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[Ivan]

Hello Hubbabubba,

The laptop should run fine with line power even if the battery won't hold a charge.
Just about every machine in the offices I worked at had long retired batteries.
They would not even last long enough to change outlets in the same room.

As for replacement batteries, unless it is one of those that are built in, you can probably find a new replacement on eBay for not a lot of money. My Daughter's old laptop is in need of a new battery but there is also much more physically wrong with that machine. (The case is falling apart.)

The local Thrifts in our location have lots of serviceable old machines, but the cost of shipping way exceeds the value of the machines.

Good Luck with the Amber Light....
- Ivan.

[hubbabubba]

Thanks Ivan for the advice, but I was already aware of that.

The computer is running fine (mostly) but, like many high-end computer in average hands, it was poorly taken care of. One example; it had four antivirus installed... but not kept updated. It was a bit like sending four retriever to get one duck.

It is also packed with (I will keep within decency) crud, which is partly explained by my brother lack of knowledge about "uninstall" W7 features, coupled to a very large HD capacity, and a teen who, well, act like many teen.

But my biggest problem is internet connection. With the battery dead, I can't get to a "free Wi-Fi" location (like the nearby park), and I can't plug an external dial-up modem. I did found a dial-up that could be plugged in a USB port, but delivery date is mid-March at the latest.

Tonight, I tried to dust the PC and, using a few "tricks" found on Youtube, restart the bugger; no such luck.

But enough with the long-winded lamentation.

[Ivan]

so how much is a replacement battery?
This is why I only wanted a machine with a removable battery.
At the moment, my son's Toshiba laptop has integral battery and so does my daughter's brand new laptop.
Anna Honey's laptop is issued by her office and also has integral battery but I don't hafta worry about maintaining that one.

One rather interesting thing is that my daughter's laptop is only about 3 days old and has a Intel Core i7 processor but actually benchmarks slower than mine for most tests according to Internet evals and mine is from last March.

None of our current computers have upgrade ably memory any more... <sigh>

- Ivan.

[hertzie]

Hi Ivan, unfortunately your solution didn't work. I still have that grey background. Is there a background_color number for light grey?

All the best, hertzie.

[Ivan]

Hello Hertzie,

I can take a look at what you have if you send it to me.
I can't promise any results because I really don't know much about aircraft panels.

- Ivan.

[hubbabubba]

so how much is a replacement battery?
This is why I only wanted a machine with a removable battery.
At the moment, my son's Toshiba laptop has integral battery and so does my daughter's brand new laptop.
Anna Honey's laptop is issued by her office and also has integral battery but I don't hafta worry about maintaining that one.

One rather interesting thing is that my daughter's laptop is only about 3 days old and has a Intel Core i7 processor but actually benchmarks slower than mine for most tests according to Internet evals and mine is from last March.

None of our current computers have upgrade ably memory any more... <sigh>

- Ivan.

This laptop has an incredibly easy to remove battery pack. It takes less than 15 seconds to replace. Battery prices vary between 40-50$. Integral batteries? Really? One of two things; manufacturers are incredibly confident or have pushed the "forced obsolescence" concept to its (il)logical limit.

[Ivan]

Hello Hubbabubba,

The non upgradeable memory deal was interesting.
I am reasonably certain that they are probably correct in that I will most likely never need to upgrade the memory in any of the laptops.
My old machine was 2GB. In the seven years it was operational, it was never upgraded. The battery was starting to go by then but part of it may have been that the processor was very power hungry.
It used around 135 Watts if I remember correctly. MY new HP's processor only uses about 37 Watts. With 8 times the memory, I most likely will not need to upgrade within its useful life.
My Daughter's old machine (still operational but not healthy) had 4 GB of memory. My Son's laptop was the first that had non upgradeable memory and a non-removable battery. Anna Honey bought it because it offered good performance at a pretty fair price. It has 8 GB of memory. My current machine was bought about 4 months after my son's and has 16 GB memory and is substantially faster with a Core i7 instead of the Core i5 on his. My Daughter's new computer was just received a few days ago (10-11 months after mine). It has nominally the same specifications with Core i7 and 16 GB of memory.
HER processor only consumes about 11-12 Watts of power which is less than 1/10 of my original and now dead laptop.
The really interesting thing is that although it is almost a year newer, except for the Memory Management Unit which is much faster than mine, its processor scores worse in every other measureable performance except for power consumption.
I told Anna Honey that the new computer should have a touch screen and a Core i7. Both criteria were met, but she did not consult me before ordering and I didn't have a chance to research the actual processor model that the computer has.
My Daughter likes her new computer because it is nicely folded up into a tablet and has a touch screen and just plain looks cool. The processor isn't THAT MUCH slower than mine in any case and she will most likely never need the extra performance. I know that I haven't even come close to pushing my computer hard since I have had it.

Pardon the story telling.

Regarding replacement batteries, you might want to check out eBay. I bought a replacement cell phone batter for my old Motorola phone for about $3.50 with shipping included.
More recently, my son needed a replacement battery for his Electric AirSoft Gun and while the hobby shops were quoting prices around the $40-$50 mark, I found a dealer on eBay (not even the cheapest) who advertised a higher capacity battery for $18 or so with free shipping. I didn't order through eBay but contacted the dealer directly by telephone because there were a lot of questions regarding fit and they were quite helpful, so if you don't have an eBay account, you can probably still search and find a source there.
What model of Laptop are you dealing with?

- Ivan.