- Dec
- 17
I have a Dell Inspiron E1505 and recently took it on vacation. The morning after we returned, I booted the laptop and was surprised to find that it had a full charge but only lasted 45 min. I played with it a little more and have determined that the battery is dying and holding less charge. At 100% charged I get 45-50 min. out of it. My first thought was, “Time to buy a new battery, I wonder how much that’ll cost?” The figure floating around in my head was between $40-50. Nope!! Try $129.99!! I read some of the reviews on Dell’s site. No one likes these batteries. I couldn’t find one, single review that had a 2 star rating or above and everyone’s complaint was the same, “I bought my laptop a year ago and the battery only holds 45 min. of power.” My second thought was, “Well, time to buy a Mac instead!” Double Nope!! Their batteries have the same affliction; within 15 months, they loose their charge and become useless. Apple batteries are also $129. Am I late to the game on this? Is this normal?
So what do we have here? After last year’s huge recall of batteries from all major laptop manufacturers we have the unsettling notion that your laptop has the potential to burst into flames at some point. The batteries apparently only last between 12 and 15 months at most and cost $130 to replace. Is it difficult to make laptop batteries that are safe and work for a reasonable amount of time? I can’t place blame as I’m not an engineer, and if it is really that hard to make a safe, usable battery, then, at least, the cost of current batteries should come down a bit. I want to know what the markup is on a battery because $130 seems far too much for this type of quality.
I think given the facts, $79.99 would be a reasonable price if you have to replace these things every year or so. I think I’ll be saving my $130 and put it towards a newer laptop, I’ll just have to take my AC adapter everywhere now.
