so i've had my dell latitude d820 for about 2 years and the battery life has gotten slightly worse and worse throughout the period but now it is nonexistent. the machine turns off the instant the power source is removed from the back of the computer. i was wondering if this was normal behavior or if something like a virus or something else is affecting my battery life and if there is anything i can do about it.

6/11/2008 9:57:26 PM

buy a new one?

6/11/2008 9:58:33 PM

Quote :

"i was wondering if this was normal behavior or if something like a virus or something else is affecting my battery life and if there is anything i can do about it."

yes, no, nothing, buy a new one

6/11/2008 10:09:35 PM

buy a new one

6/11/2008 10:10:30 PM

1: Get yourself a new battery; this one is dead.
2: Do a little reading on how correct charging habits for your particular type of battery. Specifically, don't constantly plug it in, then unplug it, then plug it in, etc. Those sorts of charging habits are generally bad for batteries -- let the battery charge all the way before disconnecting it if you can.

Most laptop batteries today are lithium-ion or lithium-polymer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-polymer


My current laptop, an Acer Aspire 2025WLMi is ~4 years old; I bought it the summer before I came here to NCSU. It got between 4-5 hours of battery life when first purchased. I can still get ~2.5-3 hours out of it, 4 years later.

[Edited on June 11, 2008 at 10:40 PM. Reason : ]

6/11/2008 10:39:32 PM

They're like any other rechargable battery, eventually they will wear out. I've had my Thinkpad for 5 years now and only recently started to use the battery extensively. Finally it would barely go 20 minutes til it died. Paid I think 30 for a new replacement one shipped. Keeping it plugged in whenever possible preserves the life of the battery.

[Edited on June 11, 2008 at 11:59 PM. Reason : .]

6/11/2008 11:58:39 PM

Not really -- most lithium batteries don't like the be stored in a fully-charged state.

6/12/2008 1:58:35 PM

When you leave your laptop plugged in the battery is constantly being topped off which isn't good for it. Charge the battery and remove it from your laptop until you need it. Lithium batteries are best stored at 85% charge.

Also, if you know what you're doing, you can replace the lithium cells in your battery yourself for much cheaper. Just google for it. That is assuming it's the cells and not the electronics.

6/12/2008 2:10:13 PM

^, ^^Comparing the performance that they will noticably deteriorate within just 2 or 3 years, a full state charge compared to a predetermined partial charge has little effect. Besides, I was trying to infer using the AC adapter whenever possible, compared to constant battery use and recharge which would wear out the battery quicker.

And 30 bucks, at least in my case, for a replacement is well-worth it compared to ripping up your battery case and resoldering the new batts in place with the correct components. You're still gonna pay a good little amount for those new batts.

6/12/2008 7:16:59 PM