cornel panceac wrote:
The laptop is about 18 months old, so the battery was nearing its end but I'd hoped for at least another 6 months of useful time (more than 10 minutes). The battery is in worse condition than three identical batteries in the other 3 laptops purchased at the same time. The main difference is that this laptop is plugged in continuously while the others are mobile.sorry if this was said already, but i didn't followed this thread. anyway, rumours are, the main reason for batteries ending their life is heat. that is why it is recommended, while the laptop is on AC, the battery shoud be removed.
your battery has failed prematurely. If there's a active warranty on it, I would try and get a replacement from the manufacturer.
I've got a Latitude D600 laptop thats almost 5 years old (new in jan 2005), still has its original Dell 9 cell battery... While I occasionally use it offline, most of the time its plugged in 24/7. The battery still lasts about 90 minutes of average steady usage, maybe 2 hours of light usage (remote terminal + wifi, for instance). This is significantly down from the 5 hours it lasted when new but still plenty usable.
It *is* important with laptops to keep the bottom air vents clear when they are powered. always use the laptop on a hard surface, or if its on your lap or whatever, be sure to position it so the vents are clear. I also find I have to partially diassemble the laptop once or twice a year to clear out the 'dust bunnies' that collect between the fans and the heatsink radiators. left too long, the dust builds up into a rectangular piece of 'felt' that completely blocks the airflow. some newer laptops have access panels specifically for the fans, my older ones I have to take apart from the top down.