New M6500 Discussion Thread

I have an update too - they (Batteries Plus Bulbs) managed to find the battery I needed for my M6500. It's made by Duracell, is 86.6Wh, and was $89.99 (although if you order and pay for it via the website, then pick it up in-store, you can get a 10% discount). The part number is COM11809 - here's the BPB page on it.

Note: They have ceased production of it - I was told that the warehouse does not stock it any more, and only one of the BPB locations in the entire Washington DC area (where I live) had one left in stock - so I made arrangements to pick it up (it was not very close to home or work). There are one or two left in the country, I believe - in other states.

I just put it in my M6500. So far so good (it comes with only a little bit of charge)... but we'll see. I was not super-impressed, with two aspects so far:

1. The silver of the battery cover is not a good match for the M6500 chassis. It's a notably lighter shade of silver, so it does not match. Not that it's really a big deal, since it's usually under the laptop, but still, a bit annoying - it's glaringly obvious that it's not the original battery when it's installed.
   
   
2. It was not a very good fit - I had to kind of force it in there a little bit. Definitely a tighter fit than the OEM one was. It will be harder to remove when the time comes.

I'll report back after doing a full cycle process (full charge, full drain, full recharge). I know that old method is supposedly only for the old NiCad batteries, but the "Operating Instructions" included with the battery specifically said to do it, so oh well.

 

Well, it's not looking good for this Duracell battery. The first charge only went as far as 50%, then it stopped charging. I then drained it all the way down, using the BIOS screen to do it, so it didn't matter when it turned itself off. The second charge only went as far as 48%. Drained that one down too, and now the 3rd charge appears to have peaked at 43%.

So a supposedly "new" battery is rapidly deteriorating. Perhaps it is new, but has been sitting in the store's stock room for several years?

Bummer.

I may have to break down and buy one of the Chinese knock-offs on eBay - but I always wonder about the fire risk when I do that. It may just not be worth it, and to run this M6500 without a battery at all, keeping it chained to A/C power indefinitely. I just wish I could buy the cover without the battery to close the hole!

Note: I'm only using this battery on the "Standard" charge setting. I didn't think it was worth trying "ExpressCharge" with a non-OEM battery.

 

I'd return the duracel for the reasons you mentioned. Or have them exchange it if you want to try again. Thats the advantage of buying from local shop, easy exchanges and returns. Then perhaps buy one on Ebay like dynamite did. Perhaps he can share his results maybe ebay seller as well.

 

Yeah but exchanging it won't be an option... this was the very last one in the whole region... and they don't carry it in the warehouse any more either.

 

I'd get your money back. They say you have 14 days for returns. That is for "non-defective" products.

 

I have have been testing the battery for the past few days. Charging it up to 100% and draining it till it was almost flat before charging it back up to 100% again. Seems to be working fine.

I did forget to take a note of how long it takes to go from 100% to almost flat. Will have a look when I get back home.

It does have one similar issue to the battery that @EdgeDC got. The silver colour on the back of the battery doesn't seem to match up with the M6500. It's a bit off but heck I don't really care as long as it works. Other than that, I couldn't find any other issues. It fits into the battery bay easily and is secured nicely. I'll take pictures of it tonight side by side with my original M6500 battery.

Here's the link to the eBay item:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-New-Battery-for-Dell-Precision-M2400-M4400-M6400-M6500-KR854-8M039-C565C/332644694214?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Shipment of the battery from China to where I live was fairly quick! It arrived within a week.

 

Ok waiting for the mods to approve the picture that I uploaded. Will update this post with the picture when it is available.

Picture added. See the difference in the colour as compared to the laptop chassis? The top battery is the replacement battery and the bottom one is my original battery.

M6500 new and old battery by DynamiteZerg posted Jul 6, 2018 at 1:23 AM

I'm getting around 2 hours of up time starting with the battery at 100%. I didn't let it go totally flat but somewhere 8% or so. On the flip side, I did preference the laptop to run at better performance instead of better battery life when running on battery. That's my guess as to why the battery lasts shorter.

*Edit*
Just checking with the seller on the colour and also one more thing I noticed with the battery. It seems the cover over the lithium cells is making an odd sound when pressed at certain places. Seems like air pockets or it wasn't sealed properly. It doesn't feel as solid as my original Dell battery.

 

Funny timing, I just read this tweet warning of aftermarket laptop batteries.

https://twitter.com/IPRCenter/status/1016362258358775815

 

Oh dear... fingers crossed and I better be careful with the replacement battery! It seems to be alright thus far.

 

RGB LED is largely only useful if you need high color accuracy for photo/video editing or use significantly color aware programs. Or, I suppose, if you want your colors really brilliant and vibrant.