Replacing a laptop battery

[Yugl]

For XPS m1530 by Dell, there are two types of batteries: 6 cell and 9 cell.

I've done research on amazon and dell's official website and the main complaints I see are that batteries are arriving broken, the battery lasts a few months to a year then completely stop working (Will not hold a charge; especially when people review 9 cell batteries), the battery lasts a few months to a year then hold less charge, and that the bar at the end of 9 cell batteries is a nuisance (Some like the bar for better ventilation since the fans are on the back).

* According to one customer, it is normal for batteries to hold less charge after one year, but I have no idea if that is true

I personally have used this battery for 4yrs going and it still holds a 1-2hr charge under power saver. If possible I would like a better charge, but I don't want to pay $100+ for my battery if I can avoid the cost. However, I keep seeing mixed reviews on batteries. I'm guessing some of those are competitors giving products a bad name, but that really doesn't tell me which battery to buy (EX: Dell or third party; 6 cell or 9 cell).

[Isiolia]

* According to one customer, it is normal for batteries to hold less charge after one year, but I have no idea if that is true

From what I've seen this varies a lot depending on the particular battery model. For some, a year is about what you can expect - nearly all of my HP and Gateway models at work were down to ~10-15 minutes from full charge within a year to 18 months (I want to say Toshiba is also not great in that respect, but we only have a few of those, Fujitsu as well). Dells are usually better (I'd say 2-3 years), Apple even more so, though again I have a lot greater sample size for other brands.

Batteries arriving broken...not experienced that personally except for with Sony (probably 9 out of 10 arrive back with broken battery latches), but their service is absolute shit regardless.

IMO, the extended capacity batteries aren't too bad. I like the Latitude D620/630 ones better, as the extra cells are part of a wrist rest...but the batteries we had in almost all our Gateway tablets were like the 9-cell design I can see online for yours. Main thing there is whether it'd still fit in your case, since the slight slant up it'd give is reasonably nice for typing.

Again, personally my experience with Dell branded batteries has been good (though I deal almost entirely with their professional models).

[Guyverarmor]

I actually just replaced my m1530 Battery after having it for 3 years. I say that
is a decent job for much shit I put that battery through ( constantly running it to 1% then charging,etc.) Bought a generic one off of Amazon for 24$ and good work so far

[Yugl]

Could I break the extension bar?

[Guyverarmor]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PHA7FY Here is the battery I bought for my m1530. When I charged it to 100% I get about 3 1/2 hr battery time off on max settings

[Guyverarmor]

You could, but I wouldn't recommend it

[Mayareira]

Almost all batteries I've used lost significant capacity in 6-18 months of use (Compaq, Dell, HP, Fujitsu, Toshiba, pre-unibody Apple). The only exception to this is the built-in batteries of new Macbooks which still lose up to %8~ (they better do so since you can't buy a second battery)

If you need a new battery, buy it and expect a performance/capacity loss in 18 months. I'd say its quite inevitable unless you are very lucky. I know amazon/dell reviews make you uncomfortable but really, I haven't seen a laptop computer with decent battery reviews except for people writing how long it lasts after they recently buy it. After a year of use, *poof*

[Yugl]

In that case, I'll roll with the 6-cell to avoid hassle with the bar.