What Laptop Battery To buy?

[focus]

I have a COMPAQ Presario V3000 and I think my battery has started to die as the battery runs out within 15min MAX.
I am looking to get a new one from ebay.
I was wondering should i get a 5200 Mah 6 Cell for about $28 or should I go for the 8800 Mah 12 Cell for about $58.

Is there a massive difference between the two?

[Smith6612]

The difference between the two is battery capacity. Do you use the battery for long durations or do you use it for short durations? If you're plugged into AC power almost all the time, get the smaller 6-cell Battery. Otherwise, if you're on the go a lot with a lack of power, or you often times run processor/graphics demanding applications on the laptop, get the larger battery as it will hold on for a bit longer.

[focus]

Would a 6-cell one last atleast an hour? If just facebooking/msn?

[Smith6612]

The laptop should run for 2-3 hours on a 6-cell battery, maybe longer provided the power settings are tuned correctly with what you're planning on doing. I'd have to look at what hardware is in the laptop though.

[focus]

Thanks. Very helpful!

[ChatIndia]

my operating system (both windows nd linux) gives warning that my battery is dead and can shut down instantly when unplugged from AC supply but still my lappy runs for atleast an hour when browsing internet nd at least half an hour with cpu intensive task. what causes that false warning?

[Smith6612]

my operating system (both windows nd linux) gives warning that my battery is dead and can shut down instantly when unplugged from AC supply but still my lappy runs for atleast an hour when browsing internet nd at least half an hour with cpu intensive task. what causes that false warning?

The information the battery itself is supplying to the motherboard. It may have an hour of charge, but it's pretty much telling you that the battery has worn out enough to the point where it has to be replaced. A 12 year old laptop I have here with the Original Battery does that. It will run for roughly a half hour after the battery hits 0% on the meter before it dies, but by that point the battery is running rather warm.

[Sharky]

Windows has a setting in power options to the effect of "low power level" (essentially 'warn') and "critical power level"

I have that set at 2.% and 1% on mine and it still warns when there's 15 mins left.

And I don't think batteries should get warm, unless maybe when charging intensively. None of mine do (that I can tell), even when charging...

[henk506673]

i would go for the 12 cell as it is more power but what ever you do, don't buy used, used batteries are usualy old ones that someone is trying to get rid of for the same reason you want a new one.