[ale] [OT] Laptop Battery Worth It?

[The Don Lachlan]

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 01:31:19PM -0400, Greg Clifton wrote:
> I am TOTALLY in Kinney's (spelled it right this time ;-) camp on this issue.
> Esp. if you are having display issues (could be your CCFT tubes failing or
> more likely the inverter). If you spend $ on a battery and then the display
> goes and you spend $ on that and then the motherboard goes and you can't get
> parts. My mantra "Better, Faster, Cheaper each Iteration" especially applies
> to notebooks/laptops. You can get some really decent machines for $400$800
> now.
> Shop Newegg, Tiger Direct, gotapex.com and dealnews.com for the best deals,
> but not necessarily in that order.

So $400-800 every three years? Not for me. I've lived quite happily running
on older machines. I'm typing this now on a PIII/650. Archaic? Absurd? It
fits the need (though it isn't my main system).

If the laptop works for his needs and $150 buys another year, even your
numbers support replacing the battery.

I'm hesitant to buy generic/off-brand components and unless I found strong
reviews of the 3rd party battery, I'd personally go with the branded
battery. It's more expensive but far less so than replacing the entire
laptop.

-L

> On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 11:47 AM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > With few exceptions, laptops are not engineered for use beyond about 3
> > years. A student will use/depend on that laptop so I would get a new laptop
> > and not replace the battery.
> > On Jul 11, 2011 11:25 AM, "David Tomaschik" <david at systemoverlord.com>
> > wrote:
> > > I have a 4 year old System 76 laptop (Core 2 Duo, 15.4" screen, etc.).
> > > The battery life on the original battery is now < 45 minutes, which
> > > makes it fairly useless away from an outlet. I'm going to be
> > > returning to school for a M.S. this fall, and would like something
> > > that works in class.
> > >
> > > A new battery would be ~$150 shipped from System 76. 3rd party
> > > suppliers from eBay can be had for about $75. The laptop is in mostly
> > > good condition, though the screen occasionally flickers, but closing
> > > and reopening the screen has fixed it thus far. (I've tried reseating
> > > the video ribbon cable, but the problem persists.)
> > >
> > > Does it seem reasonable to spend $75-$150 on this laptop, or is it
> > > throwing money away? Does anyone have experience with 3rd party
> > > battery suppliers on eBay they'd like to share?
> > >
> > > --
> > > David Tomaschik, RHCE, LPIC-1
> > > System Administrator/Open Source Advocate
> > > OpenPGP: 0x5DEA789B
> > > http://systemoverlord.com
> > > david at systemoverlord.com
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