My wife's:

Dell Inspiron B130's battery wouldnt take a charge at all so i bought her a new 3rd patrty one off of the internet but after 6 months it's crapped out so now Im not sure what to do. From what I see the manufacturer's one on their site is $135 which seems really steep especially considering the poor ratings on it.

My Dell XPS M1710 is also having battery issues and need to pick up a new one too.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

As far as your m1710 check on ebay for an "OEM" battery, for your wife check below as none are listed on ebay. 6 cell with 9 month warranty 4 cell with 1 year warranty

4400mah new 6 cells Battery for Dell Inspiron 1300 B120 B130 [312-0416-5] - $62.99 : Expert-Battery.com (http://www.expert-battery.com/4400mah-new-6-cells-battery-for-dell-inspiron-1300-b120-b130-p-703.html?zenid=9f9fd913661760369860d7ed8d8c21f0)

4 Cell 2200mAh Battery for Dell Inspiron B130 1300 B120 HD438 [HD438-22] - $54.99 : Expert-Battery.com (http://www.expert-battery.com/4-cell-2200mah-battery-for-dell-inspiron-b130-1300-b120-hd438-p-1204.html?zenid=1f767e88c98c60cc1a908076bafd2cca)

thanks for the advice. another question, a quick search on ebay brings up a lot of batteries but this is where I ran into problems last time. the battery came from a 3rd party, like those listed I assume and it's lasted not long enough to make me feel like I got my money's worth. Are most of these listed on ebay reputable? Will the quality of the battery be halfway decent?

Definately check the user feedback but if the battery is listed as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) the quality shouldn't be an issue.

the issue is getting a new battery date wise.
We bought 2 from the same vendor last year (one for my laptop and one for an employees) but different model batteries.

The one for mine was a brand new date code, like 3 months old the other was like 16 months old, though still new unused.
Mine is still going strong, his was replaced within 3 months

YMMV

FWIW, I bought them directly from DELL and used currentcodes.com to get 25% off. I know Im paying a lot BUT I was burned before on 2 aftermarket ones and dont want that to happen again. {shrug}

I *think* the batteries from the manufacturer carry a 1 year warranty don't they?

wow, and this morning the Power Supply on my main desktop at home exploded (and smoked) so now Im in for a new one of those too and then the hope that nothing else got caught up in the explosion (MoBo, etc.). Damn this month and extra expenditures...Ill need to logon to Liveops some extra :)

I *think* the batteries from the manufacturer carry a 1 year warranty don't they?

Yeah, I just talked to Dell about a new battery for my E1505, and the mentioned the 1-year warranty to me when I told them their $135 price was insane. I still cheaped out and got something for like $60 on amazon. If you go the Dell route, you might as well call them in like 360 days and get yourself a new battery regardless of how it's doing (depending on your own ethical code, of course).

Laptop batteries are like toner/ink carts in printers.. it's where the $$$ is.