Battery life in a Dell Inspiron laptop (laptops, keyboard, mouse)

[Astrantia]

Today I will have to order yet another battery from Dell for my Inspiron 5150 laptop (don't laugh please, I know it's a dinosaur but it is perfect for me and I hate the new widescreen notebooks that every manufacturer has committed to now).

I bought my current battery (a replacement for the original) in late August 2006 after the original battery that came with the laptop lasted for 2 1/2 years. But now I am only getting 1 hr of use on a full charge, AND the battery indicator lights are flashing 3x orange/1x green nonstop (even when charging) which means this one is about to die already. It's supposed to be the long-life one too, uh huh. I don't even run a lot of programs when I do use it (Win XP, Firefox, Thunderbird, security software) so it's not as if I am gaming or doing anything else to kill the battery quickly.

Just wondering how many months/years of use other people get out of their laptop batteries before they need to be replaced? It's annoying that this one only lasted 14 months! :-(

[southernlady5464]

I don't even run a lot of programs when I do use it (Win XP, Firefox, Thunderbird, security software) so it's not as if I am gaming or doing anything else to kill the battery quickly.

Even those will run your usage very high.

When you are using just those programs, do this...hit control/alt/delete (all at one time) and that will bring up your task manager. Click on the Processes tab and just LOOK at what is running. Do NOT stop anything running because the vast majority of that is needed just to keep you up and running when turned on. You will be UNPLEASANTLY surprised at just how much is actually running even when you think you have just a few programs up and going. Liz

[JAG_HRD]

I just installed our third battery in an Inspiron 5100. Was down to about 47 mins. on a full charge.

[mbuszu]

Currently working for an IT company and having now owned and used multiple laptops over the past 10 years I researched this recently because of the same experience and curiousity (indeed I thought perhaps I was doing something wrong to my computers).

Just a bit of research has revealed that this is not a brand-specific issue, but indeed a global cross-brand laptop computer issue. The batteries in all our laptops today have a life of about 2 years (give or take 1 if you're lucky or unlucky). The technology which makes them function is susceptible to internal oxidation created by heat. Since laptops by their nature today generate lots of heat and the batteries themselves get hot as they are charging there is simply nothing anyone can do about this except plan to purchase another one 1-2 years from now.

The laptop manufacturers are all aware of this issue and they are trying to develop newer/better battery technologies, but its a problem we all have to deal with.

[ColoWeb]

About every 2 years. Depends on usage for me.

[dseger]

I agree that battery has 1.5-2 year life, the ordinary inspiron battery like dell 6000 battery (for example: http://www.sales-battery.com/laptop-...piron-6000.htm)
has 500 charging times as they claim, So it depends on the usage frequency.
I don't even run a lot of programs when I do use it (Win XP, Firefox, Thunderbird, security software) so it's not as if I am gaming or doing anything else to kill the battery quickly. that is right, it would be better if you cut those additional devices like usb powered keyboard mouse.......

[texdav]

Having worked with batteries for years :i can tell you that not all cells or packs are equal and that many things can happen to shorten a packs life span and number of charges.

[eevee]

the battery on my Inspiron 1505 died w/in 13-14 months. and I kept the laptop plugged in most of the time (I still can't get a straight answer on whether laptops that remain plugged in a lot should have their battery removed or if it doesn't matter w/ current batteries on the market). it was one of the pricier ones too (9 cell vs 6 cell). I refuse to get another one since the reviews for the batteries all say the same thing, that the battery doesn't last much beyond a year. the battery alone cost almost 1/5 of what I originally paid for the laptop itself! I'm not keeping this thing for long anyways, so I'll live on w/o one for now

[Brian.Pearson]

If you get an electric razor, the directions will tell you to allow it to run down as far as it will go, occasionally, then recharge it. It's suppose to make the battery last longer, I think. Might be the same with a laptop.

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by Brian.Pearson

If you get an electric razor, the directions will tell you to allow it to run down as far as it will go, occasionally, then recharge it. It's suppose to make the battery last longer, I think. Might be the same with a laptop.

Does that make it give you a closer shave?