<p>suzannegra, you raise a good point about Dell power supply (cord). They definitely do not last forever. In fact, my experience with several Dell models is that the power supply is one of the first things to go. Unless there is a manufacturing defect, the user, not Dell, pays for the replacement. It’s just considered normal wear and tear. I haven’t had problems with Dell batteries, but I would be surprised if effort gathering data for a “fix” was worth the time.</p>