6 Cell Vs 9 Cell Battery for Laptop?

Someone needs to get a new battery for a very old laptop they have. The battery doesn't work so they have to have it plugged all the time otherwise it wouldn't work. Laptop is 15.6 and sort of heavy but the thing is they never take the laptop outside the house. It will mainly be used on one floor in the house.


100% of the time the laptop is used in the kitchen area where there is a table where its connected using a charger to the wall. Thus if the person had a working battery, they could carry it around the house even though the laptop will stay in one place usually. However because right now the battery doesn't work, it does but it goes out very fast less than 1 minute, they need a new battery.


Is it better to get a 6 cell or 9 cell battery? The laptop will be used at home 100 percent. The thing is this person said if 9 cell last longer, get it. However, im sure 9 cell batteries make the laptop much heavier and has that back part sticking out right? I know this isn't a big deal if you going to stay inside but wouldn't it be a problem/annoyance if you have the laptop on yourself when on the sofa? Does the 9 cell would be really heavy on an already heavy 15.6' laptop?


Also 6 cell batteries last for around 2 hours i believe. How many hours does a 9 cell last for usually?


The thing is majority of the time the laptop will be plugged in but its very annoying at the moment as the laptop has to be connected 100 percent of the time since the battery is no good at all. Based on this, better 6 cell or 9 cell?

Laptop is Dell N5010.

 

I would buy one or the other depending on the price. OEM only, of course.

For weight; it will not be noticeable on a 'heavy' notebook - but the sticking out of the back (or downwards) though may be irritating if actually used as a portable.

There is no guideline for how long a 6 cell or 9 cell battery lasts. It depends on the platform and workflow demanded.

But all else being equal: it should last ~50% longer.

Dell Arrandale (5 yr old) platform? Not even worth to buy a battery for it, imo.

 

What do u mean by your last sentence?


Laptop was bought around that time yes. But at the moment, they aren't going to get a new computer soon and they like the laptop so have to get a new battery and deciding on 6 or 9 cell.

 

Not worth it:

See:
Dell Inspiron M5010 Accessories Replacement and Upgrades | Dell Canada


Good money better spent on a new system...


See:
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545 w/ A6-5350M, 4GB, 320GB, DVD+/-RW, 15.6in HD, Radeon HD 8450G, Win 7 Home Premium at Memory Express


As a 1 second search example...

 

Im actually going to get it on ebay because i haven't had an issues buying adapters on ebay and it working fine. Its basically 13 dollars on ebay for a 6 cell and 21 dollars on ebay for a 9 cell. I know ppl recommend to buy battery or adapters from the actual site but lot of ppl mention these work just as well and i have bought laptop chargers on ebay and it works very good.

So pricewise its not much difference. However, since the person will be using it at home 100 percent of the time, i had figure isn't 6 cell preferred then? The thing is who gets 9 cell batteries? The ppl who use it when they are outside right? Thus if you going to use the laptop inside 100 percent... theres no pt in getting a 9 cell battery... would u agree?

Thus if u planning to use a laptop for few hours during the day at home at night, is a 9 cell really worth it? I could see a bit yes b/c you could use it for few hours and you can be on battery the entire time. However, i really dont like the look of it as it would show the thing in the back of the laptop right? Is that how the 9 cell is with the n5010? Also its extremely heavy as well right? This isn't that of an issue as the laptop will be on a table but would u say its best 6 cell in this situation?

I think ppl who get 9 cell only get it if they are planning to use it outside? Are there ppl that buy a laptop and get a 9 cell battery and mainly use it inside the home. Thus a 9 cell u agree would be useless then right?

Im confused why you gave me link to a lenovo laptop.

 

Meh,

I've bought a $20 9 cell from china for my laptop in signature. Lasted me twice as long as the original 6 cell Dell battery which died in little over a year (>60% wear, didn't last long enough for typing notes in classes).
It's at 25% wear now and still lasts a little over 3 hours with having a few tabs open in Firefox and a few instances of LibreOffice.
You'll have to check what the 9 cell looks like for the N5010 but for the 1564 it props it up a little in the back which makes it more pleasant to type on and helps cooling just a tiny bit IMO.

