries can be found for most models for between $85 and $100. I have purchased batteries for clients from several places online - I simply make sure that the place has a clearly stated return policy, and then I give the battery a real workout for the first week. (At least 10-12 recharge cycles, running Prime 95, etc - many batteries state on the unit that full performance is not achieved until 3-5 charging cycles have completed)

As for usage - lithium ion batteries, even the gel variety, actually do better when not fully discharged. The NiMH and NiCd batteries need to be fully discharged regularly - more so with NiCd. (I usually suggest 1time per month for NiMH, 2 times per with NiCd)

The cheapest laptops I’ve seen, other than the XO, are around $450, and I wouldn’t want any of them.

With the prices of Laptops coming down fast, the $150 battery cost would be better spent towards a new computer. Save the old laptop for a spare that can be run on AC power.
As far as the practice of fully discharging your battery and recharging. That cycle process was good when electronics were powered by Nicad batteries as they tended to have a cycle memory. In the two-way radio business, we had machines that would drain and fully recharge batteries to avoid this issue. Currently most everything is being powered by NiMH batteries and the cycle process isn’t such a great concern.

Hi Den,
OK one vote for a Gateway

And from Zak for a MAC.

Heh Marc,
I was thinking more in the $600 - $700 range. Agree about the el cheapo’s. Kind of useless and most only come with 512MB RAM and Vista Basic. Why bother?

Any recommendations where to get a battery online?

miiikeee,
I was thinking the same thing. His wife could use it. They have wireless in the house and it would work perfectly on AC.

Hey thanks for all the help everyone, and keep those comments comin. Gotta go, gettin a dead battery!……Char

RON…

That’s the best IDEA–YET……..
Then when his WIFE goes to the PORNO..SITES….
It won’t Screw up Gooose’s Machine…

Heh Denny,
That’s what I was thinking! LOL

First, it does not appear anyone answered the question on where to get a replacement battery. I have used batteries.com for replacement batteries. Just need to make sure you know what you want (example: I bought a replacement battery for a Samsung phone. It turned out to be the extended life version.)

Has far as laptop replacement goes, I use the philosophy that laptops (unlike desktop IMHO) are disposable items, therefore go for the least expensive model that meets your basic need. Then plan on replacing it in about 3. You will not get the highest performance using this philosophy. And you will not waste $1K or more on something that will break or go obsolete after 1 year.

Hi Barry,
Thanks for the comments.

I have a Dell, battery now discharging at 1% drop every 10 sec.: very fast! 1 full discharge brings it up to 55 sec. per % drop. I would fiddle as much as possible before buying a new battery, unless you must have battery power.

I recently purchased a couple of generic replacment batteries for my Dell C640. They don’t fit quite as well as the originals, but that is not a big issue. My only concern is that I generally use the laptop in a docking station and unless I run the batteries down a bit, they always appear to be charging when the system is plugged into the docking station. The batteries show a 99% charge. This was never a problem with my OEM batteries. The generic batteries haven’t overheated (nor have they caught on fire), so I imagine that the indication that they are charging my be bogus.

I got the pair of batteries for about $75 on eBay. I suppose that you get what you pay for.

Hi John,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It is appreciated.
Regards, Ron

I bought a replacement battery for my dell inspiron 9300 on ebay. When I put it in my computer it says “The model number for the primary battery cannot be determined. ” and it won’t charge the battery.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get around dells lock on non dell batterys?

but i think dell laptop battery is not bad, and price is low.

I bought a replacement battery for my dell latitude D400. When I put it in my computer it does not recognize it.

Ipurchased a generic battery for my Dell laptop and get the same message Ken. Dell does not recognise the primary battery, the battery will not recharge. Is there a way around this? Please help

Same problem for me!! I purchased a generic battery for my Dell laptop and get the same message. It will not recognize the primary battery. PLEASE HELP!!

Never found out the problem. The seller is giving me a refund.

Thanks Drew for sharing this.

i have the exact same message, only my replacement battery came directly from dell. so ive had two sucky batteries for my 13-month old inspiron laptop!! i was hoping there was a way to set my laptop to recognize the new model/serial#?? anyone? thanks in advance