[Siegfried The Red]

Yeah, this is not news/activism, sorry. My mistake.

[Red Badger]

Lap top or lap dance?........

[ConservativeMind]

You are only assured of a non-exploding battery going through Dell (their liability concern keeps them honest--look at the recall of potentially exploding batteries they had from last week's news).

As for the News/Activism post, I am pinging the Sidebar Moderator to move it to another place.

[Puppage]

MOBILITY - IGO BATTERIES or Battery Technoligies are 2 of many 3rd party mfrs. that my clients usually purchase

[LiberationIT]

My experience with Dell batteries has not been good. That said, what follows may apply to most vendors.

The batteries have a finite life apparently based on age and usage.

Batteries bought from sources such as E-Bay may be old, so beware.

I'm considering a new laptop driven by the fact my old laptop needs a $119 (yikes!) battery. i.e. why spend $119, when for 6 or 7 hundred more, I get a new machine. But, given I'll probably have to get Windows, I think I'll hold off buying until the next release (next fall?)

Not much help on your question, just my 2 cents noting that batteries (and Windows,) are a drag on the market. I hope the hardware suppliers figure out a solution.

[IronManBike]

bttt

[kingu]

I don't have a Dell source for you, but I'll bump your thread by mentioning TechExcess.net, a fantastic source for HP batteries and accessories. For just over $200, I got a dock, 12 cell battery, extra power supply, media connector, wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. Good communications, everything arrived in new HP packaging, and everything works flawlessly.

[Flifuss]

I am using my 8200 right now and even if you are contemplating buying a new battery or laptop, you might want to check certain things on the 8200. At startup, press F2 to get to the Bios setup. Alt PageDown to scroll to the Power Management Setup. Make sure the power management is on (Other cool things, look at the bottom of the screen at this time....you can set the laptop to turn on and off at certain times). After boot up, goto Control Panel, Power Management, and customize the settings for on ac and not. I could only get 3 hours of battery life originally, now I can get 5.

If you buy another laptop or battery, this may still be useful for the 8200

PS I'm running xp pro and love my 8200.

[Flifuss]

er...Control Panel, Power Options....just checked...sorry