Hi.
If you really feel the unit is faulty, you should consider making a complaint via Ebay, especially if you used PayPal to transfer funds. Personally I've purchased over 200 items via ebay, yes 1 or 2 bay experiences, but these were always resolved to my satisfaction.
The first thing you should do is check the ROM version on your x3( start>settings>system>About) and then make sure it is running the latest ROM version which you can download and install from Dell.com.
If the main battery is at 80% after a day or so, this is normal, however if you suspect that the main battery is failing, replacements are available from ebay for as little as $8,00 ( yes I know its ebay.. always check the sellers feedback).
That was the good news.
Unfortunately, if an x3/x30 is not used for a few months, the backup battery power drains below a recoverable level and cannot be recovered at all. This is a very common problem with the x3/x30. I know as I purchased 2 such units myself recently, but at suitable prices.
Their are 3 solutions.
1) Providing the main battery is OK, you may wish to run with the abnormal backup battery as it only really becomes an issue if you wish to change the main battery. The back up is only really designed to supply power for about 15 mins whilts the main battery is changed. In this case, you can change the main battery without problem if you plug in the mains adapter whilst changing.. Unfortunately, you cannot disable the low back up warning.
2) Companies such as
www.pocketpctechs.com and
www.pdaparts.com can sell you a replacement backup battery unit to just plug in a replace the failed unit. Cost is approx $40,00 plus shipping
In this case you need to take the pda apart. -
Lift out the 4 grey rubber plugs at the back, one in each corner , remove the 4 screws under the rubber plugs
Use a credit card or thin plastic to split the case between the silver back and black side and lift off the back.
Remove the 2 screws either side of the bottom connector and the one top left . Open the ribbon cable holders bottom right ( 3 of them) and carefully remove the cables from them . Then unplug the speaker - bottom left.
The back up battery is plugged in bottom right .. socket is white. Unplug this.
Remove the main board and pull out the backup battery which is the green unit bottom right. This is stuck in
Replacement is just the reverse.
3) The back up battery is actually a Varta V20HR, which can be purchased in bulk for $3, or shop arround for a single for as low as $7. This link will at least show you what you are looking for
http://www.akkuline.de/viewdetails.asp?exec=3345
Take apart the PDA as before and when you have the green battery unit , use a sharp knife to split the green outer plastic. Remove the cell and then with a small soldering ironheat the ends of the cable and whilst the solder is molten, pull off the cable. These you should then carefully resolder to the new battery terminals ( NOT to the battery ). Put the cell back into the green case and use some electrical tape to reseal. Re assemble PDA.
If you choose this option, make sure that you puy a V20HR with terminals and not just a button cell, in this case it is identical to the original, you just need to shorten the terminals before soldering and bend them flat to the cell. Otherwize you will need to buy electrically conducting solder to fix the wires directly to the cell faces and this is expensive.
For what it is worth, option 3 might seem daunting , but I have just carried out this procedure on 2 x30's without any problems at all and thus saved myself a far few bucks. Each one took under 1 minutes total.
If you don't want to carry out option 3) yourself, perhaps a friend/ local repair shop will do the soldering.
Good luck !!
PS.In this case i would avoid buying a replacement back up battery off ebay. Someone is selling them for $5,00 including instructions, but if you look, the picture is not the same as the one included in this posting and is definately not the same as the battery originally used. The Varta V20HR is the original part.
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