Latitude D600 Problem

Perhaps it has more to do with the battery, but this seemed the most suitable place to ask this.

The above laptop works fine when plugged into the wall, but the battery doesn't seem able to hold a charge. Even after leaving it plugged in, and shut off for an hour, when removed it will warn me the battery level is critical, before shutting off ten seconds later.

Is there anything that can be done to prevent this, or will I have to get a new battery?

 

How old is the battery? If it's close to or over three years, then it's probably time to replace it.

 

Yes, it's probably the battery's problem. Wear on the battery depends on usage (cycles) and age, as Lithium-Ion batteries have a shelf life.

Install NHC and check your battery information:

This is from my D600, so if you have the 6 cell on your D600, it will show the design capacity of 53Wh (53000mWh in the screenshot) or whatever the design capacity of the 4 cell was, depending on which battery you have, as well as the current full capacity (42.66Wh in my example) and wear level (19%.)