Review on 💻 Dell E6540 15.6 inch Laptop Intel Core i5-4300M 2.6GHz 8GB RAM 500GB HDD Windows 10 Professional 64-bit (Renewed) by Mark Hayes

This Dell Latitude E6540 appears to be in good condition as expected with little to no signs of use. No scratches or stains. The only problem is that the installed battery arrived DISCHARGE and NOT CHARGING! The first thing I did upon opening the box was plugging in the computer to charge the battery. After all night and part of the next day the battery showed 0% charge. I fiddled with the cables, hoping it was a bad connection, but the little lightning bolt on the battery icon next to the power button indicated it was "charging" the entire time. To further verify this I went into the computer settings and confirmed that the battery was indeed "charging" but also showing 0% charge after many hours of being plugged in. After first reading the instructions and warnings in the downloaded PDF, I turned the car over and removed the battery. I checked that the contacts looked clean and in good condition. It looked good. Blow gently on the contacts to remove any dust. I put the battery back in, hoping it would work this time, but no luck. The same - 0% charged, although the ads say it is "charging". I think if the battery didn't have a good contact the system wouldn't feel like charging. The computer works fine when connected to the network, so it seems the problem is with the battery itself and not with the connection. Given that a portable computer is meant to be portable, a healthy battery seems pretty important. This is of course a pretty serious shortcoming, which is why I only rated the purchase with 3 stars. I realize I bought a fairly powerful (refurbished) computer for less than $300, but I think it's reasonable to assume the battery will last a long time. I would have liked a few scratches and smudges and a working battery! A working battery would have given this purchase 4 stars. I ordered another battery from Revain for $69 (SUNNEAR 71R31 462-3678 9CELL 97WHR battery for DELL LATITUDE E6540/E6440 ATG laptop). I'm assuming this will fix the problem and while I don't need to buy a battery just to get this thing working outside of the home, I will. I don't want to return the whole device because of the battery. I will update this review when the new battery is installed and (hopefully) working. Just take a look. I cannot give this purchase more than 3 stars although the device itself seems fine. UPDATE: Sunnear's new battery charges very well. This is a $69 purchase (9 slots); I could buy a three cell battery for about $39. In any case, replacing the dead battery with a new one will solve the battery problem. My rating stays at 3 stars because it is clear that the computer was delivered with a dead battery.