Battery wear level question

exampasser

I purchased a laptop last October. Just today I downloaded hardware monitor to check out my CPU temps and such. I noticed that my wear level was at 18%. It seems abnormally high to me a I only recharge the battery every two weeks or so. It's charge capacity has went from 9.7 ah to 7.9 ah.

Does anyone know if Toshiba is good about replacing batteries within warranty that have an abnormally high wear level?

Paul Boz

I don't know if that's really abnormally high. Just about every laptop I've ever owned had wear issues about a year to a year and a half into ownership. I can rarely go longer than two years without replacing a battery. I at first thought that I had poor luck with laptop batteries but it seems to be the norm. I had to replace the battery in my work computer about 18 months into its life because it held a charge for like 30 minutes. I generally consider laptop batteries wear items, similar to car tires or air filters. They simply degrade over time.

exampasser

Thanks Paul Boz. This is my first laptop so I don't know what's the norm as far as wear goes. It just won't be pleasant spending $170 for a new 12-cell when it goes.

Devilsbane

After two years, my last battery would only last for 15 minutes on high performance. I turned off the hibernate to see how long it would go, and it was something like 14:45 when it just turned off.

I was never very worried about my battery, so I could have taken better care of it. But to me, doing all of the babysitting just isn't worth it. It might get you a couple more months, but it will still die.

networker050184

I've never had to replace a battery on any of the laptops I've owned. I have an HP that has been used everyday for about four years now and still holds the charge like the day I bought it. I've never actually used anything to check the wear though.

Devilsbane

I didn't replace my battery, I replaced the computer. After two years it was starting to have other issues, and I was ready to upgrade to the latest and greatest. When I bought it I didn't have the money for the top of the line, but now that things have changed a bit I was able to buy a much better machine.

Edit: and it was also an HP, DV9620US. Now I have an HP dv7t quad edition with an i7.

Paul Boz

exampasser wrote: »

Thanks Paul Boz. This is my first laptop so I don't know what's the norm as far as wear goes. It just won't be pleasant spending $170 for a new 12-cell when it goes.

Don't get taken. Ebay has laptop batteries for pennies on the dollar. I did a simple search for "Toshiba Battery" and got hits as low as $25. You can probably get your 12 cell for $50-$75. They're so cheap its worth buying two.

dynamik

networker050184 wrote: »

I've never had to replace a battery on any of the laptops I've owned. I have an HP that has been used everyday for about four years now and still holds the charge like the day I bought it. I've never actually used anything to check the wear though.

How often do you run it on battery power?

gateway

I have a HP G60, and when it's on charge it gets unbelievably hot! Coincidentally, I am now getting warnings about the battery when I switch the laptop on, I also get the normal warning in Windows 7 telling me it needs replacing - I think the heat killed it. It's about a year old.

Normally though, batteries are pretty much excluded from warranty, if you are lucky it might come with a 1-3 month period on it.

networker050184

dynamik wrote: »

How often do you run it on battery power?

It runs on the battery pretty much everyday. My wife uses it around the house and almost never has the thing plugged in.

The laptop has however gone through three chargers in that time frame.

tiersten

Paul Boz wrote: »

Don't get taken. Ebay has laptop batteries for pennies on the dollar. I did a simple search for "Toshiba Battery" and got hits as low as $25. You can probably get your 12 cell for $50-$75. They're so cheap its worth buying two.

Uhhh. Is it a good idea to buy those batteries? There are loads of fake batteries out there which aren't made very well and don't have the proper protection mechanisms in them.

If you buy a fake router then you get something that doesn't work at worst. If you buy a fake battery you could end up with a lithium fire which isn't fun.

gateway

tiersten wrote: »

Uhhh. Is it a good idea to buy those batteries? There are loads of fake batteries out there which aren't made very well and don't have the proper protection mechanisms in them.

If you buy a fake router then you get something that doesn't work at worst. If you buy a fake battery you could end up with a lithium fire which isn't fun.

Yup - this goes for power adapters as well. Someone I know recently bought one off ebay, their laptop is now a paper-weight.

exampasser

Paul Boz wrote: »

Don't get taken. Ebay has laptop batteries for pennies on the dollar. I did a simple search for "Toshiba Battery" and got hits as low as $25. You can probably get your 12 cell for $50-$75. They're so cheap its worth buying two.