$20 vs brand new laptop for something that seems to be used as a glorified cookbook.. I don't see the point.
~Aeny

 

The OP is clearly asking which battery size is more suitable! Why are people trying to encourage him to get a new laptop! Seriously!

IMO 6 cell would be best choice here. Unless you can find 9 cell for a decent price. I also can confirm on the m15x also made by dell the 9 cell elevates the laptop nicely improving cooling. Considering this is from the same era the 9 cell might have same design.

Some strangely smug posters here. My laptop is also 5 years old what about it! We should simply try to help the op answer his questions.

 

I have given the OP complete answers. He can now decide what to do.

As indicated, the 9 cell battery would extend past the notebook or raise it (seems to raise it in this case - this is a good thing). Has nothing to do where the notebook is used (inside or out). Better cooling, much better battery life (possibly 2x the battery life if the link I gave is accurate 48WHr to 90WHr) and for 31% more cost to get 100% more run time, it is the cost effective choice (and $37 dollars difference is negligible if the system lasts another 2 - 5 years or so).

Buying from ebay though is not something I would do. Not only if the computer is as valuable to the owners as you suggest. Leaving simple/total system damage out of the equation; there is also the question for the family's and the home's safety if we question if the junk ebay battery you buy has all the safety features implemented properly and designed specifically for this Dell model.

Considering that it will be left plugged in most of the time... a cheap knockoff is not even worth considering (hence the recommendation for possibly buying a whole new system for a mere ~3x than what the 9 Cell battery would cost from a proper source; Dell).

Nothing smug about this. Information is king... and assuming things is what really drags down these discussions.

 

Few things i want to mention. This isn't my laptop. I have an old asus i3 laptop and i recently bought a new sager laptop.


This laptop is someone elses. They also like their laptop. They probably will get a new laptop but not anytime soon they say. And their laptop battery doesnt work anymore. So basically i wanted to know if its better for them to get a 6 or 9 cell battery. I will get the battery through ebay even though most of you dont recommend it. Price isn't a factor b/c its 13 dollars on ebay for the 6 cell and 21 dollars for the 9 cell.


So since its going to be used 100 percent at home, i wanted to know which is preferred. For example the ppl who buy 9 cell batteries... are these ppl usually bringing their laptop outside? Thus if you use the laptop almost always at home, theres no point in a 9 cell battery right? Thus i know majority of the time the laptop will be plugged in even with the new battery. Right now that laptop has to be connected to an outlet b/c battery doesnt work. So i figure 6 cell battery is best since if they want to use it in another room, they can easilly carry it to the other room and it isnt that heavy. Again they wont be carrying the laptop outside the house. The thing is they also might want to use the laptop say on their lap sometimes with the battery or on the bed. If thats the case, don't you agree a 9 cell would be a bad idea then?


Also for those of you who use your laptops at home, im curious but almost all of you have it plugged in right? Howver when u go somewhere else in the house for a short time, well u can use it on battery for 2 hours or so. So i figured thats why a 6 cell would be preferred. The person said they wanted to get the 9 cell if the price isn't much more and i said its basically same thing as its 13 dollars vs 21 dollars but i said the 9 cell battery is just heavy and it makes that thing in the back of the laptop that doesn't look good... though its inside the house so it doesn't matter.


They probably will be buying a new laptop but not anytime soon so they just want a battery so it doesnt need to be plugged into an outlet 100 percent of the time.

 

On the flip side, I bought a "high-quality", ~$50 third-party battery for my Thinkpad X61t. Lasted about a month and a half before the battery stopped working.

Third party batteries are a hit-or-miss, and if you get a decent one that's pretty awesome. However, an OEM battery will "just work" and can be worth the cost. Just my two cents.

 

Doesn't seem like you're reading any of the responses? All your same questions, again, were answered in the post above yours.

 

If they will be using the laptop plugged in all the time, or if they unplug it they will use it around the house, just go for the smaller 6-cell battery. Ebay batteries offer an excellent value.

Real classy.