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Old 8th Feb 2003, 16:19
  #6 (permalink)  
pa42
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: W'n. USA--full time RV
Posts: 132
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Red face the shortest-lived accessory: battery!

Have been on rechargeable-battery laptops since 1984 (sic: that's 19 yrs).

I believe my grey hair results from those &%^$#@! batteries.

Haven't seen one that lasted longer than 9 months to a year. Now have 3 laptops (mobile RV/cruising sailboat lifestyle), all of which die instantly when removed from mains power.

The Most Useful one is a 1993 that runs on 12v from the mains; hence (with a little soldering) I can operate it in boat or RV from the prime battery. The others can operate off a converter to 110 (wires, wires everywhere!).

New batteries? Ha! Cost more than the computer is worth after a few years.

The worst part of the manufacturing scam is that the sole protection against mains power surges seems to be having the battery in its bay. So I end up lugging the 2# dead battery around for years just because of planned obsolescence!!
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