[ale] [OT] Laptop Battery Worth It?

[Greg Clifton]

It is also possible that it is a connection problem at the panel, not just
either end of the flexible printed circuit that carries the signal from the
main board to the display panel (since he already tried plugging that in
without solving the problem).

If you are bound and determined to replace the battery, there are places
that will actually rebuild your OEM battery. They slice the shell open and
put new cells in with the appropriate connections between them (soldiered?)
and glue the shell back with silicon or such. Supposedly you net a better
battery than the OEM. I did that for one kid's computer (an HP, right before
the power connector broke off the motherboard). Also, I would lean against
purchasing the OEM branded battery for a machine that old. As JK said,
laptops aren't designed to be in service for more than ~3-4 years and a
particular model generally isn't in production for more than a year or two
before something way better replaces them in the manufacturer's catalog. You
can pretty well figure that you're not going to get a "fresh" battery from
the manufacturer for a 5 year old computer, but you might get a fresher one
from an aftermarket supplier.

That's my $.05 worth.


On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 2:27 PM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:

> That video chip sounds like it's flakey. I would plan on a new system over
> repaires (a major grouse factor with laptops - hard to fix).
> On Jul 11, 2011 2:05 PM, "David Tomaschik" <david at systemoverlord.com>
> wrote:
> > Thanks all for the feedback.
> >
> > I don't think the display issue is inverter or CCFL, because the
> > effect is really more like static than a flicker. (I described it
> > poorly in my original message, sorry.) Sometimes it will display 4
> > versions of the screen, each occupying 1/4 of the screen, but with
> > snow on top of them. (Typically, the snow is grouped in horizontal
> > bands -- if anyone knows what that might be, let me know.)
> >
> > There is only one supplier for the battery on eBay, and their reviews
> > are mixed but mostly good.
> >
> > If I were to replace the laptop, I'd be inclined to go with the Dell
> > Vostro 3350 (in a Core i5). 13.3" screen, Core i5, 7-8 hours battery
> > life, for $689 shipped.
> >
> >
> > David
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 1:44 PM, Michael B. Trausch <mike at trausch.us>
> wrote:
> >> On Mon, 2011-07-11 at 11:22 -0400, David Tomaschik wrote:
> >>> 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?
> >>
> >> Depends on what you would replace the laptop with and the overall health
> >> of the remainder of the laptop's components.
> >>
> >> If it's in good shape and you can still use it for quite a while, then
> >> yes, a battery would be worth it.  However, if you think you're going to
> >> be replacing it in the next year or so, it's probably better to just buy
> >> a new system (assuming that you have the cash or credit available to do
> >> so, of course).
> >>
> >>        --- Mike
> >>
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > David Tomaschik, RHCE, LPIC-1
> > System Administrator/Open Source Advocate
> > OpenPGP: 0x5DEA789B
> > http://systemoverlord.com
> > david at systemoverlord.com
> >
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