My daughters laptop battery seems to only last about 45 mins.(it's a HP DV 4000) it is a little over a year old.Could it be that it needs to be replaced already? She takes the battery out when using ac power.How do you tell if a battery is dying? Where's a good place to get another?

Battery life depends on the laptop Power Save settings, first and foremost, what kind of work she's doing while on the battery (example: browsing web takes up very little resource, but using Photoshop will kill battery fast).

Go into Control Panel and look at the Power settings to adjust how the laptop will act when it's on DC power.

Often times, smaller (6w/hr?) batteries will only give you a good 30-45 minutes.

Another thing to look into - I know the IBM laptops in the office (table PC X41?) will let you "reset the battery meter", which will dump all battery power till there's nothing left and fill it back up. You might poje around in the power options (double-click the plug/lightningbolt/whatever down by the clock and look for options in the Programs Menu) and see what you can find there that might reset things.

One of these two should help - but, batteries can die. I had to warranty a couple of laptop batteries recently - and another warning: HP has not fessed up to bad batteries from Sony - the "exploding batteries". Dell fessed up several months ago, then again a few weeks ago. Finally, Apple did too. This week, Toshiba did. That only leaves Sony, HP and Gateway for hte most part :D

If the above doesn't fix your problem, I can make suggestions on where to get a new battery - I would start with calling HP support though and seeing if you are still under warranty.

Thanks Shifty, I knew I should have checked it out before she left for school:o
Can I foward her your reply to her so she can try that? Mike

Since it was mentioned, should batteries be removed when using AC power? I've always just left mine in.

Since it was mentioned, should batteries be removed when using AC power? I've always just left mine in.

Yeah me to, I have never heard of removing it when on AC but if its better for it I will start. It has went a year hooking up to AC with the battery on though and I haven't noticed a decrese in battery life.

Well, if you pull the battery off while the laptop is on AC power, how is it going to recharge?

I think, for the longest time, the general rule of thumb for all battery operated devices that recharge when connected to AC power is this:

* When you purchase the device, immedately plug it in and give it a full charge before operating it.

* Try to run the battery out completely before recharging to prevent "Battery memory". For more information on "Battery memory", see THIS PAGE (http://www.zbattery.com/memoryeffect.html) - this is not a problem with most newer types of batteries (supposedly Lithium Ion batteries are not affected)

* If the battery is having "memory" problems, where it seems to only think it has a small percentage of its actual charge capacity, you need to fully discharge the battery, then fully charge it again as a measure to force it to re-learn its actual charge capacity. I think there is a specific method to force a complete discharge of the battery. Our IBM laptops in the office come with a tool to do it for us....although I've only heard of mechanical ways to force this previously.

Hard drives and DVD drives take up a LOT of power to use, especially hard drives. They will eat a battery up super fast. If you find you are playing these often without being plugged in, I suggest you contact your laptop manuf'er and find out how large your battery is and get one with more cells/higher watt-hour rating. I think our Dells come with a 6-cell or 6w/hr battery and we normally upgrade ours to 9-cell or 9w/hr or whatever rating. This takes them from a good 75-90 minutes of word processing up to 150 minutes. Don't ask me how 3 xtra cells or whatever make that much diff'ce, but ... :)

Also - before judging that the battery is defective, read the manual or contact the manufacturer to find out what the battery life should be. Next, go into your power options and set the laptop to "Portable/Laptop" power saving mode, reboot and re-test it.

Last but not least - the screen is actually one of the biggest power hogs. Using the function + brightness key to reduce the brightness a couple of notches while the laptop is running from the battery will increase the battery life by a quarter hour or more.

Well, if you pull the battery off while the laptop is on AC power, how is it going to recharge?

That's funny! :hm:

One more pointer to add. Don't use the laptop on a bed. The cloth cuts off the air supply, making the computer heat up. This shortens the computer and battery life.

Oops, guess I'm screwin up, then! ;)

(seriously, I take care of most of my computer support sitting in bed at nite while the woman reads!)

Battery life depends on the laptop Power Save settings, first and foremost, what kind of work she's doing while on the battery (example: browsing web takes up very little resource, but using Photoshop will kill battery fast).

Go into Control Panel and look at the Power settings to adjust how the laptop will act when it's on DC power.

Often times, smaller (6w/hr?) batteries will only give you a good 30-45 minutes.

Another thing to look into - I know the IBM laptops in the office (table PC X41?) will let you "reset the battery meter", which will dump all battery power till there's nothing left and fill it back up. You might poje around in the power options (double-click the plug/lightningbolt/whatever down by the clock and look for options in the Programs Menu) and see what you can find there that might reset things.

One of these two should help - but, batteries can die. I had to warranty a couple of laptop batteries recently - and another warning: HP has not fessed up to bad batteries from Sony - the "exploding batteries". Dell fessed up several months ago, then again a few weeks ago. Finally, Apple did too. This week, Toshiba did. That only leaves Sony, HP and Gateway for hte most part :D

If the above doesn't fix your problem, I can make suggestions on where to get a new battery - I would start with calling HP support though and seeing if you are still under warranty.


Shifty she ran the battery test program from HP & it said "the storage capacity was low
and that the battery health said replace."
So I guess I need to know where the best place to get batterys are. It also is not under warranty

you can save a little money and look at one of those "Battery Warehouse" type places. Sometimes they give you a warranty... Best thing is the ideas posted about "saving" your battery (dimming the screen, standby mode, etc..) depending on what she does with the computer, it's almost not worth the money to buy a new battery, or extra either. I wouldn't suggest watching DVD's but you can get extra capacity batteries that help. Newer computers will use less power as well. (better CPU's, settings etc...)

example
http://www.batteryrefill.com/laptops/hp/PF723A.phtml?gclid=CIzhu7a5xocCFQVMHgodN335Fw
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My Garage:
1968 SWB K-10
2005 Tahoe
UH-60A/L Helicopter
FLY ARMY!:flag:

Let me know what model the laptop is, I will give you a link to the most reputable, cheapest vendor I know.

