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    Battery degrading faster than it should?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Dan333SP, Jun 28, 2009.

  1. Dan333SP

    Dan333SP Notebook Consultant

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    I have an M1530 that is a little over a year old, with the 9 cell battery. When it was new, with the vista power plan set to power saver and using the internet and such, it would get nearly 4 hours of battery life. Now, using the same settings plus an undervolting utility to increase battery life, I have a hard time getting more than about 2 hours of useful life before it starts giving me low battery warnings... I know batteries degrade over time, but isn't it a little worse than average for a 9 cell battery to lose nearly half of its useful charge in only a year? Maybe I'll just have to toss my whole laptop into a puddle and use my accidental damage warranty to get a new one with a new battery ;)
     
    Dan333SP, Jun 28, 2009
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  2. paper_wastage

    paper_wastage Beat this 7x7x7 Cube

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    use BatteryBar to determine your battery wear level
     
    paper_wastage, Jun 28, 2009
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  3. Samuel613

    Samuel613 Notebook Evangelist

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    BatteryBar is pretty neat. Thanks for the tip.
     
    Samuel613, Jun 29, 2009
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  4. Dan333SP

    Dan333SP Notebook Consultant

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    Looks like I already 38% wear on my battery from its new condition, so I'm thinking of ordering a new 9 cell off of ebay... anyone have experience with this? There seem to be "straight from dell" batteries that cost nearly $100, while there are many non-OEM 9 cells that run about $55-$60, are they inferior or are they the same batteries without the dell branding? They claim the same mWh rating and such, but I don't want to buy a battery that has a good chance of degrading faster than this one already has...
     
    Dan333SP, Jun 29, 2009
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  5. paper_wastage

    paper_wastage Beat this 7x7x7 Cube

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    well, 38% over a year is bad... if it's really close to a year, try getting a dell rep to exchange it (YMMV)...

    search this site on non-OEM battery reviews... remember seeing someone rate a few battery suppliers
     
    paper_wastage, Jun 29, 2009
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