1720 9-cell battery is HUGE! Pics included...

I got my 1720 with the big honkin' 9 cell battery. When ordering it, the web site does not tell you anywhere that the 9 cell battery sticks out like a polar bear in a tar pit. Here's a pic:



Yeah. That's what I thought too. If I had known this is what the 9 cell battery looked like, I never would have ordered it.

So I called Dell support to basically complain that I felt I was mislead into buying a larger battery for more money. I got bounced around to three or four different people before I was able to get someone who actually helped me. Maybe it was because by that time I was so frustrated that I was near the point of yelling. One guy even told me to return the whole laptop and reorder it with a 6 cell battery. HAHAHA! Yeah, like I was gonna do THAT!

Bottom line is, they offered to overnight me a 6 cell battery free of charge (no pun intended). Of course, they are now apparently out of stock and won't be available for at least 10 days, but I'm willing to wait as long as I get it

I guess if you complain enough about a valid problem, you can eventually get them to help you out. Just be prepared to talk to various people explaining the same problem over and over again until you get someone who gets it.

Anyway, I'm happy once again

 

You are lucky. stick-out battery is pretty much the standard now for IBM, Dell for "enhanced" capacity batteries.

 

get over it no use in a whole thread about it

 

Good stuff =)

 

You're not exactly prince charming when it comes to creating worthy threads:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=142890

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=143137

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=139178

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=138508

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=132870

So the Pot said to the Kettle, "Eww, you're black"

 

add another one to the list as of 3:07 PM CST

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=143190

 

so..you got the better battery..complained and got the lower tier battery?..k.

 

and he gets to keep the 9 cell I believe. It wouldn't make sense if he had to return it. If not, they'll at least credit him the price of the 9 cell. Maybe even the retail price.

 

It doesnt stick out any farther than mine on my 1420.. Its really not that bad.. maybe 3/4 inch. I dont see how you were mislead.. Sounds like you are just trying to fish for extras without any reason.

 

The point is that all the pictures of the 1720 showed no battery sticking out, so I assumed the 9 cell would not change the look. I was wrong. But I feel that Dell should have at least shown a picture or told us that the 9 cell would stick out.

For those of us who have been out of the laptop market for over 3 years, it is NOT common knowledge that the batteries would stick out. That's why I felt I was mislead. I am NOT fishing for extras. I would have been happy to BUY the extra battery, but they wouldn't sell me one at this time.

And also, if I were fishing for extras, I would have been all over the DDR2/DDR3 fiasco with the graphics card. But since I was never under the impression that my graphics card was DDR3, I didn't complain.

Mainly, I wanted to let people know that this is what the 9 cell battery looks like since Dell doesn't show pics of it. I've already gotten a message from someone saying thanks because he now does not want the 9 cell after seeing the pic. Just trying to help!

 

When someone is already buying a ginormous 17 inch laptop, is that battery sticking out a little bit really an issue?

 

It was to me, simply because I did not expect it. The image I had in mind of my laptop was what the pictures on Dell showed. Now mine came with an unexpected protrusion. That's all.

And yes, I do get to keep my 9 cell battery as well.

 

In what situation would that small protrusion have affected your intended use of the laptop? Or more appropriately, when will you actually be using the 6 cell battery or than keeping it as a spare?

You got a 17 inch laptop so I highly doubt you plan on carrying this around much. Its mostly going to sit on a desk or move very small distances, so I just am not seeing when you would be using the 6 cell.

 

Everything isn't always about function. Or do buy for example clothes purely based on price-function?

Edit: Dell support told me the 9-cell battery would NOT stick out on the 1720 when I asked them about it.

 

I usually keep it plugged in, so the 9 cell is only taking up space. I will keep the 9 cell as a spare and the 6 cell always in my laptop.

I'm sorry if you don't think my concern was a valid one, but obviously, I feel differently. People I have shown this laptop to in person always comment on the huge battery sticking out. The 6 cell is also a bit lighter in weight.

 

All you people that defend Dell might want to look at the entire issue in this thread--and my thread and others that I have read....Many Many others that is.

The problem is not just the battery it is also that he could not get assistance with the problem. I am sure if he called dell and they said I am sorry about that lets get you taken care of please do X then that would have been the end of it and this post might never have been made.

