Hi guys, My Dell Inspiron 6400 battery has given up the ghost. Only get about 30 mins from it now and it doesn't want to charge. Is there any way to re-condition the battery or is it time to buy a new one? If its time to buy one, where's a good place to get them? Cheers.
Lithium-ion battery age the second they are build, even when not in use. You cannot recondition such battery. It is strongly recommended to purchase the battery from the laptop manufacture, in your case Dell. For more info, check out the laptop Battery Guide on Notebookreview.com http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846 Hope this helps.
IMO there is no need to buy straight from the manufacturer. There are many places you can get them from but I got mine from somewhere fairly small that I can't remember the name of. The battery was a good deal cheap than most big-name places and was still a branded battery, so all good.
On this topic, does anyone know where to get well priced laptop batteries - the one in my Toshiba gets about 10 mins, after 2 years of use
I haven't used any of 'em personally, but here's a few you can have a browse through anyway: http://www.laptopbatterystore.co.uk/ http://www.laptopbatteryshop.co.uk/ http://shop.battery.co.uk/cgi-bin/battery/ (select laptop make in left-side menu) http://www.laptopsandspares.com/acatalog/New_Laptop_Batteries.html http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/cheap-laptop-batteries.htm (select make/model from drop-down menu. They have batteries for the Dell Inspiron 6400 Airchie) http://www.mdsbattery.co.uk/departm...ame=Laptop+Batteries&DepartmentID=101,102,103
I got a new third-party battery for my aging Dell laptop from eBay - £20 and it gets me a full two hours, which is better than the original Dell battery got me all those years ago!
Thanks for the links hazardous. I found a few of those but was hoping for a personal recommendadtion if poss so I know the sites are cosher etc. I guess I could just take the plunge using the credit card and if its a bogus site, I can claim it back.
Only if the battery costs you more than £100 - purchases under it aren't covered under Section 75 and aren't available for chargebacks.
I would recommend unplugging your battery whenever you are not using it, mine gives me less than 30 mins now so is pretty much useless
On a good laptop the laptop the battery should be at the end of the system to avoid the system heat, and not heat up by the system at all, even under heavy load. Heat kills Lithium-ion batteries. This is the reason why your battery finished, not because it was plug-in all the time. - Heat shortens the battery life (it accelerate the oxidation that occurs inside the battery) - Not using the Lithium-ion battery shortens the battery life (it needs to be used). - Every ~30 cycles the battery should be recalibrate. - Putting the battery in the freezer kills the battery life. - Placing the battery in a sealed bag and putting it in the fridge is said to slow down the oxidation that occurs inside the battery. - Average lifespan of a Lithium battery is about 1 year and half, less if you don't use it much.
