how long does 9cell battery last??

The battery sticks out anyway, whether its a 6 cell or a 9 cell.  i have 3 hours and 30 mins left at 97% battery charge when its in Performance Mode. On PowerSaver i probably have another 15-30 mins....

I have an 85 WHr  9-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery. So, you may have a 6 cell battery with the Battery Life you posted.

I have the 6-cell battery and average 2.5-2.75 hours.

But I also have the LED screen and use it at a lower power setting,

its actually too brite. :smileyhappy:

Battery life depends on many things, ho many periferals are you powering while your

running on battery, and the brightness of the screen impacts it the most.

The battery that attaches like a slice to the back of the system is the 9-cell.

There is no way you'd get 3-4 hours out of a 6-cell battery running Windows Vista.

How can one tell how many cells their battery has?

Mine lasts between 3-4 hours on high preformanced/balanced mode depending on what I'm doing.

(currently reads 4 hours and 20 minutes, with 99% remaining on balanced)

I like how the battery bottom pokes out :) makes the laptop really comfortable to use for hours.

Boy do I feel like a dork.

All I had to do was go to the dell website, and input my service tag, to get origional configuration list. Yup I got a 9 cell battery. (but I guess that was already a given).

You can check your battery health like this.

On the bottom of your battery you have the charge indicator. It also has another function:

If you press it long all the lights should go out for a healthy battery. The more lights light up after (i think after 3 seconds) the less healthy your battery is. If your battery is unhealthy after less than 6 months you should try to get a replacement from dell.

A 9 cell battery usaully last around 4-6 hours. depends on what you are doing, type of processor, type of screen. LED backlight screens are energy efficient and have a bright display.