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Dell batteries don’t have a long life and often they start failing after 1 or 1.5 years, i.e., just after the usual warranty period is over. After this, they give just 10-15 minutes of backup with continuous red-green blinking battery indicator warning. So, you go hunting for a replacement. You look at the Dell battery prices and boy are they pricey. Then you also see several third party batteries with almost half the price. Thats compelling. The laptop is old as well to be investing so much into it. So, some like me would go ahead and buy the third party battery. Does it work out? Most of the times NO. Can something be done about it now that you have already purchased it? NO, except for returning it and buying a Dell battery. And I think you should complain about this to Dell (details at the end of the article).

Some of these third party batteries only work for some models, only for a certain batch of laptops. And for most, it doesn’t work. Dell refuses to charge these batteries saying it’s not a Dell battery. And blocks out the ones that work in newer versions. Ridiculous? You bet.

I looked around everywhere I could, for a solution. It was just hard to believe that someone, as reputed as Dell, would actively block other batteries from being used. But there are no solutions. Sorry. In my case I wasn’t able to return my third party battery. So it’s a dead brick to me now and I lost money trying to be smart about saving some.

When you boot your laptop, you get this message saying: “The model number for the primary battery cannot be determined. This will prevent any battery present from charging. Please insert a Dell battery for best system operation.”

We Have Band

Still, hoping that it’s a generic message and they aren’t really serious about it.. you go ahead and continue to boot… but you know what, they are totally serious about it.

Does Dell mention anywhere that no third party battery is allowed to be used? Does it mention anywhere that they are being actively blocked? NO. Not until you actually buy one and use it.

You also cannot use third party power adapter to charge your Dell laptops. Again Dell refuses to charge your batteries. And the Dell supplied power adapters, split open at the same place for most users. At the junction where you connect the power adapter to the power socket, the junction is weak and splits open… and after a while goes broke. So be careful as to not bend / twist it too much at that junction, which usually happens if you change postures many times, lying on couch, etc., and the power socket is behind you. A more elaborate description about it’s cause and a possible solution (if you are brave enough to break open the circuitry and solder) is here: http://www.laptops-battery.co.uk/blog/dell-ac-power-adapter-type-cannot-be-determined-solution/

So, what Dell does is something cunning. BIOS upgrades wont cut it. It’s all in the power circuitry of the laptop. Dell sells their laptops for a slightly lower price. But locks you in permanently with their low quality batteries (their power backup and life is lower compared to competitors like HP) which die just a while after warranty expires. You can’t choose anyone except them for the batteries and power adapter. This was a rude WTF moment for me and for many many others who have had the same problem.

Another outcome of this stupidity is that the circuitry involved in checking for Dell batteries isn’t robust enough, and sometimes even Dell batteries suddenly, out-of-the-blue, start failing this check. Suddenly they stop being recognized as Dell batteries and stop charging. And you’ll have to buy a new battery anyway, even if the battery can be charged fine. See here for some samples of frustration with this problem: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/18961707/19531733.aspx

Do I hate Dell now? Not really. Would I buy Dell again? Sure. Their offering is compelling to me despite this treachery. And I suggest Dell to many of my friends with a warning about this battery problem.

If you are looking to replace your Dell battery / power adapter, do yourself a favor and don’t buy a third party one. Even though they are of higher quality and from reputed companies. Dell doesn’t want you to buy them.

We Have Band

If you think that this is bad behavior on Dell’s part, that it is not acceptable and that they need to rectify it in their future models, let them know. I have opened a request on Dell’s official feature request website IdeaStorm. Please vote it up. Dell has never responded to this problem in their support forums. There is also a similar request made for the power adapters. Please Vote it up. It requires an account, which is easy to create.

Finally, WTF Dell?

A few days back Shahrukh Khan got on to twitter and has been posting a tweet now and then… The latest one is interesting:

   shahrukh_khan: When two rivers cross, do they actually meet?

Now what is your first reaction to this? Mine was:

Gaah, what was that?

I thought for a while, but didn’t know what to respond with… I thought it would be fun to see how others respond to it… and it really was fun

Here they are:

• 

  supersam5: @shahrukh_khan More like they embrace and begin a journey together.

• 

  athick2: @shahrukh_khan does it really matter? When 2 seas meet they don’t mix (science in Quran)

• 

  dineshbabu: @shahrukh_khan Rivers will have to meet, in order to cross. We meet people as we cross their lives.

• 

  theenmusketeers: Is SRK crowd sourcing screenplay work by asking varied hatke responses? RT @shahrukh_khan: When two rivers cross, do they actually meet?

• 

  jun6lee: @shahrukh_khan In the end they have to. How long can they not? [सुर से सुर जब मिलता है, इसको कहेते है सर्गम ~ राम-जाने]

• 

  aarjav: @shahrukh_khan only if they flow together for a while. Bt even when they don’t, the waters tht separate are not the same as the ones tht met

• 

  LokeshAwasthy: @shahrukh_khan if you want to believe, why not! ( i do )

• 

  akohli: @shahrukh_khan yes; that’s the confluence point or sangam.

