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    #1

    Laptop batteries

    I'm looking for a new battery for my Dell Latitude D400. The one in there now has a bad cell somewhere (I think?) because sometimes it lasts for 1.5 hours, sometimes 10 minutes or sometimes a minute or two.

    So... I decided to take a look around eBay and my local stores and all they had were generic ones from Hong Kong and Taiwan or China! Not a single store had an original Dell battery... same result with eBay...

    Ringing Dell didn't help either because an original battery was $200-something which is like the price of a second hand netbook.

    So can I trust these generic batteries? they have 3-4 year warranties.
    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Laptop batteries

    1) I've heard you can rejuvenate old batteried by giving them some amperage. From what I understand, the metal in the cell "frays" for lack of a better word, and giving it a zap fixes it. Look on Youtube.
    2) I think the life of lithium batteries is determined from the time that the battery is made. So if you leave the battery lying around and never use it, or use it everyday, it will last for the same length of time, regardless of how many charge cycles.
    3) When you buy a battery of eBay, make sure it's from a company that manufactures it on the spot when you order it, and that it's not old stock. A lot of these Chinese sellers often make it very inconvenient to return a product, with the foreknowledge that their product is defective to begin with.

    Finally, forget about buying an original battery. The funny thing about batteries is that I have seen some batteries die in relatively new laptops just after a year, and yet there are some people with li-on batteries that still get 2 hours out of them after 4 years. Go figure.
    "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

    -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Laptop batteries

      Buy this battery from Dell or buy a 600 to 700 new notebook.

      Li-Ion battery is one that anyone *cannot* tinker with even zapping as they may swell up or explode and vent smoke/flames.

      Now, this is biggest reasons I buy new notebook as value of a used notebook with a 3 year old battery is worth very little because cost of a good trusty third party is hard to find and costly and still costly from OEM.

      Cheers, Wizard

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Laptop batteries

        Originally posted by Wizard View Post
        Buy this battery from Dell or buy a 600 to 700 new notebook.

        Li-Ion battery is one that anyone *cannot* tinker with even zapping as they may swell up or explode and vent smoke/flames.

        Now, this is biggest reasons I buy new notebook as value of a used notebook with a 3 year old battery is worth very little because cost of a good trusty third party is hard to find and costly and still costly from OEM.

        Cheers, Wizard

        LOL $299 for a battery from Dell... that's if they had any in stock. They said since it's a discontinued model, they don't know if stock is left.

        For $299 I could get a brand new HP mininote netbook!

        I will however rant that these Li-Ion batteries die whenever they like. Just after a year the battery on my Inspiron E1505 died... and I didn't even use it on battery often!
        Needless to say the battery itself was $350-something from Dell at the time. The value of the laptop after a year was $500... go figure.
        Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Laptop batteries

          As mockingbird mentioned LI die with age as well as # cycles.

          Some Laptop battery packs have a counter and they fake being dead after so many cycles.
          That is supposedly a safety feature but it sounds like a way to sell more batteries to me.

          There are places that will rebuild your old pack.
          I've used one called BTI and their rebuilds are great.
          http://www.batterytech.com/warranty.aspx

          .
          Mann-Made Global Warming.
          - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
          -
          Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
          - Dr Seuss
          -
          You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
          -

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Laptop batteries

            add me to the thread as we both are looking for new d400 batteries. i saw $32 USD ones on buy.com...

            http://www.buy.com/prod/laptop-batte...207985039.html

            http://www.buy.com/prod/new-dell-lat...212947216.html

            they are made by AGPtek... are they any good?
            Last edited by ratdude747; 09-07-2010, 01:26 PM.
            sigpic

            (Insert witty quote here)

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Laptop batteries

              This is a case where: old stock = crap.

              The cells go bad with age even if never used.
              Mann-Made Global Warming.
              - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
              -
              Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
              - Dr Seuss
              -
              You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
              -

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Laptop batteries

                BTI has them:

                http://www.batterytech.com/products....00&pid=DL-D400

                but they want $102 from the fact. store (the dealers are close tot hat as well). thats more than i paid for the laptop! ouch!
                sigpic

                (Insert witty quote here)

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Laptop batteries

                  The question is does BTI make them on the spot when you order them.

                  I want to order an SLA battery for my old camcorder. I've seen that a model from Energizer exists, I wonder if its safe to buy an old stock new SLA.
                  "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

                  -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Laptop batteries

                    Originally posted by ratdude747 View Post
                    BTI has them:

                    http://www.batterytech.com/products....00&pid=DL-D400

                    but they want $102 from the fact. store (the dealers are close tot hat as well). thats more than i paid for the laptop! ouch!
                    The dealers are usually cheaper.

                    The individual cells that go into the packs cost $20/@ and up if you by fresh stock from a name brand.
                    Most packs have between 6 and 12 cells.

                    I tried to rebuild one once but for me to buy cells [small qty as opposed to bulk lg qty] it was going to cost more to do it myself.

