Also this may be worth looking into when you get a replacement...
If you've installed Windows XP Service Pack 2 on your portable computer, you may find that the battery goes down more quickly than you expected after you unplug the AC power. This can happen because the computer isn't able to go into the ACPI processor idle state because of a component of the USB 2.0 driver. There's an update that you can download and apply to fix the problem. To find out more and get the update, see KB article 918005 at
http://www.wxpnews.com/7D7HLN/060530-Battery_Drain