i envy you, man... i so want my battery to die on me right now so that i can badger them into giving me a 9-cell one as well...
btw, did they tell you why it happened? mine is working perfectly fine.. although i do discharge cycles 3-4 times a week, max...
and i'll be going in for the warranty extension as well.. glad that you mentioned how much it'll cost...
Meanwhile, the story with my XPS M1530:
EP 630's died on me... twice! actually, the replacement they sent got screwed in 2 days... audio died on one earphone...
Dell replaced it without any hassles and sent me a completely new set... Since their dispatching area (some partnership with DHL) was close to my college, i managed to get my replacements within 4 hours of the case being lodged at tech support.
Webcam cable got damaged. This was totally my fault. left the computer running and stuffed it in the backpack for a complete hour... it was almost burning hot when i took the laptop out. Again, next business day solution to the problem.
However, when the guy fixed the webcam, he didnt align the lid properly, so i called them again a few days later and someone else came and fixed it...
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Posted again:
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The story with my girlfriend's XPS M1530:
Battery backup is awesome, man... didnt know t9300 was that efficient.. she gets 2.20 hours on the same 6 cell which gives me 2 hours on balanced power plan.
However, we forgot to order hdd partitioning.. so things are a bit hard to manage.
THe computer developed a weird freezing tendency... everything would freeze a few minutes after logging in to windows. System restore solved it but windows media player still does the same. Will format and reinstall her OS once when i get time.
The lid has become pretty loose and the alignment is a bit messed up.. worse than what it was in my case when the technician screwed up. will call the tech soon...
BTW, i used my vacuum cleaner's blower to clean the exhaust vent of my laptop... it blew a dust-storm for 2 complete seconds out of that place... result: the laptop runs a full 10 degree C cooler now... the fan too runs way less often than before... i guess all laptop owners should do this in 5-6 months.. but with caution.