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Laptops: Sealed or User-Replaceable Batteries
#1
So our household is a technological mess. Everything is old and breaking down. I might start another thread elsewhere about The State of Technology in DOOM Households where we can all weigh in on our situations. But here I'll focus on something I discovered while shopping for laptops.

Lady Cranefly and I each need one. Her screen is half-dark. My lid hinges have self-destructed and the power cord is broken. So I started researching laptops. Neither of us need anything whizbang, and I thought I was closing in on some good choices for maybe 7 to 8 hundred bucks -- possibly less.

Then by chance I stumbled across an article about non-replaceable batteries in most laptops these days. The batteries are sealed in. This is how they make the laptops so thin. There are advantages. The battery lasts a bit longer because it is sealed. But there's a dark and evil downside. When the battery dies, you have to ship the laptop to the factory (or take it to a licensed dealer) to get it replaced. The cost runs about $150, maybe more.

The battery has a life expectancy of 2 to 3 years. This means, for all practical purposes, that you should view your laptop as having a lifespan of 2 to 3 years. This is how the manufacturers are viewing it.

Am I overreacting, or is this totally screwed? I mean, my last laptop lasted 7 years.

Any thoughts or opinions on this? Because suddenly I'm pissed and stymied. There's not much out there that has user-replaceable batteries anymore, and the manufacturers aren't fond of putting this info in their specs -- so you really have to dig for the information.

Grrrr.
I'm nobody's pony.
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#2
Depending on the make and model, it's not usually that hard to DIY it if your comfortable with that. Online take apart guides abound. Here's an example for the 2012 MacBook Air 13":

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2012+Battery+Replacement/10950/1">http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air ... nt/10950/1</a><!-- m -->

--tg
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#3
If only we knew someone at Apple that could help us . . . .
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit
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#4
I've completely disassembled a laptop before, so if it's just a matter of having the nerve to strip one apart a ways, I'm fine with that. It just wasn't clear what "sealed-in battery" meant. Many people seemed to be suggesting it would require special tools, or unsoldering/resoldering. But I'm seeing how-to's for battery replacement in some laptops on the web, like you said, so I'm going to assume it's user-doable, regardless of what I get.

One issue is that this act voids most warranties. Now, if warranties were something like 3 years like they used to be, that could pose a problem. But now that most warranties are just a year, it's unlikely you'd still have a warranty to void.

I hope that customers soon start pushing back against this game of accelerated obsolescence that laptop manufacturers are engaged in.
I'm nobody's pony.
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#5
This is the funny thing about technology. When laptops cost $1000 - $2000 it made sense to shop around, get warranties etc.. Now you can get a basic laptop for $300 - $400. They are almost 'disposable' when you pro-rate the 2 - 3 years you get out of them. Just go to Costco and buy their cheapest model; all done.

I recommend going to dealnews.com and finding items like this:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-4gb-memory-320gb-hard-drive-brown-black/9424061.p?u1=VW1pQVV3b0JDeG9BQUJtR1FNMEFBQUEw&id=1219016114601&skuId=9424061&ref=25&loc=SHP&srccode=cii_45538312&cpncode=33-176278853-2&ref=199&loc=NKa3hZyYoHA&siteID=NKa3hZyYoHA-hKSj_b8BGDIvL3RXivOSrw">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-l ... L3RXivOSrw</a><!-- m -->
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