It was $15 with free shipping. I ordered it on Friday and came Monday. If it only was that simple.

My laptop battery started going out about a three months ago, with shorter and shorter lifespan each time I used the battery. Then about a month ago, the laptop suddenly started to die after about 40 minutes of being unplugged unexpectedly, and a week later, the laptop battery wouldn’t work at all. I had to have the laptop plugged in all times, and it would shutdown unexpectedly when it was unplugged.

After getting paid, I ordered a new laptop battery. I ordered an extended life one, it was $20 plus $10 shipping. I was excited to get it, when I discovered it didn’t fit in my laptop. I knew the battery had a slightly different digit sequence then the current one I had, but it seemed to indicate on Amazon it would fit. I wanted an extended life battery, as I figured a cheap battery would have a short life, and this would compensate for it.

Turns out the $20 battery didn’t fit my laptop at all. I have a return code, but I got to decide if I am going to send it back. Probably going to cost like $6-7 to send back the battery, and if I get the full $20 back from the seller (which that’s a matter of their honesty), I will will only be $10 ahead. I could see them rejecting it or reducing the return price, as I ripped the outer package, in my rush to get it open.

If I don’t return it, I could take it to any retailer that sells rechargable batteries, as they are required to take back old ones and dispose of them through a recycler. Its good to keep the lithium and other toxic materials out of environment. Got to make up for big truck I drive plus all those styrofoam plates I use at camp. I guess I could shoot the battery or see what happens when I burn it in the woods. I heard they explode in the fire! But then I’d still have the unburnable stuff to clean up, and dispose of at a landfill. Not a great idea.

Then there is free-cycle or maybe Ebay. Those might be good ways to get rid of a perfectly good battery that won’t fit my laptop.

At any rate, the $15 battery seems to work well enough. It says I have a battery life of 3 hours and 10 minutes, fully charged. That works well enough for me. If it only lasts a year or so, that still beats paying $120 for a battery that might last 18 months. If it continues to work well enough, I probably will buy 2-3 more of these batteries, and keep the extras in storage. That way if I am out in the woods or somewhere I needed extended power, I can just swap out a discharged one for a fully charged one.