Can I just point out, this is what it says, or should say on all batterys:
CAUTION:
danger of explotion if battery is incorrectly replaced

so if you get a new battery, watch out =/

I just bought my New laptop last month so its new =]
it’s a Fujitus and when it is fully charged it can last 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours on high performance and on balanced 2 hours, and on power save about 3 hours

if you want to prolong battry life heres a tip:
every week drain the battry till it turns of, then charge it up as normal, my old laptops battry lasted 2 years at about 2 hour when i did that
And this a Must: When storing the laptop for a long time, drain the battery and take it of the laptop.

I guess running it on AC power while having the battery in place isn't good after all..

Time to change my practices =(

The way i keep my laptop running forever is use the battery completely before you recharge it. For example, if you use it for 5 mins and then plug it in, you just lost 5 mins. I find this way most effective, i've had my laptop for 2 years and it still lasts 4-5 hours on battery. Hope this helps anyone.

Regarding laptop batteries exploding, it can happen if the battery case is cracked open and the batteries replaced incorrectly in some way, possibly via poor soldering or even improper connections/chemistry? Based on what I've read LiFePO4's seem to be the way to go in terms of cost since they can supposedly do up to 2000cycles@80%dod. I've only seen data for 1C rates, and there may be charging concerns, but if viable they seem to be the way to go for replacement packs if up to snuff.

IME, deliberately underclocking/undervolting and aggressively suspending to ram can make a huge difference in power consumption and time available for use. In terms of storage, the manufacturer should have some suggestions about dod (depth of discharge) and storage temperature in order to maximize shelf life.