Replacing a laptop battery?

[neotoma]

My laptop is suddenly not charging when it's plugged in, though it is at least running when plugged in. I guess the battery is dead, or the connect to the battery is busted.

It's a Toshiba Satellite C655, over three years old, and getting kind of clunky. I'm wondering if getting a replacement battery is even worth it. If I get a new battery, and reinstalled the computer (I have found the disks I made when I first got it), would it function well enough to go on with for another year, or should I start looking at a replacement laptop?

I don't require much from my laptop, just websurfing and wordprocessing mostly, with an occasional music or video file to be played. It's mainly to have something when I don't feel like sitting at my desk or late night in-bed ideas, or for travelling.

Any advice?

Comments

[pleasance]

If you're still happy with your laptop, I would suggest changing out the battery only. You shouldn't need to reinstall anything on your computer, the battery should just slide out and a new one can popped in it's placed. I found a battery on Amazon for a C655 laptop for $23 (http://www.amazon.com/TOSHIBA-Satellite-C655-S5049-Laptop-Battery/dp/B005BFGHEC), but I don't know the serial number for the laptop so it may not be an exact match.

[writestuff]

I'd replace the battery too, but don't buy an off brand. Sometimes they don't install correctly, or there's software that prevents the computer from recognizing anything but a brand name battery. Ran into that problem with my Sony Vaio.

[mrshamill]

Batteries Plus. They're a local chain and I've never had a bad experience with them, and they've found some pretty obscure batteries for me.

[neotoma]

The closest one seems to be in Rockville, about a mile from a Metro station.

Any laptop battery brands to look for or avoid?

[mrshamill]

I'd trust their judgment, honestly. Unless the guy is clearly a moron, at least. ;-)

Thanks!

[neotoma]

That worked out pretty well! Now I just need to decide if reformatting the laptop would be a good idea. It's gotten very sluggish -- slow to boot up, slow to connect to the wireless, slow to open browser window -- and I'm wondering if wiping everything out and starting over would help.