Dell Battery Life

I have an Inspiron 1720 and recently I've noticed my battery has been pretty terrible.

If I unplug it from the power source, it lasts maybe 15 minutes before dying. Now I've had a pop-up telling me I should probably get myself a new battery from Dell.

However, this has coincided with the deterioration of my charger cable, especially around the part that plugs into the laptop, it is starting to get frayed.

Now, I've had the laptop 2 years and it comes under a lot of heavy use, I use it pretty much every day, but it's always plugged in, I rarely use it unplugged.

So, is 2 years about normal for a battery under heavy use, or could it just be playing up because my charger needs replacing?

A new battery is pretty steep, from £107, and a new charger is around £40, so it's going to cost me a bit to replace both.

What would you recommend?

Edit: Also, what is the difference between 9cell and 6cell as found here, there's only £10 in difference, would it be worth getting the 9cell over the 6cell?

Thanks in advance,

 

Li-ion batteries degrade whether you use them or not, in fact from the very moment they are manufactured. Battery usage however tends to be measured in terms of charge cycles, with a large proportion of Li-ion batteries for notebooks rated for up to 300 charge cycles.

Notebook batteries don't tend to last ages though, because the heat generated by the notebook is bad for the batteries health. Two years does sound a little short, but in all honesty there are so many different variables to consider that it could be right for your particular battery.

I'm not sure what you are asking us to recommend about in all honesty, if you need a new battery then you need a new battery. I'd suggest looking on eBay for a new battery; you'll probably find one a fair bit cheaper.

 

Deterioration over time is something that happens to all lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, most notably notebook batteries, as Fragilexx explained, because of the added deterioration due to heat.

Two years is a decent amount of useful life. Even if your cable is somewhat frayed, I'm going to assume it's simply a case of battery aging. You can find replacements on eBay for relatively cheap.

 

Okay, thanks for the e-bay tip, I've had a look at they are a lot, lot cheaper.

 

If possible try to find out their date of manufacture before buying, as I said, even without use Li-ion batteries degrade as soon as they are made.