I‘ve been very happy with my Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop since purchasing it over a year ago. I bought it online, customized it to meet my needs, and this lovely machine has performed without complaint. There’s a chip on the lower left edge of the white trim; I’m not quite sure how it got there. And I had to replace my keyboard once—Dell support was very helpful and shipped one to me by the next day.
As for battery life? Well, the battery charge lasts a long time—I can get four, four and a half hours out of my laptop if I’m not doing anything more strenuous than browsing or writing—listening to music or playing videos drains it a little faster. This is a marked improvement over the twenty minute lifespan of my Toshiba Satellite’s battery, which is one of the reasons I love this laptop so much! 
The battery’s life, however, could have been better—past tense. The original battery has reached its golden years in a little under a year and a half of service. Unfortunately, Dell’s batteries are covered under a separate “standard” 12-month warranty. If the battery fails after that, you have to buy a new one, which can be as much as $300! Talk about highway robbery.
So I began to use the Internet for something it does very well: finding good deals. With laptop batteries, this can be a challenge: every manufacturer designs its batteries differently, and quality is important—I certainly didn’t want to get a battery that only lasts me six months, or one that only stays charged for an hour.
Eventually I came across LaptopBatteryStore.ca. It ships from Canada, which is great, because that means no customs delays and prices in Canadian dollars. Furthermore, these weren’t refurbished batteries—these are batteries manufactured specifically to match the specs on each machine. So I found the battery designed to fit in an Inspiron 6400—it was $99. That’s a much better deal than what Dell was offering. It came with a 30-day money back guarantee and a 12-month warranty, same as my original battery. so even if the battery fails, I can send it back and I won’t be any worse off than I was at the start of this quest.
My battery arrived several weeks ago. So far, the battery life is as good as my original battery was when I got my computer. Nothing has exploded yet. I am quite happy to have found this deal!
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I’m in almost the same boat as you, having the 1501, my battery is definitely near the end of its life. My laptop being slightly older, it has slowed down some as well. Dell was helpful until my warranty expired in May. I‘m not getting a new battery though, I’m just getting a new computer at the end of this school year. I can get a decent deal through my University, and I crossed over the the dark side, so I get the support of Apple, which I’ve dealt with before and have been impressed by.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 8:40 AM