Can one run the lappy without the battery, some suggestions please

[leon]

Hi Guys just a quick question on the battery of a Dell Laptop.

Alice has a Dell Inspiron Laptop and the battery indicator light flashes continuously even if it is switched off.

According to the booklet that comes with the lappy it suggests that if this is happening the battery is at the end of its useful life, and should be replaced.

Well that is all good and well however we cant really get one as we move about a bit and there would be no where to post it too.

So the question is this, can i just remove the battery and run it on AC power only, it is always plugged in anyway and has been for its entire life, we don't really use it with the battery.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Leon

[steve000 (Steve)]

Generally you can. It wont hurt anything.

Obviously dont unplugg it, maybe put on some tape or somthing to hold the adapter in the laptop as they come out easy.

[leon]

Thanks Steve, i did expect that this was the case, just wanted to be sure.

Leon

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Leave the battery in and dont worry about it. Taking the battery out could expose potentially hazardous battery connectors and allow dirt etc into the casing.

Leaving it in will do less harm than removing it, plus you might get 5mins of battery life should you happen to accidently unplug it.

[asimov (John)]

Ran my Toshiba minus a battery for nearly 3 years but considering you have one (I didn't) may as well just keep it in & forget about it.

[Kal (Andrew)]

Leon, removing the battery when running it on AC power is actually the preferred way of running it. The heat from the laptop has a negative effect on the life of the battery.

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

My eeepc's battery now lasts about 20 minutes from a full charge its absolutely knackered! As such if i was to leave the battery in while doing my deep sky trips it would suck the poor battery dry with no benifit.

Moral to the story i have been running it without the battery for ages happy days Leon happy days!

BM.

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by Kal

Leon, removing the battery when running it on AC power is actually the preferred way of running it. The heat from the laptop has a negative effect on the life of the battery.

I have read this theory many times and always had my doubts, which for me atleast have been confirmed.
My lappie is now 4 years old and it has run almost 24/7, at a guess, on AC(with battery still installed) for ~90% and on Battery for ~10% of it's life.
I can still run it on the original supplied battery for 1 to 2 hours depending on the workload.

It is ofcourse likely that different brands = different problems, but for me atleast there is no issue.

[leon]

Thank you all for your suggestions.

leon

[bartman (Bart)]

Heehehe,
Just my 2 cents worth but I agree with all above posts
All good Leon!
Bartman

[Barrykgerdes]

It appears that it is OK to remove the battery on most laptops these days. However I had an old HP think pad (now dead for many years RIP) that would not work without the battery because there was an in and out for power on the battery. What is more when the battery died completely the Laptop would no longer work at all.

Barry

[2stroke (Jay)]

Just grab a battery off fleebay, just make sure you check seller feedback. There cheap as hell if you don't buy an original made one

[ZeroID (Brent)]

DELL batteries are the cheapest crud they can get. They only have a 12 month warranty and they normally last about 2 months longer than that !
On AC your DELL will be quite happy. No it cannot give you a shock from exposed connectors, it's only on about 18 Volts. The battery compartment is also quite well sealed to dirt intrusion. Just don't walk off with the laptop to show someone something on screen, you will only get as far as the power cord will let you.

P.S. The flashing battery light is to tell you the battery is failing, at least THAT will go away when you leave it out.

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

My wifes Toshiba lasts about 10mins on its battery before it gives up.

Two things as to why we leave it in:

1) If we take the battery out and accidently disconnect the power, then everything is lost if unsaved.

2) If we leave the battery in and disconnect the power it lasts a) 10mins b) long enough to put the machine in hibernation so that work is not lost and we can plug power in and resume.

Basically we treat what's left of the battery as a UPS failsafe.

[frolinmod]

The comment about Dell batteries is spot on. They're high priced. One year warranty and then they die soon thereafter. They even sell better quality batteries with longer warranties. Naturally at even higher prices.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

I have a 2007 Dell Inspiron 1720.

The original 9-cell battery lasted just over 12 months. Dell wanted $250 to replace it, so I laughed at the guy, hung up and went onto eBay.

I found a guy out of China who was selling the same 9-cell battery for $75 landed, so I bought one as his feedback was 99%+.

Nearly 4 years later, and I can still get 4-5 hours out of it, with the lappy running 24/7.

I have run it without the battery in, but I do tend to pick my computer up and walk off. I have lost hours worth of data, so now the battery stays in.

Also, the power fitting has gotten loose over 5 years, and sometimes the power cord just falls out. Not a good end to a data entry session!

[Kal (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by MrB

I have read this theory many times and always had my doubts, which for me atleast have been confirmed.
My lappie is now 4 years old and it has run almost 24/7, at a guess, on AC(with battery still installed) for ~90% and on Battery for ~10% of it's life.
I can still run it on the original supplied battery for 1 to 2 hours depending on the workload.

It is ofcourse likely that different brands = different problems, but for me atleast there is no issue.

Probably different battery technology moreso than different brands. My guess is your lappy has a NiMH battery? (as opposed to a Lithium-Ion battery)