Thanks. I did a search on Ebay on the model number of the battery(
PA3727U-1BRS) and I already found a few for under $100.

tiersten

gateway wrote: »

Yup - this goes for power adapters as well. Someone I know recently bought one off ebay, their laptop is now a paper-weight.

Inside a fake Dell laptop PSU

tiersten

exampasser wrote: »

Thanks. I did a search on Ebay on the model number of the battery(PA3727U-1BRS) and I already found a few for under $100.

Buy those at your own risk.

Paul Boz

Have any of you experienced buying a bad or faulty battery on ebay? I've bought over a dozen over the last five years and I've never had a problem. I am not saying there aren't issues from time to time, but how many times have we purchased hardware from the manufacturer that was faulty as well?

dynamik

tiersten wrote: »

If you buy a fake battery you could end up with a lithium fire which isn't fun.

He's studying for his CISSP at the moment, so that will be good hands-on experience with one of the fire types.

Devilsbane

I never directly bought a battery, but I bought a pc with a motherboard problem for $300. I then used the keyboard and the top cover to replace the cover and keyboard on my girlfriends computer (she spilled coca cola on it) and since I had the whole thing I gave her the battery and the power supply as well.

The plan was to sell the lcd and the other pieces back, but being lazy... No, let me rephrase that, being BUSY I haven't actually gotten there yet.

Devilsbane

gateway wrote: »

Yup - this goes for power adapters as well. Someone I know recently bought one off ebay, their laptop is now a paper-weight.

I've bought several off of ebay. $20 from ebay or $60 from HP or Dell.... hmmm

Always double check the power rating once you get it. Sometimes the description's are false. Just because the seller claims it works with your laptop doesn't mean that you are good to go. But if the numbers match up, and the seller claims it works, you should be alright.

tiersten

Paul Boz wrote: »

Have any of you experienced buying a bad or faulty battery on ebay? I've bought over a dozen over the last five years and I've never had a problem. I am not saying there aren't issues from time to time, but how many times have we purchased hardware from the manufacturer that was faulty as well?

I don't buy batteries off eBay so I've never had one but I know people who have bought phone batteries and laptop batteries which turned out not to be real. Most of them worked but on a few occasions the battery pack started to bulge which isn't a good sign. Thankfully none of them have actually caught fire or anything else like that.

Do you trust the seller that the battery is real and that it contains all the necessary protection circuitry though? Lithium battery packs can and do catch fire and I'd personally just not take the risk just to save some cash.

tiersten

Real batteries have had similar problems in the past due to faulty design or manufacture. Dell had issues a while back along with a bunch of other manufacturers.

gateway

Devilsbane wrote: »

I've bought several off of ebay. $20 from ebay or $60 from HP or Dell.... hmmm

Always double check the power rating once you get it. Sometimes the description's are false. Just because the seller claims it works with your laptop doesn't mean that you are good to go. But if the numbers match up, and the seller claims it works, you should be alright.

Oh I know what you mean buddy, I have been tempted with the cost savings but Tierstens post above on inside a 'Dell' power supply clears it up for me. It's just a huge fire risk not to mention a waste of money when it only lasts 2 days.

As you say though - not all of them are dodgy.

Devilsbane

tiersten wrote: »

Real batteries have had similar problems in the past due to faulty design or manufacture. Dell had issues a while back along with a bunch of other manufacturers.

HP had several battery recall issues recently as well. I was actually hoping my battery was included, because as I said above mine was shot and a free new one would have been nice.

Paul Boz

I mean if you're ebay retarded you can get burned pretty easily, but feedback is a wonderful feature and can generally tell you if you're going to get hosed or not. If you avoid buying from people with negative feedback such as "sells fake batteries" or "my trailer burned down" you should be fine.

L0gicB0mb508

Paul Boz wrote: »

I mean if you're ebay retarded you can get burned pretty easily, but feedback is a wonderful feature and can generally tell you if you're going to get hosed or not. If you avoid buying from people with negative feedback such as "sells fake batteries" or "my trailer burned down" you should be fine.

I lost my trailer and a case of Old Milwaukee to a faulty Ebay battery.