best buy laptop battery

best buy laptop battery

best buy laptop battery

When it’s time to replace your laptop’s battery, you may find that there are several alternatives to the original battery that was equipped with your computer. By reviewing and understanding the technical specifications for these batteries you will be able to extend your laptop’s operating time by choosing a battery that provides a better value.
Obviously, you will need to ensure that the battery will physically fit in the battery compartment of your laptop computer. You will also need to make sure that the power connector pin assignments on the battery properly mate with the power connectors on your computer. This is readily done by simply searching for a battery based on your computer’s make and model number or the battery’s part number. However, you will find that the technical specifications for these replacement batteries may vary. The purpose of this article is to inform you of the specification that is critical in the selection process and of the specification that is variable and indicates the amount a time that the battery will operate your laptop.
Your laptop computer’s operating voltage is an absolute requirement. Therefore, you must choose a battery that adheres to this specification. A little bit of leeway is generally tolerated by your computer and a voltage difference of 1/10 or 2/10 volts is not critical. In fact, many universal and external batteries that have selectable voltages will often times provide a voltage that is not an exact match to your original laptop battery’s voltage. This is quite acceptable, but generally speaking the replacement laptop batteries that reside internally in the laptop computer itself will be provided with an exact voltage match.
In addition to volts, laptop batteries are rated by either watt-hours (WHr) or milliamp-hours (MAh). These ratings are indicative of the amount of charge that a battery pack will hold and subsequently how long they will operate the computer. A laptop computer’s battery pack is simply a number of rechargeable cells that are stored inside of a plastic housing and are managed by a controlling circuit board. Therefore, a battery pack that contains more cells will have a higher WHr or MAh rating and operate the computer for a longer period of time.
For a practical example, we will consider replacing the battery pack for a Dell Inspiron 9200. The two batteries offered by Dell are both rated at 11.1 volts. The six cell battery is rated at 53 watt-hours and the nine cell battery is rated at 80 watt-hours. They are currently priced at $135.99 and $155.99 respectively. The 80 watt-hour rated battery will operate the computer one and a half times longer than the lower rated battery when it is unplugged. Since this extended battery costs about 15% more than the standard battery, we would be wise to purchase it to gain the extended operating time relative to its small incremental cost. The 80 watt-hour battery offers a clear value to the standard 53 watt-hour battery with which the laptop was originally equipped and is an ideal upgrade.