The first time, replace the battery. By the second time (assuming batteries last as long as they’re supposed to) it may be time to consider a new laptop, based on its age and OS. Some more powerful machines may be able to stay relevant easier than cheaper, lower end ones.
@PooltoyWolf Much depends on what you use it for. I have several 2008-era laptops that I use as cash register systems, and I need no more capabilities than they deliver. Good batteries for them are now very scarce.
Describes what I am on right now. Sony Vaio from 2008 with the plug still in it (battery is stuck at 22%). I have a Lenovo I can switch over to, but dread the transition process and keep putting it off. Prior to typing this post, I was looking into using a wireless keyboard I have since some buttons are sticking on this laptop and noticed it’s bluetooth only.
@JT954 I have a Sony Vaio i7 laptop that I rarely used and found that it wouldn’t turn on or hold a charge. I took it to 2 repair places, one of which tried replacing the charging port twice, and the verdict is it’s probably the mother board. So now I have an expensive doorstop. I got a dual drive Asus i7 laptop, which I also didn’t use much, and when I last turned that on found that I could only use it when plugged in because the battery level is always zero. Unfortunately it’s not a self-service part and I don’t feel like messing with it, so it’s in the shop now getting a new battery, which I hope will do the trick. This is why I prefer my faithful desktop.
@heartny@JT954 And there is no good reason to put up with a battery that cannot be user-replaced. In fact, there is outstanding reason to demand that the battery must be detachable without tools. The lithium polymer batteries have a documented tendency to inflate to as much as 10 times their original thickness. This frequently destroys the entire laptop. Even the polymer batteries could be made the way the old ones were, removable with a single latch. But the fashionistas have decreed that oh my god just like we can’t allow pockets in women’s pants, we can’t allow nasty extra little latches on the bottom of a laptop! The horror! And the laptop must always be ever thinner, until it dies of emaciation.
New laptops are hard to get. The best I can find is 6 months delivery. The old beast will just stay on the dock (by the bay), battery light flashing night and day.
My battery is holding out for the moment but I know it’s days are numbered. I love this machine (HP Spectre x360) but they don’t make parts for it anymore. My OS won’t expire because I ditched Windows for Linux and haven’t looked back.
If you have an old school laptop with a latch battery, they often made “high capacity” versions with extra cells to have more mAh. Because they also took up room outside the laptop, they functioned as a stand to lift the bottom for airflow and tilt the keyboard a bit.
Agree with the dislike of the trend to “seal” the flat Lithium batteries in with screws that require special tools (like a T-5) that are effectively not user-serviceable to force replacement based on battery chemistry life when they reach EOL and aren’t replaced with a side effect of physically destroying the device.
My 2006 17" Asus with a P6000 (upgraded to a M540, a mobile i5 Arrandale, 4th gen?, I think) and replaced the slim DVD with a SSD in a SATA slim tray converter. Still chugging along on Win10x64 21H2.
@mike808 Those batteries were great. They were real easy to find for Dell and Lenovo. The tricky part was finding the Japanese made battery that was almost always found in new laptops. The Chinese batteries were all of poor quality with a short life span.
ProTip
Get BatteryBar to give you useful charge state, lifetime degradation, and battery power runtime left in a simple toolbar icon. I paid for the Pro version to support the developer - it’s only like $8. The Pro version doesn’t add much more than cosmetics. The free version works just fine. Even works on Win11 (although Win11 doesn’t allow toolbar apps anymore, so it’s a floating always-on-top icon now) https://batterybarpro.com/
Get a larger battery.
The first time, replace the battery. By the second time (assuming batteries last as long as they’re supposed to) it may be time to consider a new laptop, based on its age and OS. Some more powerful machines may be able to stay relevant easier than cheaper, lower end ones.
@PooltoyWolf Much depends on what you use it for. I have several 2008-era laptops that I use as cash register systems, and I need no more capabilities than they deliver. Good batteries for them are now very scarce.
@werehatrack Very true.
Fill your backpack with potatoes
@Aspirant_Fool That is amazing.
