Warranty and battery question

Hi, all.
I have a 6 month old I9300 with a 9-cell battery (80W) and my battery now only holds charge for about 1 hour when settings set to the lowest. Now I use my laptop for a very long time, about 10 hours a day minimum, I use it for the office and of course, I also play on it on the weekends. I work the battery up, meaning that when full I unplug and work on battery and I have set to warn me when it gets to 30% so I don't fully discharge (that isn't possible now). So my question is if I should call Dell and ask them for a replacement battery since it's rapidly dying and I have a two-year warranty? Or should I go ahead and buy a new one since it won't be covered on the warranty? If I should buy a new one, does anybody know where to find a cheaper battery (pricewise) as replacemente (excluding Ebay)? Its price is somewhat steep (close to $150 at Dell).

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

I would try recalibrating your battery. First, turn off all programs and screensavers, and let the battery drain until it is drain (might have to adjust power settings so it won't turn off at 10%). After the battery is drain, recharge it back up, and see if you get better results.

If you don't, then it sounds like it is time to buy a new battery. You can try calling dell and see if they will replace it, but i'm not sure what battery issues are covered. It is worth a try at least. Generally you can find the batteries alot cheaper online - laptopbattery.net, laptopbatteries.com .

 

why do you unplug the battery once it reaches 100%? is that a work-related thing?

basically, li-ion batteries have a built life cycle of about 500 charge/discharges. this means that everytime you charge up to 100% and then, by habit, unplug from a/c, you just wasted one of those lifecycles. if you are at an a/c source and plugged in, you need to keep your computer plugged in.

 

Thanks SG for the websites. I had been looking for a cheaper alternative, though it's still somewhat pricy ($100+).

I had heard that keeping it plugged would hurt the battery once fully charged, that's why I did that. I don't know how true that statement is, but I can tell you that the decay went a lot faster when I started playing with the computer (game sessions of 5+ hours) and I have the computer always plugged in when gaming. Although temperature could have hurt it too.

 

yeah, that's not true. basically, if you take the battery to 100% and then start to discharge, you just wasted 1 of your 500 life cycles for no reason.

stop doing that and your battery will live longer.

 

does warranty on a dell laptop cover batteries?

 

unless there is sometime significantly wrong with your battery when your first get your notebook, then no.

 

From Dell's site:

How long does this limited warranty last?

This limited warranty lasts for the time period indicated on your packing slip or invoice, except for the following Dell-branded hardware:

Portable computer batteries carry the lesser of either a 1-year limited warranty or the length of the limited warranty for the Dell computer with which the battery is shipped.


So as long as you have at least a 1 year warranty, you seem fine. Call them and get it fixed before your options run out. Also, be sure to mention that blurb there, which can be found here:

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=010

 

but the limited warranty does not cover wear and tear, so I don't think the battery will be covered. If something was drastically wrong with the battery or if it was a recall, then it would be covered.

Again, it wouldn't hurt to call though.

 

Let us know how you make out on the warranty. If they cover it, I'll mark my calendar to check mine in about 9 months.

Dave