How long should I expect the lifetime of my laptop battery to be? It is a Li ion battery. I have had it 9 months. I run mainly from the AC adaptor, but try and run from the battery at least once a week to keep it 'in shape'. This week it has died. Obviously I am upset by this. It is still under warranty. How much come back should I expect from the manufacturer for this? Do you think the item is faulty, and therefore a warranty replacement job, or will they fob me off with a 'consumable item' excuse. I am still waiting for their reply, but in my opinion, if it goes wrong inside the 12 months, they should fix it. Any thoughts?

It's hard to estimate how long a battery will last since everyones usage will be different but 12 months does seem a little short lived for a lithium ion battery. I would definatly pursue the warranty. Dell had some bad batteries about a year ago and they replaced them without a hassle.

2 years is not unreasonable for most modern batteries kept in constant use, not overcharged, etc. Anything lasting under 500 cycles of charge/recharge is probably cheap, defective, or improperly used. It does depend upon battery design though and is somewhat specific to your battery and habits.

I've received a reply. They say I need to return the laptop to them to be checked for faults. If the fault is with the notebook, they will repair it. If the fault is with the battery, they will try and get the battery manufacturer to repair it. They say the battery is a consumable and hence only covered by a 6 month warranty, not 12 months like the laptop itself. The net result of this is that if the battery cannot be repaired, I'll have to buy a new one. Bugger!

The battery should last for several hundred cycles. My Thinkpad is four years old and I still get a full charge out of the battery, which is a Li-ion. Though they don't say, it's a good idea to exercise the battery and not run on AC power all the time. Even Li-ion batteries will quit if they are not cycled. Bryan