                    .
                    Last edited by PCBONEZ; 09-07-2010, 06:49 PM.
                    Mann-Made Global Warming.
                    - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                    -
                    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                    - Dr Seuss
                    -
                    You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                    -

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Laptop batteries

                      Originally posted by mockingbird View Post
                      The question is does BTI make them on the spot when you order them.

                      I want to order an SLA battery for my old camcorder. I've seen that a model from Energizer exists, I wonder if its safe to buy an old stock new SLA.
                      I know what you are trying to ask but the fact is that doesn't necessarily matter.
                      It's the age of the cells that go into the pack that matters.

                      The first one I got from them was in 2005 or 2006 and it still works.
                      .
                      Mann-Made Global Warming.
                      - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                      -
                      Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                      - Dr Seuss
                      -
                      You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                      -

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Laptop batteries

                        Yea but I'm talking about SLA batteries (Sealed lead-acid). I read about them a little, but I couldn't find any information regarding their longevity.
                        "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

                        -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: Laptop batteries

                          I have been aware of Li-Ion being perishable once made.

                          I forgot that you can send in the pack to rebuild but what reputable shop to do this is the question.

                          Cheers, Wizard

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Re: Laptop batteries

                            Originally posted by mockingbird View Post
                            Yea but I'm talking about SLA batteries (Sealed lead-acid). I read about them a little, but I couldn't find any information regarding their longevity.
                            The thread is about Laptop batteries.

                            I get UPS batteries here but that's because I can drive over and pick them up. [No shipping.]
                            http://www.gruberpower.com/gruberpow...es/default.asp
                            Mann-Made Global Warming.
                            - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                            -
                            Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                            - Dr Seuss
                            -
                            You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                            -

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Re: Laptop batteries

                              Originally posted by PCBONEZ View Post
                              The dealers are usually cheaper.

                              The individual cells that go into the packs cost $20/@ and up if you by fresh stock from a name brand.
                              Most packs have between 6 and 12 cells.

                              I tried to rebuild one once but for me to buy cells [small qty as opposed to bulk lg qty] it was going to cost more to do it myself.

                              .
                              techheist had the lowest at $84

                              still out of budget

                              are the $32 ones ok or crap?
                              sigpic

                              (Insert witty quote here)

                              Comment

                                #16
                                Re: Laptop batteries

                                Probably old stock w/dated cells.
                                Mann-Made Global Warming.
                                - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                                -
                                Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                                - Dr Seuss
                                -
                                You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                                -

                                Comment

                                  #17
                                  Re: Laptop batteries

                                  Hey guys, I'm still looking for a battery for the D400... money is not an issue as I have a high paying job as a bar tender nowadays. Yay!

                                  Anyway, I found these two on eBay selling GENUINE Dell batteries...

                                  http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-Genuine-D...#ht_2948wt_908

                                  http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Genuine-D...ht_3044wt_1139

                                  The American seller is twice as expensive as the one from Hong Kong/China, which should I choose?.

                                  I know money isn't an issue, but I still prefer cheaper (as does everybody)

                                  Any objections over the Chinese based seller?

                                  I just don't want an explosion in my car or office due to a bad battery... safety over money of course.
                                  Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                                  Comment

                                    #18
                                    Re: Laptop batteries

                                    Originally posted by stevo1210 View Post
                                    Hey guys, I'm still looking for a battery for the D400... money is not an issue as I have a high paying job as a bar tender nowadays. Yay!

                                    Anyway, I found these two on eBay selling GENUINE Dell batteries...

                                    http://cgi.ebay.com.au/New-Genuine-D...#ht_2948wt_908

                                    http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Genuine-D...ht_3044wt_1139

                                    The American seller is twice as expensive as the one from Hong Kong/China, which should I choose?.

                                    I know money isn't an issue, but I still prefer cheaper (as does everybody)

                                    Any objections over the Chinese based seller?

                                    I just don't want an explosion in my car or office due to a bad battery... safety over money of course.
                                    The USA sellers are probably getting their batteries from the SAME Chinese sellers on ebay. There are two things I look for: 1) feedback. If someone gets a dead or poor quality battery, you'd better believe they're going to give negative feedback 2) warranty. Having a warranty is good, but trying to return something to China can be costly in time and shipping costs. On the other hand, returning to a USA seller should be just the opposite.

                                    Comment

                                      #19
                                      Re: Laptop batteries

                                      China is closer to Australia than we are to the USA, I don't think I will encounter any issues with the chinese seller as all they do is sell batteries and they have great feedback. I think I will go with them instead. I am also aware that batteries (in the pictures) from both sellers are from '08 and '09... must be older dell stock? after all the D400 is way past it's end of life service already.
                                      Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                                      Comment

                                        #20
                                        Re: Laptop batteries

                                        Oops! I failed to see that you are located in Australia. Yes, the chinese seller would be the better deal.

                                        Comment

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