Come on... did you really think my Dell Hell was over? As I mentioned before, the new battery is working a lot better, especially now that I've stopped using Remote Desktop Connection as much. However, I've noticed that every now and then, the machine will shut off when the battery is around 30%. No warning, nothing, just completely turn off. This has happaned a few times, and when it happaned again last night, I had had enough.

So I call Dell again. This time I got through in about 20 minutes. Funny story. I told the tech, jokingly, about how the sales guy had promised me 8 hours of battery life. The tech told me, believe it or not, that 8 hours is the "Official" party line, both from Dell and from the manufacturer. He them said something that was quite funny, and I'll paraphrase here:

"I'm certain you could get 8 hours of battery life.... if you booted into the BIOS and stayed there."

So anyway, I worked with the tech and nothing obvious came up. He said that I should give it another day, and if it still happens, to return the battery since it is still under warrenty. He told me Customer Service would demand I speak to a tech, but to mention my case # and I should be able to bypass it.

At the end of the call, he asked if I could speak to his manager to review the call. I told the manager that this call was fine, but my last experience was horrible, and that neither of my two "promised" calls ever came through. He promised me that I would get a call this time. So - let's see, shall we? I gotta say, I'd almost rather have less battery time than a laptop that just shuts off by itself.