Inspiron 8100 Battery Life

I have a two yr old Inspiron 8100 LT. The battery used to run the
machine over two hours---now after 2yrs I'm lucky if it runs for 20min
and that's just starting it and letting it sit. I have extended
warrantee but Dell refuses--saying they warant it for only 1yr---great
COMPLETE care! New battery is $170!!! Does anyone know a way to
rejuvinate these Lithium Ion batteries or where else one can be
purchased other than Dell for less than that horrible price?? Thanks
for the help---one last thing--I usually leave it plugged in---does
this shorten the battery life?

 

Forget it.

I've had good luck with simplemicro.com They have aftermarket
batteries as well as some selected Dell-branded batteries. The
aftermarket batteries are much less expensive and work at least as
well as the Dell branded ones.

Yes, unless you occasionally (once every other month or so should do)
exercise the battery with a discharge-recharge cycle.

 

Battery life is, on average, 18-24 months. They are considered consumables
and not covered by Completecare. It's actually documented pretty clearly in
the Completecare information.

Tom

 

Oh of course, it your fault. It could never the fault of Dell. Right Tom?

 

Another jerk joins the group. Or is it one of the regulars (jerks) that
changed his alias again?

 

Another Dell bot!

 

The organic entity known as Weaver one communicated the following:

Whatever your general impression about Tom's contribution might be, is this
case he is right.

Hans

 

My 18 month old Inspiron battery suddenly stopped holding a charge, and I
too have the Complete Care service agreement. I saw nothing about batteries
not being covered until I received the Schedule 1 document that came in the
mail several days after my system arrived. I think the money paid for
"Complete Care" should cover the "Complete System." If it's something that
the covered system cannot operate without, in a mode in which it is
designed, it should be a covered part. It's that simple. A laptop battery
is a necessary part, not an optional accessory.

Either way, I'm replacing my battery with one from www.laptopsforless.com,
or perhaps another place I found. Their warranty is 1 year. I've found a
couple of places that only warrant their batteries for 90 days, or 6 months.

 

From
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5387-2004Jan10.html,
a link I posted here on Jan 11th for an article that discussed
lithium-ion batteries:

"Lithium ion batteries, the battery type most commonly used
inside laptops and the flashy gadgets that early adopters of new
technology lug everywhere in their pockets, are the most
lightweight, powerful and low-maintenance batteries around.
They're even more environmentally friendly than other choices.

But they have one drawback: a limited lifespan. Lithium ion
batteries are particularly susceptible to aging; as soon as one
leaves the manufacturing line, its countdown begins. A typical
lifespan is two to three years, whether it is ever used or not --
as some disgruntled owners of Apple Computer Corp.'s iPod found
when their digital music players suddenly went dead. A huge
hullabaloo ensued."

And this, addressing the "do I discharge-recharge or not"
question:

"There isn't much that users can do to make the batteries last
longer. For example, some older battery technologies survived
longer when users fully discharged them before loading them up
with a fresh charge. That's not the case with lithium ion
batteries; it makes little difference if users let the batteries
run down or keep their gadgets "topped off" by plugging them in
every night or two".

And this addendum to the lifespan info:

"That built-in battery in your digital music player or personal
digital assistant will typically survive 500 complete recharge
cycles. After so many visits to the power outlet, that battery
will still retain 80 percent of the charge it could originally
hold, but it's at the beginning of a pretty steep downward curve
in performance."

The article also mentions [surprise, surprise] that heat affects
batteries, as it does practically everything else in one's
computer:

"If there's anything that lithium ion technology doesn't respond
to well, it's heat. Heat ages these batteries rapidly by
accelerating the chemical reaction that eventually kills them. If
you aren't going to use that battery-using gadget for a long
period, the best thing to do is to store it in a cool place with
about a 40 percent charge, said Isidor Buchmann, author of a book
on batteries and founder of Cadex Electronics Inc., a British
Columbia-based battery-charger company."

I have never, and will never if I can avoid it, owned a laptop -
Dell's or anyone else's. I have no dog hunting in this. Dell's
policy is in line with that of most other manufacturers - laptop
batteries are a consumable item, just like toner or ink
cartridges in a printer. Unless there's an infant failure of the
battery [i.e. failure within a few months of purchase, say the
first six], I wouldn't expect it to be covered by Dell, or IBM,
or Compaq, or ....

