February 12th, 2012 | |
Posted in Hardware
My Dell XPS M1530 is still my dream laptop and after 18 months, I still love the machine. But the battery has not lived up to expectations. The 6-cell battery, which used to run a about 2 hours at “best performance,” went to 1.5hrs and is now down to 5 minutes.
Related article: Also details the proprietary nature of Dell AC adapters.
I expect the batteries to degrade with age, and at first, I was disappointed with the battery. But I have now come to the conclusion that the battery worked hard and simply died. It was not treated well because in the first year of its life, it spent most of its time plugged into the charger. As described in this ASUS V2Je battery article, this was not the best thing to do. As I’ve researched on the web, a twelve to eighteen month battery-life seems to be the norm and all agree this is too short. But there are only 6 little batteries in this case, and it has to drive a large, power-hungry device. None-the-less, the decline of the battery was precipitous.
$140: About 13% of the original Laptop Price!
Here is the real pain: Dell wants $140 for a (ctrl-Click to open new window). This makes for expensive on-going maintenance. Because of this, I’ve begun searching for a more reasonable way to replace the battery pack. It is a shame I have to do this because I would prefer to log onto Dell’s site, click a few buttons ASUS V2 battery and have a new battery on the way, paying with my existing Dell credit. A message to Dell: Happy customers are repeat customers; we expect batteries to fail but don’t want to be robbed when they do.
The question comes down to this:
Are Off-brand batteries as good as Dell’s?
In my opinion: Dell does not make their batteries — they buy them like everyone else and the insides are standard. As long as you are buying from a reputable company (and are not buying low-ball price with rebuilt/recycled batteries), you should be getting identical equipment.
BatteryEdge.com
Because of Dell’s high replacement costs, I have decided to buy a third-party 6-cell battery through
Formerly, I had also suggested PacificBattery.com but even though they ASUS V2J batteryseem to have a good reputation on the net, they have been unresponsive to several emails and phonecalls.
The website was clear and easy to use
Total cost: $56 + 5 Ground ($61)
Shipped UPS Ground, arriving on time (5 business days)
(This is from BatteryEdge)
New replacement laptop battery for Dell XPS M1530/D1530 TK330
$56.00 plus $5.00 Ground Freight (Dell is $140 + Freight)
Condition: Brand New OEM Equivalent
100% New Cells; never rebuilt or recycled
Voltage: 11.1 Volts
Capacity: 4800 mAh
Battery Type: Li-ion 6 Cells
Warranty: 1 Year Warranty, guaranteed to meet or exceed the original OEM specifications.
The battery is a near-exact replacement of the original Dell, including the rubberized foot pad, arriving 90% charged. After a brief top-off, the battery on Balanced power-mode shows 3 hours total time (screen dimmed), 2.75hrs (with the brighter-screen setting). Although it will take a few days to re-calibrate the ASUS V2S battery and confirm, these values match a new Dell battery.
A Close, but not Perfect Fit:
The new battery fits *tightly* into the XPS slot, taking noticeable pressure to lock the battery into place. Although this was acceptable, it could be improved.
I wondered why it was tighter. I measured various dimensions using a .001″ metal micrometer and compared the old battery with the new. Most measurements were the same, within the limits of where the tool could measure, but I did find two possible differences. Both batteries have a lip on the inside edge. On the BatteryEdge, the lip extended a consistent 5000th of an inch wider than the ASUS B80 battery Dell (this is the thickness of a sheet of paper). I believe this edge touched the case-slot and prevented the battery from fitting as well as it should.
I milled the edge by hand using a long metal file. I am not necessarily recommending you need to do this — but I filed the edge because I knew how and wanted to see if the fit improved, which it did, but the battery still takes some pressure to lock into place.
The only other area which could account for the snug fit are the two locking posts (interior dimensions) and because of positioning, I could not accurately measure. My bet is there is variance along this dimension. Only having a sample of 1 makes this hard to generalize.
What about Rebuilding yourself?
After much research, it seems like too much trouble to rebuild the battery. The battery cases are welded shut and can’t be opened without mutilation. Replacing the batteries involves careful soldering and there are circuit boards to worry about. The batteries will explode if you accidentally cross polarities ASUS V2S-B1 battery or get the soldering iron too hot. The cost for the parts is about $35, approaching an off-brand purchase. Here is a DIY.
The batteries are 3.7v Li-Ion (these are not standard AA batteries),
Sony EnergyTec US18650GR;
Panasonic CGR18650,
LG ICR18650,
Samsung. ICR18650, and others.
AC Power Supply Issues:
Dell (especially on the XPS M1530) has a proprietary AC adapter, which is generating a lot of ill-will throughout the user community. Both the standard Dell 90-watt power supply and the (Keyliner reviewed), has a “center data-communication pin” on the business-end of the plug. The pin is a hair-thin wire that is easily damaged or broken and its purpose has not been disclosed. Although this is not the case with my battery, when the pin breaks, the laptop will not charge. Most think this is a way to keep third-party manufacturers ASUS A32-V2 from duplicating the power supply, but I now believe they legitimately needed to transmit wattage information along this circuit — although they could have done this in a less proprietary manner.
In a separate article (not posted here), a tech at batteryedge.com said most of the batteries returned to their company are perfectly good – it is the AC adapter that was malfunctioning. This website offers suggestions on how to test the AC adapter, see links on right-side. The website is somewhat superficial and does not speak directly to the XPS, but it has a variety of information about laptops and parts and you may find it interesting.
My overall impression of BatteryEdge.com:
BatteryEdge is a reputable company selling a quality product and I would do business with them again. As of late-April 2010, I have had the battery for several months and it is performing marvelously. I am still pleased with the purchase.
Update:
In June, 2010, I noticed the battery was failing. Symptoms: discharged ASUS N51S battery after a few minutes of use; a 100% recharge only took 10 minutes, but total performance was lost. Windows 7 suggests I should “replace the battery”. I sent a polite note to BatteryEdge customer support. The next day, I got this reply:
“I am sorry you are having problems with the battery. I have issued RMA #XXXX for the return of the battery. A UPS prepaid shipping label will be emailed to you. Please note that it can take up to 3 days for the label to arrive in the email. Once you receive the prepaid shipping label , print it out and tape it to the ASUS A33-V2 package. Drop it off at a UPS drop off location. As soon as we get it back we will send you a replacement battery. Be sure to use the label within 10 days.”
You can’t complain about this type of service. This was a good company to order from, and when something went wrong, they stood behind their product. I am still pleased. Replacement Review.
Update: 2011.06: For another laptop I ordered a new set of batteries. Delivery was about 4 days later than expected (they were moving warehouses), but other than that, no issues.