@Aspirant_Fool @PooltoyWolf That’s a lot of fries after you’re done.
@Aspirant_Fool @mehcuda67 @PooltoyWolf But the ionized metallic compounds infused into them will leave a funny aftertaste.
@Aspirant_Fool @mehcuda67 @PooltoyWolf @werehatrack
That’s why you use unionized potatoes only.
/image look for the union label
My 17" gaming/everything laptop is always plugged in.
Just looks more compact and can travel with it if I need to.
Describes what I am on right now. Sony Vaio from 2008 with the plug still in it (battery is stuck at 22%). I have a Lenovo I can switch over to, but dread the transition process and keep putting it off. Prior to typing this post, I was looking into using a wireless keyboard I have since some buttons are sticking on this laptop and noticed it’s bluetooth only.
My Vaio doesn’t have bluetooth capablities.
@JT954 I have a Sony Vaio i7 laptop that I rarely used and found that it wouldn’t turn on or hold a charge. I took it to 2 repair places, one of which tried replacing the charging port twice, and the verdict is it’s probably the mother board. So now I have an expensive doorstop. I got a dual drive Asus i7 laptop, which I also didn’t use much, and when I last turned that on found that I could only use it when plugged in because the battery level is always zero. Unfortunately it’s not a self-service part and I don’t feel like messing with it, so it’s in the shop now getting a new battery, which I hope will do the trick. This is why I prefer my faithful desktop.
@heartny @JT954 And there is no good reason to put up with a battery that cannot be user-replaced. In fact, there is outstanding reason to demand that the battery must be detachable without tools. The lithium polymer batteries have a documented tendency to inflate to as much as 10 times their original thickness. This frequently destroys the entire laptop. Even the polymer batteries could be made the way the old ones were, removable with a single latch. But the fashionistas have decreed that oh my god just like we can’t allow pockets in women’s pants, we can’t allow nasty extra little latches on the bottom of a laptop! The horror! And the laptop must always be ever thinner, until it dies of emaciation.
@JT954 Bluetooth adapters aren’t too expensive.
Here’s a name brand (that I know anyhow. have ordered and use this one) for $16, but you can go much cheaper:
https://a.co/d/gc8QThU
Have this on an older Toughbook.
New laptops are hard to get. The best I can find is 6 months delivery. The old beast will just stay on the dock (by the bay), battery light flashing night and day.
My battery is holding out for the moment but I know it’s days are numbered. I love this machine (HP Spectre x360) but they don’t make parts for it anymore. My OS won’t expire because I ditched Windows for Linux and haven’t looked back.
It’s time to blame the goat
If you have an old school laptop with a latch battery, they often made “high capacity” versions with extra cells to have more mAh. Because they also took up room outside the laptop, they functioned as a stand to lift the bottom for airflow and tilt the keyboard a bit.
Agree with the dislike of the trend to “seal” the flat Lithium batteries in with screws that require special tools (like a T-5) that are effectively not user-serviceable to force replacement based on battery chemistry life when they reach EOL and aren’t replaced with a side effect of physically destroying the device.
My 2006 17" Asus with a P6000 (upgraded to a M540, a mobile i5 Arrandale, 4th gen?, I think) and replaced the slim DVD with a SSD in a SATA slim tray converter. Still chugging along on Win10x64 21H2.
@mike808 Those batteries were great. They were real easy to find for Dell and Lenovo. The tricky part was finding the Japanese made battery that was almost always found in new laptops. The Chinese batteries were all of poor quality with a short life span.
ProTip
Get BatteryBar to give you useful charge state, lifetime degradation, and battery power runtime left in a simple toolbar icon. I paid for the Pro version to support the developer - it’s only like $8. The Pro version doesn’t add much more than cosmetics. The free version works just fine. Even works on Win11 (although Win11 doesn’t allow toolbar apps anymore, so it’s a floating always-on-top icon now)
https://batterybarpro.com/
… I can count the number of times I’ve unplugged my gaming laptop long enough to drain the battery on one hand…