 

Just verify that the batteries are newly manufactured -a 6-month old battery
may have as much as 30% of its useful life already gone.
'

months.

 

Thanks everyone for your responses---I certainly know more about this
than I did. I may buy one of the three that fit in at simplemicro
between $99-119 (Thanks SteveR). Based on what Ogden forwarded--I may
buy the battery and keep it in the freezer since the LT will operate
when plugged in with the battery out.

Concerning "Complete Care"--I too received a mailing that included a
double sided Hardware Service Agreement. I have read it twice and I
swear it does not exclude the battery--there are exclusiongs mentioned
like software. I don't doubt the newer docs exclude the battery but
near as I can tell the doc they sent me doesn't---I offered to fax it
to Dell---they weren't interested and would not consider anything
other than what is displaying on their monitors--of course they were
not able to send me a copy of the current docs either!

Today I got an e mail asking me to fill out a satisfaction
survery---needless to say I let them have it---not that helps me.

So while I agree it's a consumable, and in line with other
manufacturers, the agreement that I have does not exclude it and I
think I have a point---albeit a mute one now since Dell refuses to
consider the document I have.

Thanks everyone---my wallet will be $100 lighter in the future but I'm
smarter!
Tim

 

I too couldn't find any mention of batteries not being covered in the
service aggreement. I did find it, however, in the small print at the
bottom of the schedule 1 document that accompanies the double sided service
agreement. The schedule 1 doc lists what systems are covered by what
warranty and should have been sent with the service agreement AFTER you
purchased it and your system showed up.

As for purchasing a new battery, I found
http://www.pacificbattery.com/dellspecial.html. They've got original Dell
4460 Mah batteries for the Inspiron 8200 et al. Has anyone dealt with
www.pacificbattery.com or www.doorlockbatteries.com? They're the same
people. I can't find them on the Better Business Bureau website.

 

Thanks Dave----therein lies the problem---all I ever received is the
double sided Hardware Agreement---nothing with a Schedule 1--while the
doc I have talks about Sch 1 I never received another piece of paper
that I know of and I'm pretty good about that kind of stuff.---I guess
I bear the brunt of this---but in my humble opinion I think Dell did a
poor job and I pay for it---when I bought the agreement BEFORE
delivery of the system and the paper---I was led to believe it was
Complete Care---buyer beware from now on! even with Dell.

I like the higher capacity battery---hope someone can tell us if
Pacific is reputable. Also simplemicro.com----prices are similar but
pacific seeems to address the aging issue which makes me lean that way

Tim

 

<snip>

Well, I'm going to buy one battery from www.pacificbattery.com . If all
goes well, I buy another, and I'll post here. If all does not go well, I'll
have my credit card company fight them, and I will still post here.
Actually, as I look at their site, the Dell battery seems to be a special,
so I'll buy the 2 and post here.

 

I just recommended batteries.com to a friend for that same battery.
WIth the coupon code you can get 15% off, bring the 4460 battery down
to about 110. Do a google search for "battery coupon" to find coupon
codes.

 

Bruno,

Thanx for the info. I ordered from www.pacificbattery.com about an hour
ago. Taking everything into account, the price, the coupon, the shipping,
it's about $4 more to go with pacific. But, they give an 18 month warranty,
while www.batteries.com only gives a 12 month warranty. If the deal with
pacific goes sour, I'll definitely go with batteries.com. Thanx again.

For everyone else, I can post the coupon code. I found it at the first
google hit for "battery coupon," thanx Bruno. I don't see anything wrong
with posting it here, but I could be wrong. I know some sites get very
uppity when their coupon codes are posted in NGs, and I don't want to p*ss
them off.

 

My brandy-new batteries showed up yesterday, and they ROCK! They came half
charged, I charged them up, and ran them for a couple of hours. I didn't
have time to run them empty, but the discharge rate was real good. They
are, by all outward appearances, original Dell batteries, considerably less
expensive than had I bought them from Dell, with a longer warranty. Free
UPS 2nd day air shipping, good price, great warranty, I am so there! I'll
post here if they continue to perform, or not. So far, I heartily endorse
this service or product!