Dummy Battery Insert

I was wondering if there is a dummy battery insert that exists? I tend to have my notebook plugged in more than not and figured it would be better to remove the battery for long periods of time. But I don't like the hole it creates when it is not in. Anyone aware of such a thing?

 

Not for your laptop.

 

you could always make one out of wood and paint it... that is, if your handy with wood.

 

I have seen these for the Inspiron 4000/4100/4150/8000/8100/8150/8200 and Latitude C series notebooks. I have not seen these for newer gen laptops however.

 

Buy a new battery, leave the current one in and eventually it will be as good as a dummy insert...

 

Now that gave me a chuckle.

 

I don't even really notice the battery heating up at all. Even after letting my laptop on for hours, my battery isn't even warm. I'm know that personally I'm not worried about heat killing the battery.

 

I think he is more worried about the charge top-off effect that will count as whole charge-discharge cycles and thereby degrade the battery over time.

 

Hi.

what would happen if you had a power out, or a spike and you did not have a battery?

regards

John.

 

Well with a power out the system will act like a regular desktop without a UPS and go down. On a spike I'm not sure it would make a difference if you have a battery or not.

 

Booji: Correct.

Tinderbox: I'd plug the laptop in a surge protector with power backup (APC).

 

I bought a 4-cell for my M1330 - it weighs practically nothing (whole thing is still under 4 pounds) and actually provides the battery backup in case I want to move somewhere without shutting it down.

 

Hollow out or disable a bad battery, you can find one on ebay probably for very cheap.

 

Are you guys for real? You actually hollow out old batteries for use as dummies? That's hard core.

 

Did you buy directly from Dell, or 3rd party? Dell's batteries are so expensive these days.

 

its not hardcore its just plain stupid; haven't you people ever used books to prop up your lappy..

 

Now that I recall, I have seen these "dummy" battery inserts in engineering units of Dell laptops before. I wonder if you can call Dell Spare parts have have them look up a part number for you...

 

I wish Dell would just change the location of the rubber tabs, like on the M1210. I don't like having the battery charged all the time. If I take it out, the whole base gets uneven.

 

I bought it from Dell spare parts back when the 4 and 6 cell were, something like $30 and the 9 cell was $60. These were officially refurbs, but since the notebook had just been released, the batteries could not have gotten much prior use.

There was a fire at some Asian battery plant, so batteries are much more expensive now. I'd wait a little, if possible.

 

That's a serious design flaw as far as I'm concerned. Without the battery, the laptop sits on 3 rubber pads, leaving the 4th corner wobbly. I bought a set of small rubber pads and put one under that corner so it sits even. It's about 4mm long so it isn't noticable and does the trick. Still a pain though considering this is a premium laptop, that shouldn't need modification just to stand properly.

 

Do you guys like to remove the battery when the laptop is plugged in? Does that conserve battery life? I've been using my laptop plugged in 90% of the time (with the battery in place). Big time no-no?

 

I try to remove my battery when I'm plugged in at home (which is 90% of the time). It helps increase battery life. But there are positive & negative sides to doing this.

 

I figure the battery is going to degrade even if I never plug it in at all, right? And won't keeping it plugged in basically always keep it charged, preventing it from cycling through charges?

 

It'll degrade no matter what. But you can control how quickly that happens. Keeping your battery plugged in means it's always exposed to heat. It's also constantly being topped up...which is also bad for its lifespan.

I want to keep my battery in optimal condition for when I'm out with it.