Anyone know of a source for good, working batteries. Ebay/amazon has them, but t they look dicey. I might take a chance. I have a use for mine running 10.6.8.

I no longer have mine, I forgot but I think it was a 3 cell near the hinge? if so, you may be able to crack it open and replace the 18650 cells with fresh one. Just buy from a reputable place like DigiKey, Mouser, AdaFruit, Microcenter, etc. I suspect many 18650 on Amazon are fake or low quality.

EDIT:

[www.youtube.com]

Apparently the original battery has a microchip which shuts down the control board, so even if you replace the cells, it will still not work. But replacement batteries do not have this issue and you may be able to replace the cells (if you use a non Dell battery pack)

I didn't watch the whole video, just a few moments that seemed important. YMMV



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2024 09:45AM by special.

LOL the battery on my Dell Mini 9 lasted about 6 months and that was the end of that experiment.

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

Does the computer still work? My Acer Aspire One, nearly identical spec as the Dell Mini 9 and released about the same time - 2008, died earlier this year while it was sitting on the shelf. It was on its third battery. I’m not hopeful many 16 year old, $200 laptops are still working.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2024 12:07PM by Forrest.

"I’m not hopeful many 16 year old, $200 laptops are still working."


Hey, my 24-25 year old, many X more than $200 laptop (Pismo) is still going strong (when plugged in; batteries are loooong gone).
Stuck on 10.4, been dreaming about 10.6.8 for years. Screen is dim upon startup, then takes awhile to warm/brighten up.

I contemplated the Mini 9, but ultimately whiffed on it.
OTOH, my similar vintage 2008 SR MBP is also still firing on all of its V-12 cylinders (or whatever's under its hood).
Our 2004, 14" high end Dell EVO laptop lost its screen (backlight?) a couple of years ago, but was running great right up until then.
Haven't bothered to fix it, as its WinXP drive has been virtualized for many years. May try an external monitor eventually. Or not.

Never bought a laptop that was ever even close to $200 when new.

Good luck w/ the battery search.... maybe there's a Dell forum w/ better DellResources?



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My point is the Dell Mini and my Acer Aspire One was designed to be low cost from the beginning. The other computers you described were not designed as low cost.

In all honesty, I haven’t opened up the Acer to find out why it died. I wonder if there’s a dead cr2032 battery.

I used my Dell Mini 9 for years to run classroom Powerpoints until I retired in 2019. I want to say that I caught a smoking deal and paid less than $150 for it. The setup that IT had for our classrooms took FOREVER to start up and I was typically the first one to teach in the morning so I'd be twiddling my thumbs waiting for the computer to boot. The Mini 9 allowed me to just walk in and plug in the projector and go. My wife used it for a year to watch the Braves with a VPN after I retired but then it died and it went to Goodwill. I'm using the Logitech mini mouse that I got for it with my MacBook right now.

^ This

I used my Mini 9 as a cheap laptop that I could just leave in my classroom for use with the smart board. The Mini likely had the battery die because it was abused battery wise. It was plugged in until someone would unplug it to charge a phone or something. So the battery state was essentially always 100% or 0%, not ideal.

A Mac Mini replaced the Dell Mini as the smart board computer only to later be replaced by an ATV and iPads via AirPlay.

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

Quote
Forrest
My point is the Dell Mini and my Acer Aspire One was designed to be low cost from the beginning. The other computers you described were not designed as low cost.

In all honesty, I haven’t opened up the Acer to find out why it died. I wonder if there’s a dead cr2032 battery.

That was my point, too..... as noted, I **almost** pulled the trigger on a Mini 9, but didn't.
The 2011 MBA I bought for Baby Buzz to take to college, or the G3/G4 iceBooks were probably the cheapest laptops we invested in.
Heck, the old EVO, which I misspoke before, is a Compaq, not a Dell, was close to $3K, and my old PB3400 (that replaced a PB1400 after a PB5300)
was nightmarishly expensive, though given its timeframe, was probably my all-time most productive laptop.
Now, if only I woulda invested in AAPL stock instead of laptops at the times that I did..... my address would be on Easy Street now.


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Gosh, I loved my Mini9. Probably the best value technology I ever owned.

But it is not better than the iPad that I replaced it with.