We have a lot of posts on how to carry electronics, laptops, whatever, but I don't think they've ever been tested. Well, I've had this dell laptop for 3 yrs now, toting in a waterfield(?) sleeve inside a pannier, and about a month ago the battery stopped charging fully, and then last week it stopped charging at all. There has been a ding to the case of the battery for a long time, and the ding, I noticed yesterday, started propagating into a crack.

I have no idea if the ding came w/ the battery (I got a doomed one in the first place), or if the ding, and spread to a crack, has anything to do with biking (throwing it in a bag into a car trunk all those years could have been just as bad maybe).

Anyway, new battery arrived yesterday and now I'm good to go until the case falls apart (it's got a lot of chips in it too, I think Dell went crazy on the weight-weenie-ism for this model)

The replacement will be cheaper and faster by then .

Why not just carry an external drive with the files on it?

Laptop batteries typically have about a 3 year lifespan

Actually I have a 32GB SD card w/ all my data. But sometimes I need the computer too.

The replacement is already cheaper and faster. Laptops should be replaced at most every 2-3 years depending on how often it is used.

I agree with the others. All the Dells I had would have noticeably shorter battery life after about a year. By the 2nd year, the battery might be good enough to get me from one outlet to another and it would be time for another battery.

You were due anyway.

3 years out of a battery is good.

That's been my experience with Dell laptops also...