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Battery Bay Cover for laptops

250 points posted to Laptop Power by kyles Jul 18

Keeping a li-ion battery charged, or charging all the time isn't good!
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
Unfortunately, when my D830 is plugged into a wall socket (80% of the time), I can't just take the battery out because not only dose it expose the battery pins to the elements, but the battery also holds a corner rubber foot that if removed makes the laptop wobble on a flat surface. If Dell supplied a battery bay cover, or even a gutted battery shell, customers could then remove there batteries while plugged into a wall outlet so that they don't compromise the life of the battery.

undead999
Jul 18		 I dont think Dell laptops are always charging the battery, while it might be ideal to disconnect batteries, it isnt ideal as batteries can drain while disconnected over time leaving a user with shorter batttery life. If my battery is dissconnected and i have a power outage i risk losing data and corrupting my file system, I would rather not take these risks. My laptop is over 3 years old, I have been very deligent in keeping it charged, my battery life is more than 90% of new.
iamithinkiwill
Jul 23		 I agree wholeheartedly with kyles. If Dell could simply sell a gutted shell of their batteries for about $5, many who use their notebook as a desktop replacement, or who don't need battery power often, could use that instead. This would both make the notebook significantly lighter, and prolong the life of the battery itself(according to the above link). The only downside for Dell might be fewer sales of batteries for older notebooks, but I'd imagine sales of the battery shells could compensate for those minimal losses.

I have been very impressed with Dell support and customer response in recent years, keep up the good work.
j_hallgren
Jul 23		 My first comment here! But have been a owner/user of Dell Latitudes for 7+ yrs!

I bought a D630 late last year, but am still using my C610 also, and have my CPia stored away. The C-series laptops allowed one to have batteries out and still have a complete bottom, while the D-series appears to not. When I got my D630, I was quite surprised and disapointed to see how the battery fits in, and that there was no easy way to use it without primary battery in place. I have a media bay battery so I'd really like to be able to use laptop on just that one if I desire so a cheap cover or blank as suggested would be a good thing!

I seem to recall that the C-xxx had an optional media/battery bay "dummy" that could be used, but as I have multiple batteries, I never needed one.
 
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