• 

  RajaSen: @shahrukh_khan When a superstar is cross, does he actually tweet?

• 

  shreyankg: @shahrukh_khan Two rivers never cross, they meet! And we have a larger river!

• 

  pavanaja: @shahrukh_khan Do rivers cross? They normally join

• 

  shrikhande: @shahrukh_khan yes, not only do they meet, they mix with each others like 2 lovers

• 

  sujeet: @shahrukh_khan Yes. Unless one’s an underground river.

• 

  shahpar_selim: @shahrukh_khan no they dont. two rivers only meet when they merge. when they cross, they part after a while.

• 

  Clochette1948: @shahrukh_khan Not ‘meet’. It’s a joining where fusion takes place and a parting where each will take along elements of the other.

• >

  sushobhan: @shahrukh_khan They embrace, exchange fluids and move on to their tomorrows.

• 

  SeshuThePhotog: @shahrukh_khan Isn’t that what "sangam" means? Two rivers crossing, meeting, becoming one.

• 

  Kaylias: @shahrukh_khan Just like people. They meet, and when they leave they leave a part of them with the other. =)

• 

  ravijain1984: @shahrukh_khan They not only meet but go on creating something that didn’t even existed before they met

• 

  jannat01: @shahrukh_khan It’s just a matter of time, but they’ll do, because their reason what they’re there for is the same – flow.

• 

  jannat01: @shahrukh_khan I think, they somehow do, because their reason what they´re there for is the same – flow.

• 

  avra83: @shahrukh_khan…it should hypothetically..wrt 2 rivers..btw what was the connotation..and do u check ur @replies

• 

  Koliah: @shahrukh_khan Depends on the raindrops, falling in this rivers, like each other.

• 

  suryasnair: @shahrukh_khan they just say "Dude, see you @ the sea!" and run. The ocean is where the meetings happen…

• 

  purvapar: @shahrukh_khan I think they meet, merge and separate.. each one taking memories of the other when they do.

• 

  glaksh: @shahrukh_khan Technically are they still two rivers after they meet? :p

• 

  ShahRukhFanClub: RT @shahrukh_khan When two rivers cross, do they actually meet?

• 

  Shaheema: @shahrukh_khan Nope, they don’t meet. The three rivers in Kanyakumari are clearly separated. That’s the beauty of nature.

• 

  Srkfreak: @shahrukh_khan Dont known !! I think they Dont !

• 

  cornelia_: @shahrukh_khan They meet in the ocean at every point of time. Whishing you the very best always! Love & Peace

• 

  giusippe: @shahrukh_khan need more updates from u!!!

• 

  BlakeyBoy12: @shahrukh_khan take Pakistan and India as being rivers, have they ever met? So i assume not!

• 

  abhiomkar: @shahrukh_khan very difficult question

• 

  shaktijs: @shahrukh_khan they meet and lose themselves in each other. That’s the beauty…

Whats your answer to SRK’s question?

Just a look at Mumbai Terror Attacks from various perspectives.

Photographical walk through.

Timeline of events.

Heartfelt call to keep chasing the golden songbird.

On television from across the border.

By a Kashmiri born political science teacher in Norway.

Wall Street Journal’s Commentary.

Putting the jigsaw pieces together.

Lots of chilling stories about individual tragedies and individual efforts that saved hundreds. I’ll spare the tragedies, while here are some efforts that saved hundreds of lives:

South African Security Personal Save 150 Lives.

How Station Announcer at VT Station acted timely.

How a Police man distracted the Gunmen.

Wall Street Journal aptly points out:

The litany of errors is long. Unlike their counterparts in the West, or in East Asia, India’s perpetually squabbling leaders have failed to put national security above partisan politics. The country’s antiterrorism effort is reactive and episodic rather than proactive and sustained. Its public discourse on Islam oscillates between crude anti-Muslim bigotry and mindless sympathy for largely unjustified Muslim grievance-mongering. Its failure to either charm or cow its Islamist-friendly neighbors — Pakistan and Bangladesh — reveals a limited grasp of statecraft. Finally, an inability to modernize a 150-million strong Muslim population, the second largest after Indonesia’s, has spawned a community ill-equipped to seize new economic opportunities and susceptible to militant Islam’s faith-based appeal.

Lets keep chasing the golden songbird. In Suketu Mehta’s words:

But the best answer to the terrorists is to dream bigger, make even more money, and visit Mumbai more than ever. Dream of making a good home for all Mumbaikars, not just the denizens of $500-a-night hotel rooms. Dream not just of Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai or Shah Rukh Khan, but of clean running water, humane mass transit, better toilets, a responsive government. Make a killing not in God’s name but in the stock market, and then turn up the forbidden music and dance; work hard and party harder.

 

If the rest of the world wants to help, it should run toward the explosion. It should fly to Mumbai, and spend money. Where else are you going to be safe? New York? London? Madrid?