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    Battery Wear / Battery Replacement (SXPS 16)

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by gpig, Dec 10, 2010.

  1. gpig

    gpig Notebook Deity

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    The new Dell Support Software (version 3) allows you to test your hardware, including the battery. It will even give you the Percent of original capacity (I know HWMonitor and others have been doing this forever, but this is more official). The program states random Dell facts about your hardware like "With normal use, batteries lose their ability to charge over time."

    My battery is about 8-9 months old. I currently am at 84% of the original capacity and the software says my battery is performing "normally." I'm satisfied with that level, but I'm curious as to what is considered "not normal." It's not like it's going to say "Your battery is performing poorly. Please contact Dell to receive a free replacement before your 1 year battery warranty runs out :D ."

    Also, on the battery is a button. If you press it once it lights up to tell you its charge level. If you hold it down it tells you its wear level.

    Does anyone know if there's an official battery replacement policy? Do I need a certain wear level or is it just a thing where the squeaky wheel gets the oil?

    My 16% wear for 9 months doesn't sound so bad, but considering Dell cheats by initially overcharging beyond the design capacity, I wouldn't be surprised if that number skyrockets in the next few months.