By the way - HP had a battery replacement recall about 12 months ago. Please check here to see if her battery was affected:

http://bpr.hpordercenter.com/ebpr/landingpage.aspx

For more info on the recall (details of the recall) please see here:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=105455

The laptop does NOT have to be under warranty for a battery replacement if the recall affects her, so it's best to spend a minute using that tool (your daughter can go to the first link and just click "GO" I think to help guide her through whether her battery is affected).

Let me know what model the laptop is, I will give you a link to the most reputable, cheapest vendor I know.

Her model is not affected by the recall program. So I guess I need to find her a replacment battery. It's a HP DV 4000

6 cell ($81.98 shipped):

http://www.pricegrabber.com/rd.php/pg=p~~1/r=1/z=30301/m=16752699/q=n/mt=3~14~99.69~66.32~83.13~0.79~3~/k=3f9856a0ea89ef49e5f84f4bf404e26a/search=hp%20laptop%20battery

12 cell ($118.75 shipped):

http://www.pricegrabber.com/rd.php/pg=~~2/r=5420/z=30301/m=10178394/q=n/mt=5~15~183.11~95.00~130.74~0.93~6~/k=e50c36895863c38baf981ce871c607ea/search=hp%20laptop%20battery


12 cell will run twice as long, essentially. This is the cheapest price you are likely to find from "reputable" places on the web for name-brand replacement equipment that is OEM or meets OEM requirements. The first link is for Buy.com, who I've shopped through severral times, the second link is for Duracell's online website for batteries.

Cost on this battery (OEM HP equipment) is $199 retail, but can be found online for $150 at several places.

If you can give me the actual model number of the battery, I can possibly get a lower price.

If I were you, I would get the 12 cell. If money is a factor, you cannot beat the 6 cell's price, it's at least 30% less than you'll find anywhere else.

Also, read this article:

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/03/10-tips-to-make-your-laptop-battery.html

Pay close attention to the second group of points (1 through 7). Very informative. In general, good information on laptop batteries and how to make them last longer.

6 cell ($81.98 shipped):

http://www.pricegrabber.com/rd.php/pg=p~~1/r=1/z=30301/m=16752699/q=n/mt=3~14~99.69~66.32~83.13~0.79~3~/k=3f9856a0ea89ef49e5f84f4bf404e26a/search=hp%20laptop%20battery

12 cell ($118.75 shipped):

http://www.pricegrabber.com/rd.php/pg=~~2/r=5420/z=30301/m=10178394/q=n/mt=5~15~183.11~95.00~130.74~0.93~6~/k=e50c36895863c38baf981ce871c607ea/search=hp%20laptop%20battery


12 cell will run twice as long, essentially. This is the cheapest price you are likely to find from "reputable" places on the web for name-brand replacement equipment that is OEM or meets OEM requirements. The first link is for Buy.com, who I've shopped through severral times, the second link is for Duracell's online website for batteries.

Cost on this battery (OEM HP equipment) is $199 retail, but can be found online for $150 at several places.

If you can give me the actual model number of the battery, I can possibly get a lower price.

If I were you, I would get the 12 cell. If money is a factor, you cannot beat the 6 cell's price, it's at least 30% less than you'll find anywhere else.

I have some numbers, She said it says Batt. model# 383493-001
I am wondering how much higher the 12 cell will make it sit? (I assume it's thicker?)

You might find the dimensions using the two links above....that would be one way to compare. Sometimes the batteries are same height, but longer, so they stick out an inch past the side of the laptop (usually past the front or rear).

Ok - anyway - using the part number, here you go - $58 for a generic battery:

http://www.kahlon.com/searchmodel.asp?oem_client=client&exact_partial=exact&criteria=BCOM-5507&src=pricegrabber&ovchn=PGR&ovcpn=pg_listings&ovcrn=BCOM-5507&ovtac=CMP

The part number you just gave (383493-001) is possibly for a 12 cell (possibly 6, with generics it is hard to tell!) - so it may have the same fitment.

For a full list of models using this battery, check out the list at this site (http://www.titannotebook.com/product/battery/Compaq/BAPCPPRVA.asp)

A lot of sites offer a 1year warranty, some don't. Make sure you ask or look into this!

You might find the dimensions using the two links above....that would be one way to compare. Sometimes the batteries are same height, but longer, so they stick out an inch past the side of the laptop (usually past the front or rear).

Ok - anyway - using the part number, here you go - $58 for a generic battery:

http://www.kahlon.com/searchmodel.asp?oem_client=client&exact_partial=exact&criteria=BCOM-5507&src=pricegrabber&ovchn=PGR&ovcpn=pg_listings&ovcrn=BCOM-5507&ovtac=CMP

The part number you just gave (383493-001) is possibly for a 12 cell (possibly 6, with generics it is hard to tell!) - so it may have the same fitment.

For a full list of models using this battery, check out the list at this site (http://www.titannotebook.com/product/battery/Compaq/BAPCPPRVA.asp)

A lot of sites offer a 1year warranty, some don't. Make sure you ask or look into this!

Is generic any good? or is like truck parts & generic is junk?

i don't buy electronics often - can be the throwaway that doesn't meet QC at major manufacturers or it could be a small company getting started up or just cashing in.

Personally, I would probably trust the batterymaker more than anyone. Or go with a major name like Buy.com who you know will honor warranties. But that's just me. A lot of times with electronics you get what you pay for ....