I've got a Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop that's almost three years old. The original battery that came with it used to last three and a half or four hours, IIRC. Now, I'm lucky if it lasts 45 minutes. Is this normal? TIA [:)]

Almost any rechargeable battery has a "useful life span" and then they start to degrade rather quickly. The batteries for my Compaq laptop don't last more than 30 minutes now. To get the longest life out of them, make sure they are as discharged as possible before recharging them.

I am sorry to say but from my experience this is kinda typical.
Time to buy a new batt. [:(]


ByteTheBullet  (-:

Nope, that's only true of NiCad (Nickle-Cadmium) batteries - one of the earliest successful rechargeable technologies.  It's called the "Dustbuster Effect" (for the first appliance that really pissed of consumers because of it) or "memory effect."  

All batteries have a useful life that depends on the number of charge/discharge cycles, and how deeply discharged the battery was.  A [i]partial[/i] discharge counts, but not as much as a complete discharge.  So, if you use your computer for 10 minutes unplugged, then "top it off," that counts as a charge/discharge cycle.  Some of the battery capacity is lost.  Nickle-metal-hydride (NiMH) and Lithium Ion batteries don't suffer from memory effect, but still suffer slow degradation with use.

If you have a ni-cad you may be able to get some of it back.Totally discharge it.I mean totally.Put in a moisture proof bag and put in the fridge for a week.Charghe it up and totally discharge on each use.

Depends on your battery type, but three years is about right for replacement. If you can get a LiIon replacement, you should see no memory effect. Batteries are about the only thing that most manucacturers will not warrenty for more than a year.

Exactly.  I think they also turn-off the harddrives.  We've got a mixture of Dell's and Sony Vaio's all with Lithium batteries, and even when new, 45 minutes is about all the life we'll see.  I'm typing this on a Vaio we bought last Friday, and the low battery warning starts beeping after only 20 minutes.  I guess the huge, bright screen is what makes the battery life so abysmal.  For those of us that actually use a computer, you'll [b]never[/b] get the battery life the marketing dweebs claim.z