What is wrong with my laptop battery?

I have a Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop. The battery is giving me issues. It only gets up to a 8 percent charge according to the dell battery meter and other meters. However, it takes hours on end to charge that far and depeletes in minutes. When i press the battery test on the bottom of the battery i get all 5 lights which means 100% charge if im correct. The bios is up to date and the power setting is set to power save. Im not sure whats wrong with it and dell charing over 100 for a battery is overpriced so id like to fix it rather then buy a new one. Thank you!

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Apr 27, 2010. 12:54 PM

Burf says:

Not to put to fine a point on it, but I'd say your battery is about to kick the bucket, sleep with the fishes, push up daisies and meet its maker.
Rather than pay the OEM prices though, check out compatible replacement batteries from after-market manufacturers. You should be able to find a perfectly adequate replacement for $30-$40 with no trouble.
Put the make and model of your laptop along with the word battery in a Google search and you'll get plenty of hits.
One small tip, if everything else is equal go for the highest Mah. The higher the Mah, the more gas in the tank.

May 1, 2010. 1:24 PMzack247 says:

lots of dell batteries do this. dell didn't make very good batteries for their laptops. all dells made before 2005 have this problem for sure. sounds like you'll need a replacement. check ebay or dealextreme, i ordered one there

Apr 29, 2010. 5:54 AMvirtualgadget says:

Batteries get memory where by if they are repeatedly left under or over charged it looses its ability to keep the charge (power) and eventually the chemicals in them (for lack of a more accurate simple term) wear out.

From the sounds of it you battery has come to the end of its life, time for a new one.

Apr 28, 2010. 7:09 AMtrf (author) says:

Thank you very much everyone. I am going to get a new battery with a high mah! Cheers guys!

Apr 27, 2010. 6:26 PMjtobako says:

Lithium ion batteries are complicated-there's a chip inside that will resist charging if one or more of the internal cells is bad so that the whole thing doesn't overheat and explode or burn.

Apr 27, 2010. 6:07 PM___ says:

The sad truth is that batteries don't last forever. Dell (as well as almost every other large company) completely and utterly rips you off. If I were you I would buy it off of another reliable seller.