Any place to get a inexpensive Dell laptop battery? (email, Office, how to)

[eevee]

I have a dell laptop (Inspiron E1505) that I bought in February '07. this past April, I noticed my battery failing (only getting about an hour off AC power); now it's fully 100% dead. needless to say, I'm PO, since I rarely had it off AC power (maybe for 2 hours a week total, sometimes less) and of course it happened right after the warranty expired

so now I need a new one. I don't have a ton of cash to spend, and honestly, may be selling this laptop by the fall anyways to get a Mac. I wonder, for resale value, should I get a new battery? if so, what's the best place to get a cheap one- other than places like eBay and other auction sites (I've had bad experiences w/ eBay in the past)? the ones on the dell site are expensive ($300 for the battery I have now, which is about 1/3 of what I paid for the laptop in the first place!) and all have very bad reviews attached. or should I not even bother and just go ahead and sell it w/o a working battery?

also, slightly OT question: how does one estimate the value of a used laptop? I'm curious how much I could sell mine for.

[htmlfamily]

Originally Posted by eevee

I have a dell laptop (Inspiron E1505) that I bought in February '07. this past April, I noticed my battery failing (only getting about an hour off AC power); now it's fully 100% dead. needless to say, I'm PO, since I rarely had it off AC power (maybe for 2 hours a week total, sometimes less) and of course it happened right after the warranty expired

so now I need a new one. I don't have a ton of cash to spend, and honestly, may be selling this laptop by the fall anyways to get a Mac. I wonder, for resale value, should I get a new battery? if so, what's the best place to get a cheap one- other than places like eBay and other auction sites (I've had bad experiences w/ eBay in the past)? the ones on the dell site are expensive ($300 for the battery I have now, which is about 1/3 of what I paid for the laptop in the first place!) and all have very bad reviews attached. or should I not even bother and just go ahead and sell it w/o a working battery?

also, slightly OT question: how does one estimate the value of a used laptop? I'm curious how much I could sell mine for.

Did you keep the Battery in even while having it plugged in?? If so that's why it died so quickly. as far as cheap batteries I only use the oem ones.Good luck

[eevee]

Originally Posted by htmlfamily

Did you keep the Battery in even while having it plugged in?? If so that's why it died so quickly. as far as cheap batteries I only use the oem ones.Good luck

see, I got so many mixed messages about this. I've had many people (and the dell website, among other places) say it's ok to leave the battery in, that it wouldn't affect it at all. I prefer to leave the battery in in case of blackouts (we had a couple in my apartment due to multiple ACs running during the summer). plus, it would be such a hassle taking the battery in and out whenever I decided to go off AC.

ugh, this is probably another dell issue (my sister has a Vaio that she just changed the battery on after almost 2.5 years). I say the 6 cell ones only cost $135. may have to bite the bullet and buy one (though NOT through dell if possible!)

[Brian.Pearson]

Be nice if there were some way to test the battery via the computer--maybe put it in device manager or something. :P

[ShadowCaver]

My work laptop is a Dell - had it less than a year, on a docking station at office, and it also is going down a fast death of late. Anyhow, as to finding a replacement - have ya checked nextag.com, amazon.com, and newegg.com and related sites? Quite a bit of savings there. I would not buy anything from ebay in this regard - no offense to those sellers, but not my cup of tea. Might check out the following for some additional thoughts:

Apple - Batteries - Notebooks
http://www.city-data.com/forum/compu...e-plugged.html
Laptop Battery Care - How to extend the life of your laptop battery
Should You Leave Your Laptop Plugged In? - Jim and Lynnette's Fun Times Guide



Oh, as to how much your current laptop is worth? Seems as if you spend quite bit of time on eBay, take a good gander about there, maybe other on-line places that sell similar equipment.

Good luck.

[carlkoba]

Hi eevee, I hope I can help you solve the issue. I'm working in the laptop battery manufactory, and I checked the price just now, it's about $50 for this style. If you are interested in that, please contact me. mod cut = please do not leave emails in your posts; send a DM to person if interested. thanks.

[Radek]

Originally Posted by htmlfamily

Did you keep the Battery in even while having it plugged in?? If so that's why it died so quickly. as far as cheap batteries I only use the oem ones.Good luck

In my experience, this is not true. When your laptop is plugged in, and your battery is full... the laptop does not pass the electricity through the battery anymore. It routes around it rather than continually charging and draining the battery (which is what usually kills batteries)

Originally Posted by eevee

see, I got so many mixed messages about this. I've had many people (and the dell website, among other places) say it's ok to leave the battery in, that it wouldn't affect it at all. I prefer to leave the battery in in case of blackouts (we had a couple in my apartment due to multiple ACs running during the summer). plus, it would be such a hassle taking the battery in and out whenever I decided to go off AC.

ugh, this is probably another dell issue (my sister has a Vaio that she just changed the battery on after almost 2.5 years). I say the 6 cell ones only cost $135. may have to bite the bullet and buy one (though NOT through dell if possible!)

It could've been due to the power loss and gain... batteries REALLY dont like charging for 15 minutes... discharging for 15, etc. they really dont like that.

As ShadowCarver said, your best bets are going to be Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! and TigerDirect.com - Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Accessories, PC Components, & Electronics

And, estimate your laptop's worth off what other models are getting on eBay.

And don't buy a battery through eBay unless you like a small amount of risk in your life.

[BikesareBetter]

Yea its a Dell issue. I have an Inspiron 2650 with a dead battery. I have had the Laptop since 2002.

[collinsl]

Try 2power. They do cheap replacement batteries.