Well, about two years ago I bought the Dell laptop in my signature (it was a good deal at the time!), and I'm starting to have a very annoying issue with the battery. It seems to be fine until it gets to about 60%ish capacity (in both Windows and the battery meter thingie on the battery). Then, it suddenly drops to a critical capacity and forces the computer to enter hibernation.
I can force restart the laptop; that causes the windows display to read about 5%-10% capacity remaining (one dot on battery), and the computer dies not long after that from no power.
I'm thinking it's a battery issue, since the readout on the battery itself is screwy, but is there a good way to confirm this?
Also: the second Dell power brick is going bad. It's already been replaced once (just barely under warranty), and I'm thinking there's an issue with the entire stock. I was looking on Newegg for a replacement and found both this and this which say they're Dell compatible. Anyone know if the Dell laptops use a common power supply jack? The ones I've seen are, but I'd rather not spend $40 on something that doesn't work. Laptop is virtually identical to the Inspiron 1420.
Or, is there some way to just get another cable that goes from the adaptor to the wall? It works fine if the cable is jiggled into the right position, so it's more of a crappy cable than crappy brick.
Thanks for your help. Next computer will be a Lenovo.
I can force restart the laptop; that causes the windows display to read about 5%-10% capacity remaining (one dot on battery), and the computer dies not long after that from no power.
I'm thinking it's a battery issue, since the readout on the battery itself is screwy, but is there a good way to confirm this?
Also: the second Dell power brick is going bad. It's already been replaced once (just barely under warranty), and I'm thinking there's an issue with the entire stock. I was looking on Newegg for a replacement and found both this and this which say they're Dell compatible. Anyone know if the Dell laptops use a common power supply jack? The ones I've seen are, but I'd rather not spend $40 on something that doesn't work. Laptop is virtually identical to the Inspiron 1420.
Or, is there some way to just get another cable that goes from the adaptor to the wall? It works fine if the cable is jiggled into the right position, so it's more of a crappy cable than crappy brick.
Thanks for your help. Next computer will be a Lenovo.
