Laptop batteries

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lbushill

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#25866 4-Sep-2008 11:54

Lately the battery in my compaq f503au has stopped holding it's charge. It won't boot unless it's plugged into the mains, and even after it's been charging for a few hours or more the battery meter in windows still reads 0% charged. If I pull out the charging cord the computer loses power and turns off.

I did a bit of a search and most of the information points toward replacing the battery, however some have said that the motherboard and/or bios are poked.

Over the last few days it's also started giving me CMS checksum errors at the boot screen, I had a bit of a search for this also and most have said that either I have a virus, the cmos battery is stuffed and needs replacing or the computer was shut down improperly.

Anyways should I bite the bullet and fork out a $100+ for a new battery and replace the cmos battery also? Or is there something else I should be looking into?

nate

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#162195 4-Sep-2008 17:23

It sounds as though your battery is in need of replacement, it wouldn't hurt to replace your CMOS battery as well (it's only a small battery so it'll only be a couple dollars). Since you are replacing it, your system time will reset, though this is an easy fix.

manhinli

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#162203 4-Sep-2008 17:36

Hi there,

Coincidentally, I have the exact same model of laptop - the Compaq Presario F503AU, and I have noticed that even just leaving it alone for a few hours, the battery will lose around 5-10% of it's charge, and that it'll run for about 1 hour on battery.

I'm actually surprised that your battery ain't holding any charge at all - so it'll probably be a dying battery that will need replacing - but for such a cheap laptop really (I mean it's not even dual core... so...) I would really be holding back for a newer one later (unless you've got it as a longer term investment, which you would be forking it out now)

About the CMOS Checksums, usually it's a bad battery, but this motherboard by HP really ain't good. My wireless died a month ago, and it's a known problem across a range of laptops from HP with the same type of motherboard. But you could try replacing the battery (not sure how much that would cost though), by opening the memory cover if I remember (I know because I've done a memory upgrade)

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nate

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#162221 4-Sep-2008 18:45

manhinli: About the CMOS Checksums, usually it's a bad battery, but this motherboard by HP really ain't good. My wireless died a month ago, and it's a known problem across a range of laptops from HP with the same type of motherboard. But you could try replacing the battery (not sure how much that would cost though), by opening the memory cover if I remember (I know because I've done a memory upgrade)

Interesting about the motherboard issue, while my laptop was still under warranty (HP Compaq NX8220) the motherboard was replaced twice because of sound card issues. I did have a recent out-of-warranty issue with my Vodafone data card which was also a motherboard issue (this time out of my own pocket which really hurt).

It seems that the HP motherboards aren't the best, though my previous laptop was a Dell which wasn't much better.

natedog

120 posts

Master Geek

#162231 4-Sep-2008 19:10

I had similar problems with my compaq laptop recently. I mainly use mine on battery power so looked into buying an extended battery to get longer battery life. The most competitive price I found was from Battery Masta and I am now geting more than 5 hours use out of my laptop (with wireless etc connected all the time). Very impressed with their product and service.

lbushill

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#162448 5-Sep-2008 13:07

I did a bit more testing yesterday, from what I can gather the laptop battery and cmos battery are both stuffed and need replacing. Had a search around and the laptop battery is about $185 and the cmos battery $35 from a hp certified reseller. I couldn't find a replacement battery at places like batterymasta.co.nz or laptopbatteries.co.nz. Pretty pricey, might as well fork out a few hundred more and buy a new laptop at these prices lol