 

Obviously his post was helpful to at least one person, which is exactly what these forums are intended for, so even if only one person was help then it was very much a useful thread. You guys need to chill with the flaming, I understand that a variety of newbs have come into the site as of late, I have seen it and the site has gained quite a bit of traffic due to that. But it is mostly in the interest of asking questions, even if others think they are dumb, getting questions answered, and pre-informing would be purchasers of things not so obvious if you walked out of a cave today and just ordered a laptop straight off whatever manufacturer's site it is. I studied these forums for 6 months before finally deciding on getting my laptop, so I am no newb. I just never signed up, all my questions had already been answered, and I found out a ton of info.

 

Thanks for the support, guys

I really do want people to not be surprised by something they are not expecting, as I was. And they can save a few bucks in doing so

 

To be fair you had to be kidding yourself to think a 9 Cell battery wouldn't stick out. I have never in my life seen one that didn't.

But Dell didn't make it clear, so I understand why they fixed it for you

 

I honestly didn't even think about it. Like I said, I have been out of the laptop world for over 3 years (my last being an Inspiron 8600) so I really had no clue about battery sizes. I just figured it was better capacity in the same size. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't or didn't know this would be the case.

 

the 1505 laptop didn't have a battery that stuck out. It has really only been in recent years they started putting the battery at the back of laptop instead of underneath the palm rest. Many companies still do it the old way.

 

thanks mate for this thread. i was about order with 9 cell.

now i will not do that mistake. btw how is battery life with 6 cell?

how many hours?

 

The 9-cell on my 1501 doesn't stick out, and quite frankly, I think Dell should have continued flushing in the bigger batteries if it were possible. Sure, for big(ger) laptops the protrusion doesn't make a difference practically speaking, but it sure does look better.
Anyway, glad the TS got his situation fixed and got the message out.

 

You really expected it to have the same weight too?

 

No, I did not expect it to have the same weight.

And Maksa, I'm glad this thread helped you. I have no idea what the battery life will be like with the 6 cell. I have not received it yet.

 

Can anyone post up the model number of the 9-cell on the 1720? I'm curious to see if it's the same as that in the 1420 (and thus the 1520 - which would be why they all stick out - to save cost by using the same design in all of 'em).

The 1420's 9-cell says that it is a Type MN151.

 

Interesting. That would piss me off.

 

The 1720 battery is Type FK890. The part number from Dell is 312-0520.

 

I'd like to know the dimensions of the batteries for the 1420, 1520, and 1720. The part numbers can change for whatever reason.

 

Thats the same type as my 1520 one.

 

Just got my 6-cell battery today. Now my laptop looks like the pictures on the site! No more huge brick sticking out the back.

 

Great, now do a nice review

 

well... dang... its my first time buying a laptop and i didnt know that 9 cell stick out. i ordered a vostro 1400 4 days ago with a 9 cell battery and now its going to look ugly. only if i knew this earlier... i would've just go with a 6 cell battery. =/

 

I have to agree. For all those deriding the OP for complaining... I've been speccing out some Dells for a couple weeks now and have always upgraded to them to the 9-cell, just thinking it was just a higher capacity for more $$$.

Nowhere in any product pictures, or anything on the Dell ordering website does it tell you that the 9-cell will stick out the back.

 

exactly, lochness. i have seen a lot of laptops at my friend's house but their laptops seems to be perfect. nothing sticks out or look deformed.

 

what's the battery life difference between the 6-cell and 9-cell (in real life)?
i'm thinking about a vostro 1400...

 

If any of you guys have 9-cell batteries that fit the 1520 and want to sell them, let me know. I want to buy one.

 

Yeah i'm wondering what the battery life difference is between the 6 cell and 9 cell. And not an estimate, someone who actually did tests.

 

Well, we know of at least one person who has both batteries...

 

Hehe, yeah I now have both, but as I stated before, I typically keep it plugged in. Maybe when I have some time I can see if I can test each one out. Is there a particular way to test batteries besides just leaving the laptop on and idle?

 

ecaggiani, if you have the time (maybe other computers you can use in the meantime), I'd try just leaving the laptop on, with the screen on and screen saver turned off, with both batteries, immediately after a FULL CHARGE, to see how long they last when the computer is idle... Then, if you're feeling REALLY HELPFUL to your fellow forum mates, try doing something very disk-intensive... either using the computer yourself, or running some automated routine that keeps the hard disk(s) busy the entire time, with each battery, and time THOSE run-down times, too... Would be an interesting test for forum members, and also for YOU to know (if I were you, I'D wanna know).

