On 18 Mar 2006 14:46:46 -0800, wrote:

The battery in my Dell laptop is dead, finished,
defunct. I need to replace it and since Dell wants
about $165 for it, I decided to check out other
sources. I was given the website for a company
that is well rated.

They do indeed have a replacement for my battery and
for only $65, however the specifications on theirs
are slightly different and I wonder if that could
cause problems. Would anyone reading this happen to know anything
about this kind of thing in general?

For instance the voltage on my original is 14.8
while the one they offer as replacement is 14.4.
And my original says 3800 mAh (whatever that is),
while their replacement is 4000 mAh. Would these
these particular differences should cause a problem?

best, Aaron in N. Hollywood

Make sure it is specified as a replacement for your model,
presumably so or it wouldn't even fit in the laptop.

14.4V is not an issue, that is fine. As Paul mentioned
there is the consideration of the battery chemistry, but if
they were using Li-Ion they couldn't get a NiMH pack into
the same available space with a higher current rating.

Thus, whether the current rating is accurate is important.
Battery technology has improved slightly, it is not unusual
to buy the replacement battery pack and have it be spec'd
for higher mAh than it would have been a few years ago.
There may even be vendors selling two packs that would work
but one uses newer or higher quality cells so it has a
higher mAh rating. However, generic batteries may have
questionable means or accuracy in their reported mAh figures
so whether the real-life use of the cells results in a
better (or same) true capacity can vary. It might be
worthwhile to ask the seller what cells are inside. Sanyos
are very common in NiMH packs, and desirable. They are
usually not labeled as Sanyo though, rather have a near
turquoise, green sleeve on them. I don't think they can or
did patent the color though, a generic could have it too.