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General discussion

Dell laptops - cannot remove batteries and run only on AC???

by Starfish564 Feb 27, 2010 12:58AM PST

So I just talked with a customer service person from Dell (I am in the process of choosing a laptop) and found out that with their laptops you cannot remove the battery and run only on AC power. What is up with that!? Dell was my first choice for a laptop, but this computer will be primarily used at home and I would like to be able to plug in and run off of AC power so as to save the battery for times when a power source is not readily available.

I guess I'm wondering now, what laptops DO allow for the battery to be removed and run on only AC? And is it really that big of a deal in terms of battery life?

Thanks!

Starfish

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3 Posts
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That's a first.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 27, 2010 1:24AM PST

Scratch dell. All other models I've tried this with works. I am not going to disagree here but wonder if the person from dell is new or just misinformed.

Given no benefits from removing the battery and plenty of other downsides we could discuss this further if you like.
Bob

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Contacted Dell again
by Starfish564 Feb 27, 2010 2:49AM PST

and sure enough (chatted with a different person this time) they said of course you could remove the battery and use it with only AC power. I asked again, "so it would work just fine?" Answer "yep". *sigh* I am trying my best to research and become informed to do things the right way but good grief, is a straight answer too much to ask for?

And now for the whole battery issue. I've read so many different views/opinions on that too. I don't know what to believe. Here's what I want my laptop for: primarily to be used at home (like a desktop) only with the option of portibility if needed. I will be using it a couple of hours per day for anything from word processing, email, online research, watching videos/movies online, or downloading music. I would like to eventually use WiFi once I get around to buying a router. Is my best option just to take the battery out and use AC whenever that is an option? I don't want to be wasting battery power if I can easily hook up to a wall outlet. That would be pointless. Any advice would be appreciatedHappy

Thank you!

Starfish

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YOUR CHOICE.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 27, 2010 3:02AM PST

There are so many downsides to removing the battery that I think only you can determine if removal is a good idea. Here's a few.

1. You are working on a document. The AC power fails. No more document.
2. Windows has one of those don't turn off the machine updates. The AC power fails and the OS is left in some weird problem state. Recovery is possible by reinstalling the OS but you forget to backup. More lost files.

We have laptops that are 5 years old, sit on desktops on AC with the battery in and they still run for about 1/2 the time when new on battery power.

But let's say you pull the battery and put it into cool storage. Seems you are saving it for what day?
Bob

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