Old dell c600 motherboard question

I have an old dell c600 that I got free from my job. It works fine when plugged into the A/C but the battery wouldn't charge or show any life what so ever. I figured the battery was dead and bought a new one (on ebay for cheap). Unfortunately it seems like the motherboard is bad as the new battery has problems charging.

I've seen plenty of replacement motherboards for cheap but what I am unsure of is how do I tell what revision I have (does it even matter) and what is the newest version of the mobo?

This laptop is strictly for web surfing but I don't want to be tethered to a power cord and even if I have to buy a new mobo it's still cheaper than anything else.

 

You don't need to worry about the motherboard revision; any working board from any C600 should be compatible. Changes in part compatibility usually occur from model to model; say from the D600 to the D610 or the D620. Even then, I think boards from the C610 and C640 should also work in the C600, though I wouldn't put money on that.

 

I've read that they work but they have a bios password lock on them and I don't know if that is by-passable.

 

I'm sure there are hacks you can use to circumvent BIOS passwords if you look hard enough, however, a board will only have a BIOS password if the previous owner put a BIOS password on it. Same goes for HDD passwords and the like. The machines should not have come with a BIOS password by default.

 

Really? I thought dell some how locked them to the hard drive it shipped with?

 

Well, mine definitely doesn't have one, and I've changed the HDD at least twice. The C840 I sold about a year ago didn't have one either, so y'know, I think this lockdown business is BS.