Inspiron 9300 battery failure

Sep 16, 2007 2 Replies
L

My Inspiron 9300 is roughly 2.5 years old. I rarely use the PC on battery-always plugged in to an A/C outlet so the battery has only been used a handful of times.



Suddenly the battery charging light is constantly flashing and the x% remaining (charging) icon is showing up on the systray. This started last week and it read 99% remaining (charging). Today it reads 94% remaining.



Any clue as to what is happening here? Should I totally discharge the battery or just bite the bullet and replace it? Can I run the laptop without the battery in the machine? Dell wants something like $170 for a new one and I'm not sure I can scrap that amount up right now.



thanks, ~Laura~


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B

Laura:

You actually reminded me of a neat feature in Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Even though a laptop may be plugged in 24/7, the battery is continually being drawn down a little, and re-charged, so the life-time charge/recharge cycles are used up eventually. Vista Ultimate 32-bit allows you to set parameters so that your battery is not continually charged up when it drops just a little. Supposed to increase service life of batteries that spend most of their lives plugged in.

Bob

Suddenly the battery charging light is constantly flashing and the x% remaining (charging) icon is showing up on the systray. This started last week and it read 99% remaining (charging). Today it reads 94% remaining.

Any clue as to what is happening here? Should I totally discharge the battery or just bite the bullet and replace it? Can I run the laptop without the battery in the machine? Dell wants something like $170 for a new one and I'm not sure I can scrap that amount up right now.

thanks, ~Laura~

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