Laptop Batteries.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 7:30 pm

In the next year I will be buying a laptop, and I want to be fully aware of everything, so here I am, 11 months or so early, obsessing about it. I'm hoping for a Dell, and using their site's 'build your own' models, have come to a dilemma.

I know laptop batteries don't last that long. But Dell, on the Latitude series, has the option of adding a 15 battery back (Where 6 is the standard, 9 is the upgrade, and 9 primary + 6 in the expansion bay is the ub3r 15). The problem? Latitude series don't have the option of the Nvidia 8600 256MB graphics card along with them, and the Inspiron series has a maximum of 9 batteries. I know, I'm greedy. Dell laptops last very long, so if I treat it well I can afford to be greedy, as it will last 10+ years and still be a good computer, right?

Here's my winner, if I could get the battery life extended:

Inspiron 1720 ($1479) wrote: PROCESSOR IntelÂ® Coreâ„¢ 2 Duo T7300 (4MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB), English edit

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vistaâ„¢ Home Premium Edition, English edit

SYSTEM COLOUR Jet Black Color with Matte Finish edit

LCD DISPLAY Glossy, high contrast, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900) edit

INTEGRATED WEBCAM NO WEBCAM OPTION edit

MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm edit

HARD DRIVE 120G 5400RPM SATA HDD edit

GRAPHICS CARD 256MB NVIDIAÂ® GeForceâ„¢ 8600M GT edit

OPTICAL DRIVE 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability edit

And the Latitude:

Latitude D630 ($1878) wrote:PROCESSOR IntelÂ® Coreâ„¢ 2 Duo T7300 (2.00GHz, 4M L2 Cache, 800Mhz Dual Core), English edit

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine WindowsÂ® XP Home Edition, SP2, with media,English edit

LCD DISPLAY 14.1 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD Panel edit

MEMORY 2.0GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMMS edit

HARD DRIVE Free Upgrade to 120GB 7200RPM Hard Drive - $130 Value edit

OPTICAL DRIVE 24X CD-RW/DVD w/ Cyberlink PowerDVDâ„¢ edit

BATTERY OPTIONS 9 Cell Primary and 6 Cell Media Bay Batteries edit

GRAPHICS CARD 128MB NVIDIAÂ® Quadro NVS 135M

To those who own an Inspiron: Is there a way to add batteries internally, or possibly attached below the laptop?

To those who own/know about Latitudes: Could I buy a graphics card seperately and add it on?

I'm hoping for the battery one, because it's $400 cheaper. Also, am I getting greedy? Is the Inspiron plenty good? Should I lug around a Lead-Acid battery in my bag, or another sort of power source that can plug into the power in jack?

Felino · Post by **Felino** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:06 pm

Heh, try this, get a libretto, and hook it too a Sla, tried it before, the life of the thing is incredable

Duno about doign it to other laptops though.

Post by **Triton** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:17 pm

lol @ using a computer for 10 years, would you use a 10 year old computer now as your primary pc? lol didnt think so

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:21 pm

I highly recommend not getting a glossy screen, I personally hate them, glare to the max.

Harshboy · Post by **Harshboy** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:24 pm

If I were you, don't buy one! Buy one like a week before you need it. This way you are guarantied non-outdated technology.

Oh, and Glossy Screens Kick Ass. Macbook Screen ftw. Also, get XP for maximum performance and compatibility, regardless of hardware. If Dell won't let you get XP, buy XP from Newegg.

hammertime94 · Post by **hammertime94** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:37 pm

Dell charges $1000 for $600 worth of laptop. Go Gateway or Hp/Compaq for value.

If you're willing to pay $1800, you can get 512mb nvidia 8600 and 2.4GHz Intel Core2 Duo and 200GB HD and 4GB RAM for not much more if you customize an MSI 1716 at R & J Tech

Post by **bicostp** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:41 pm

My advice: Shiny LCDs suck. They get glare unless you're in a pitch black room. Widescreen LCDs also suck. a 19" widescreen has about the same pixel real estate as a 17" normal screen, provided they have the same pixel density. Avoid Vista; it's basically XP but with more shine and annoyance. Don't worry about the graphics cards, laptops aren't meant to be gaming machines.

Get a sturdy laptop with a normal screen and a good reputation and it should last you a long time. (My old Toshiba Satellite Pro 4200 with 390-someodd MB of RAM and a 550 mhz P3 still does everything I need it to. I still use it for all my classes, because I'm too chicken to bring in my new-last-year HP.

)

theelk · Post by **theelk** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:53 pm

Let me warn you, no matter how many batteries you have, it won't matter if you can't charge them. Both my mom and brother have had problems with the chargers for their Dells. They either stop working, or they won't charge and will only supply power. I'm not gonna bother trying to tell you what to buy. But I'll try to advise you on what not to buy.

siegeshot · Post by **siegeshot** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:15 pm

my inspirion is going on year 3 now. get the 4 year warranty, get the memory upgrade, and get a pc for gaming. if the cat chews through your power supply just keep reordering them from the nice indian tech support dudes over and over. no problem man!

lets see, what have I reordered on this thing. well. the whole thing has like swappable parts. so new keyboard and new power supply, both for free. good stuff. actually, the cat destroyed my keyboard too. and they still sleep on it all the time, darn cats.

Oh yea and get an external cooler from your local wherever sells pc crap. Get one that has a built in USB hub in it too. Yep. Yep yep yep. And a mouse that changes colors sittin there like a disco ball that has an extendy cord.

-a

Ben Cebhrem · Post by **Ben Cebhrem** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:05 pm

As far as adding a battery, it needn't be lead acid plugged into the power jack. You could easily pull off a second Li-ion battery in the same fashion, or if you were really daring, hack the original battery, and make a larger one that covers the bottom of the laptop- somewhat risky/iffy, due to heat buildup, but certainly do-able if you're a proficient solderer. Making your own battery for a laptop also gives you two advantages- for one, you know how to do it, so replacing it later on is cheaper and relatively easy to do. Secondly, you can also upgrade later on as battery technology allows (Li-Po anyone?).

Felino · Post by **Felino** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:19 pm

Yes li-po.

Only if you wish to be wanted by ASIO.

Ben Cebhrem · Post by **Ben Cebhrem** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 11:04 pm

Felino wrote:Yes li-po.

Only if you wish to be wanted by ASIO.

ASIO? Seriously, that acronym is overused to be applicable to any one definition, as are most acronyms. So... yeah, no offense, but I'm lost on what you mean by that, as I am sure others will be.

Felino · Post by **Felino** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:18 am

Think about this, ASIO is a government organization that tracks dangers to the country, right?

You will be carrying around tonnes of li-po right? Bing bang.

An australian would get it.

Stupid americans

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:19 am

I would just make a huge @$$ external battery with Li-Ions from BatterySpace.

Felino · Post by **Felino** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:21 am

Use cordless drill li-po's.

They are standard on the inside, and have protection!