Dell M1210 battery issue

[musicfan]

Hi. I am very newb at notebook computers. My friend gave me her Dell M1210 Centrino Duo about 3 years ago when she upgraded. The OS is Windows XP. I use it - mostly on AC power - when my primary system is down for maintenance and it is valuable for that. On rare occasions, I use battery power.

Last night, the power/battery light next to the HDD activity light started flashing amber & green (hard to overlook). The manual says this is either a hot or dead battery but I never put any battery in so it could even be the original.

The sticky up top was great. I did not know how long batteries last and this one is a candidate for replacement. It works fine right now with the battery removed but I will want a battery at some point I think.

When I went to the Dell website, it was $146 although Amazon offers the "New Original Dell" for $68.

I am drawn toward a "generic" battery for the Dell M1210 offered at Amazon for only $22.

What should I get? There were 23 customers on Amazon who thought it worked OK although the generic sticks out a bit more (no big deal to me). No one gave it a bad rating so it did not catch fire.

I don't want to put much $ into my used laptop so any advice is welcome. Thanks.

 

[pwnmachine]

I personally would get the generic $22 battery, it should work perfectly fine. Heck at the price you could get two!

 

[musicfan]

thanks pwnmachine; ordered the generic battery today

 

[pwnmachine]

Np, be sure to update the thread when you get it to let us know how it goes

 

[musicfan]

will do; the Amazon marketplace vendor emailed today and said the battery has been shipped

 

[musicfan]

[SOLVED] new generic Lithium-Ion Laptop/Notebook battery for Dell M1210 works OK

The generic Lithium-Ion Battery: Capacity: 6600 mAh - Voltage: 11.1V for Dell M1210 Laptop/Notebook arrived today from Sunvalleytek International Inc, Santa Clara, CA. Cost was under $22, USPS Priority Mail. Photos show the foam-lined box that was inside the USPS Priority Mail box and the comparison to the stock Dell battery.

The dimensions at the top of the generic battery are "taller" than the Dell brand. It works fine but sticks out at the top 7/8" or about 5/8" more than the Dell brand that cost $146. The generic battery came about half-charged (3 of 5 green LED light up on the charge light). It charged and booted the computer just fine. Who knows how long it will last but the warranty is 1 year - just like Dell. Thanks for the advice pwnmachine. Unless there are questions, I think the mods can close this thread.

 

[pwnmachine]

Good to hear, tbh a lot of times retailers will use the same core parts just re-brand them to charge a "premium"...


What type of charge time do you get out of that thing?

 

[musicfan]

It says 3 hours with a mouse-over exactly like the Dell battery when fully charged. That is with wireless, a USB mouse, and other battery-eaters on. I used it around an hour and it says it has 2 hours and 70% left so about a 1/3 drain seems accurate.

 

[Pinky]

You might need to discharge the battery nearly completely, then recharge it so the laptop learns the 'new maximum'. I get a 6-8 hour estimate with the same amazon battery in my m1210. However, under a heavy load you're looking at more like 2-3 hours.

 

[musicfan]

Thanks Pinky, I will give that a try. I am a bit confused on the Lithium-Ion. I have read that there are no issues with discharge - then I also read that it is good to discharge nearly completely on a regular basis, such as monthly, to prolong battery life.

What is true and what is myth?

Thanks for any help. I am a total newb with notebook/laptop computers.

 

[musicfan]

You might need to discharge the battery nearly completely, then recharge it so the laptop learns the 'new maximum'. I get a 6-8 hour estimate with the same amazon battery in my m1210. However, under a heavy load you're looking at more like 2-3 hours.

Discharged to maximum Dell would let me. Then recharged full. It says 3.3 hours [typo, it says 3:30] at maximum so maybe 10% [so that would be 16%] better but nothing dramatic. The prior owner got the bigger CPU chip, more better RAM, Intel Wireless (instead of Microsoft), and still learning what. This is great but along with my USB mouse and screen cranked up it is likely a heavy load. 3 hours is fine for what I use it for.

As far as I can tell, other than size, the generic battery seems comparable to the Dell-branded battery that was in here.

Do you do a full discharge to "refresh" the battery and if so how often? Thanks.

 

[Pinky]

I wouldn't worry about the refresh as much as the initial discharge so the laptop knows what the max life of the battery is and reports accurate charge levels. I've heard conflicting things about discharging the battery from time to time. My professional experience is that people who use their battery more often need to replace the battery faster than those who do not. Based on this, I would assume that not using it means it will have a greater overall lifespan. Therefore I don't buy into any of that periodic discharging nonsense.

 

[musicfan]

Thanks Pinky for the help on the M1210. I finally ventured into BIOS today with F2 (DEL does not work, LOL).

This M1210 is a Core2Duo@ 2GHz, RAM 2 GB@667MHz, Nvidia GeForce Go 7400, HDD 78 GB, DVD RW, AC Adapter 65W, with Intel Wi-Fi, Cellular & Bluetooth on, also has a media card & 1394 Firewire; Display on 6.5/8 with battery and the Factory Default is 3. On AC I use 8/8 (max). Maybe the Display is the battery eater?

Do you still run Windows XP?

Is it worthwhile to consider Windows 7 32-bit and a small SSD, around 60 to 90 GB? Both desktops in the home have SSD it's for certain I am spoiled (the M1210 HDD seems so slow). Not sure whether the M1210 BIOS will handle a SSD and I have never changed an HDD in a notebook so this may be crazy talk. But it seems like I could take the OS and SSD to a new notebook if the M1210 really tanked. In other words, it won't feel like wasted money if I can re-use it on a future machine is my rationalizing.

 

[Pinky]

I'm using win7 32 bit and a 120GB Mushkin Chronos SSD in the M1210 and it works well. Not sure if TRIM is actually functioning (it's enabled) since it supposedly requires ACHI and the sata controller does not support it. Also worth noting is the controller is only 1.5Gb/s (Sata I), but the SSD still screams. I'm into windows ready to work in about 20 seconds. Notebook hard drives are the biggest limiting factor as they are usually 5400rpm and painfully slow by today's standards.

I only have the cheaper intel graphics, I'm sure that having a 3d capable graphics card would eat up some juice. Maybe there's a way to disable the 3D processing when in 2D mode in nview (nvidia control panel, max power savings vs max performance?). I have bluetooth (eBay purchase for the 350 module less than $10 shipped), which should consume more power but I don't have any attached devices ATM.

 

[musicfan]

Thanks Pinky. On to another M1210 topic, do you use a notebook cooler? If so, please share the brand and model and whether you like it.

 

[Pinky]

I don't use my notebook often enough to warrant using one. If I did I would dig out the older targus cooler I have in the closet. It's grey with a usb powered fan, perfectly sized for a smaller laptop like these.

 

[musicfan]

Thanks for all your help Pinky. I will look at Targus and maybe ask the forum about generic notebooks coolers. My M1210 gets too hot and I have to use a paperback book right now to lift up the front end for more air-flow, LOL. Along with turning on the AC, it works to keep the M1210 from shutting down (some Adobe product didn't like the heat). But perhaps there is something more elegant.

Thanks again for your help.