Terrible battery life?

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Hello fellow techies!

Lately my laptop has been getting terrible battery life no matter what task I am doing. Up until about three days ago, I was getting about two to two and a half hours out of it and now I'm only getting about one hour and thirty minutes if I'm lucky. I've considered that the battery may be taking it's last breath, and since the PC's about 2 years old or so I wouldn't be surprised. However, I was offered a theory by a friend and I would like to verify it with some more knowledgeable people just in case. He suggested that since the wiring in my house is total crap (and I bought a higher-tier surge protector just to protect my important electronics), the laptop may just be receiving a "bad" charge. Which would make sense for the following reasons: 1. The instant I stopped charging on my surge protector I got terrible battery life, and 2. All of my battery-operated electronics (cell phone, iPod, and laptop) share terrible battery life when charged straight on the outlets in my house, but they also share great battery life when charged on my surge protector. So is his theory true? Is it possible my electronics just receive a "bad" charge from the crappy wiring in my house? And keep in mind, the wiring in this house is ****ty beyond belief.

Before anyone asks, I can't go test this myself right now because I am roommates with a two year old who is a light sleeper and I have no desire to wake him up. Thanks for all answers in advance!

 

[MillField]

Well I'm not exactly sure about the "bad charge" theory but I can tell you that a similar thing happened with my last laptop where the battery went really bad practically overnight. In my case it turned out to be the battery itself which needed replacing.

However if I were you I would test out that theory and see if the problem lies with the battery or with the actual electrical connection. Good luck!