Problems with dell xps 1330 laptop battery. Battery show 4 lights, but when computer unplugged

[ChromeFoundry]

4. Few questions...

When in Windows, does the battery charging indicator say "fully charged (100%)" when you hover over it? If you have the Dell utilities installed, you should see a graphical indicator that you can leave up when you unplug it from the AC power supply. Does it ever display less than 90% before it shuts down? Does it perform a full shutdown or does it power off like it lost power? Does Windows say it was improperly shutdown on boot up?

If you do attempt to buy a new battery, use caution on purchasing used batteries. Lithium Ion (Li-ion) have a finite number of charge cycles before they are spent. If you use the battery a lot, and let it go down below 50%, only expect to get a year out of it. Leave it plugged in whenever you can and it will last much longer. Li-ion batteries lose about 18% of their capacity after 120 full charge cycles.

Many dell batteries have LED indicators on then, with a membrane button to display how much of a charge they have (must be removed from the system to see the button). Try re-seating the battery if you haven't already.