. . . For example here's two: http://www.usbattery.net/laptop/ned... One is a 4800mAH (milliamp hour equivalent to 4.8 AH) and the other is 8800mAH. The 8800 would last longer between charges. It would probably have a longer lifetime since you'd have to recharge it fewer times but that's not a given. You'll have no problem finding web sites selling compatible batteries. Check ebay too. Be careful, a low price could be the sign of a good deal or a crappy battery.

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Thank you DAVEINCAPS, that was very good advice! i don't need no stinking 8 key

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Look up the main battery capacity(ies) available for your model, preferably on the Dell site. Usually there is only one, and the only improvement that can be made is if a re-builder or third party manufacturer uses slightly higher individual cell capacities (most if not all laptop main batteries are many indivdual cells connected together inside them). If you CAN get a much higher capacity main battery (e.g. double), it is physically larger and sticks out of the case, so the laptop base will no longer sit flat - the main battery enclosure is designed such that the laptop base will be slightly tilted and sits on the battery enclosure at the back. If you can only get one battery capacity, or close to that, there are other ways of adding a lot more capacity, or being able to charge the batterry in more situations, but they are something else you would need to carry around with the laptop. - e.g. http://www.apc.com/resource/include... http://www.apc.com/resource/include... http://www.apc.com/resource/include... The main battery can be rebuilt rather than you having to get the new manufacturer's specified one, and when they rebuild it they can use higher indivdual cell capacities, but that is limited and will never double the capacity. There are often local places that can do that in larger cities - check out your phone book. OR there are lots of third party main battery manufacturers that can supply it for a lot less - just search the web using the Dell model number of the main battery, and/or the Dell computer model. Some laptop bioses have a battery conditioning, or similar, routine they can put the main battery through that will improve the useful time the battery can be used. There are lots of things you can do to increase the life of your main battery. E.g. Don't leave the AC adapter plugged in all the time when you are not using the laptop - unplug it once the battery is fully charged. More: http://www.laptopbattery.net/notebo...

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For some reason I keep seeing that little rabbit and thinking Eveready.

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"Do you happen to know what is the average Laptop battery life span with proper care & maintenance?" They're typically warrantied for a year, so they usually work well enough for that long. Two people I know have HPs with 4400mah main batteries - both people had the AC adapter plugged in nearly all the time, even when they weren't using the laptop (they're disabled and cannot unplug them themselves). Both batteries were very poor by the time two years rolled by.

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Laptop batteries last longer if you only use them (install them) when they are mobile. If you have them plugged into a wall there is no use to keep charging them. Wastes energy and shortens the life of the battery. Unused batteries can last for decades in storage. Normally modern laptop batteries can be charged full cycle from 150 to 500 cycles. It is the charging cycle that destroys them. This is why lead acid still out perform more compex batteries and we don't see electric cars. Get the cheapest battery you can find unless you need to use it everyday as a portable device. Most people don't need an expensive battery. "Best Practices", Event viewer, host file, perfmon, are in my top 10

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"Laptop batteries last longer if you only use them (install them) when they are mobile." The problem with that is at least some recent laptops won't run on the AC adapter alone.

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The li-ion laptop batteries maybe do not suffer "memory effect".

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