Now my laptop battery is dying
February 16, 2008I seem to have bad luck with rechargeable batteries. Couple years ago the battery in my old iPod started refusing to hold a charge. I couldn’t justify buying a new iPod so I eventually got the battery replaced instead.
Now my laptop is experiencing similar battery problems. But while it took over three years of use before my iPod exhibited these symptoms, this laptop is not even 18 months old and the battery is already on its last legs. When I first got this laptop I could get almost 2 hours from a single charge. Now I’m lucky if I can manage even a single hour from the battery before it goes kaput.
I’ve tried looking on eBay but haven’t found a replacement for this exact model. Unfortunately it appears Acer used this same model number on a different laptop in overseas markets, so when I search for it I get a battery that’s clearly different from the one in my laptop.
Now a few weeks ago I was able to get an external APC battery from CompUSA. At a reasonable price too, since the local store is one of those being shut down. But it means extra weight to drag around. And of course I have to plug it in to the laptop so it complicates setting up the laptop before an extended session.
I can put up with this external/internal combination for a little while, until I get myself settled into the new place here in Nashville. But shortly after I do get settled in I’ll probably have to start hunting for a replacement laptop. I think this time I’ll got for something smaller and more portable. And probably not an Acer — they really are great values for the price in terms of raw computing power, but I need something with much better battery life than this.