My laptop battery seems to have died

[abbarich]

Since yesterday my laptop will only work when plugged in. The laptop says 50% available (plugged in) but isn't charging and is stuck on 50%. Is it worth replacing the battery? The laptop is at least 4 years old. How much longer can the laptop work with a dead battery and only being powered by the mains? Is it best to remove the battery altogether if it's dead? Thanks.

 

[1405]

It's worth a new battery if you plan on keeping the laptop obviously. But if you have eyes on getting a new one, this my give you an excuse

Some laptops won't work at all if the battery is missing. Try it an see if yours is one of those. If it works, then removing the battery will make it lighter, and you'll avoid the possiblity of an old battery leaking over time.

 

[abbarich]

Thanks for that. I'll try it and see. I'll look into how much a new battery will cost, but as it's over 4 years old I'm not sure how much life is left in it anyway. Is 5 years the usual life?

 

[1405]

Thanks for that. I'll try it and see. I'll look into how much a new battery will cost, but as it's over 4 years old I'm not sure how much life is left in it anyway. Is 5 years the usual life?

I guess it all depends on how much you use and abuse it. I still use my Thinkpad I bought in 2013. Only thing I added was a SSD to replace the HDD. Slow because of it's from the Intel 3rd gen era, but still runs like new.

 

[abbarich]

The laptop now says 48% available, so it's dropped 2%. Looks like this will eventually drop to 0%. Will the laptop still work at 0% if it's plugged in? If not I'll get a new battery. Thanks.