As for the flaming, I don't agree with it, either, but I ALSO disagree that the bulge in the back of the laptop is a really big deal... I think a bulge at THAT part of the laptop doesn't really mean much, mostly because you seldom look back there, and because when you sit the laptop down to work with it, there are FEW, IF ANY situations where an extra 3/4 of an inch, or so are going to cause the laptop not to fit where you sit it... On the OTHER HAND, I DO think it's POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE of Dell to NOT tell customers is protrudes somewhat before they buy it.

Although I'm currently using (and loving) A Dell XPS 410 DESKTOP system (the ONLY desktop to make PC World's top 100 products of the year in their July 2007 issue), this is among SEVERAL reasons I finally decided to go with HP for my upcoming 17" laptop purchase.

Here's another: For some of their laptops, they offer a 12-cell long-life battery, and they state RIGHT ON THE BUILD PAGE, that it sticks out the side some (since they say the SIDE, and not THE BACK, I probably would NEVER buy THAT battery, as I don't want ANYTHING protruding out the SIDE)... But the simple fact that HP IS upfront about things like that and Dell ISN'T, well...

Also, I've had a number of software (mostly system-related, since I upgraded to Vista) issues with my XPS 410 -- particularly involving Media Center and my TV Tuner card, and I have to tell you that Dell's technical service staff, while they TRY to be helpful, are a REAL crapshoot as far as being able to really help you... My experience, thus far, is that maybe one in FIVE really knows his stuff... most have to continually look things up, or call Microsoft or something and right now my Media Center and TV Tuner STILL aren't right and I've GIVEN UP on calling or going online with Dell's Tech support on that and am just doing the best I can with them (I installed Nero Ultimate for use as a disc burning utility, and I believe it's a conflict between the two, and I'm just going to figure out how to resolve it on my own, or uninstall Nero, which I'm not as happy with as I thought I would be, anyway)... But even prior to that, the dual TV tuner was STILL not working in dual mode most of the time ever since upgrading to Vista...

Anyway, those are all side issues and off the point... Del makes excellent hardware, BUT when you have a problem and have to call them, "getting bounced around to several different people" is NOT all that unusual -- especially if it's something they REALLY don't want to deal with.
Jeff

 

It will affect what the notebook will fit into. I think it was a poor choice to have it stick out the back like that. I think increasing the thickness would have been better.

 

I don't undestand, I have 1701 with a 9 cell that doesn't stick out. Isn't 1720 basically the same-size chassis?

 

lol funny thing is. first time buying a laptop. and i already knew the 9-cell sticks out.. no offense really, but if u do ur research before you purchase. u shouldn't encounter any of these problems

 

Lol that sure is amusing! Not really. Great contribution to the thread. Maybe consumers shouldn't have to contact a third party to find out the battery sticks out. Maybe Dell should let you know when you go to buy it.

 

Perhaps you could link us noob laptop purchasers to the page(s) on a Dell ordering website, any one will do, that states the 9-cell will protrude from the back of the chassis, along with the pictures.

In my opinion, "doing your research" should not have to involve scouring third party forums trying to pickup on any "gotcha's" such as battery sticking out.

Rather than complaining about it here, lets provide constructive feedback to Dell on the matter. http://ideastorm.com/

Personally I'm going for the 6-cell as this is my first real notebook and I want to be sure it will fit inside standard 17" sleeves and bags etc, and I'm not a road-warrior so I'll be near to AC most of the time. Interesting that they had the 9-cell in previous 17" machines tidily.

 

there's no point to this thread..except a guy venting about it..or so all of you say..but yet there are already 5 pages for this thread. things that make you go mmmmm....

 

I had the same issue with the HP TX1000 6 cell battery doing that, but that was because it added to the dimensions of a travel lappy and made it difficult to transport with the battery on the back (where you should lay the laptop facing down), leaving it wobbly. I don't see it as such a big problem on a desktop replacement, but people do have their own preferences. Leave the guy alone.

 

Brilliant! Brilliant Comment Sirius_GTO!

 

ok..so why do you guys keep posting in this thread if you think its not post worthy?