Laptop/battery is messed up

[the_guy]

I bought an extremely old laptop second hand a few years ago. It's a Toshiba Tecra 750DVD (I think it was the first laptop that could play DVD's). When I got it, it did not have a battery. I bought a battery off ebay, and it didn't work. I bought a second one and it worked. Until last week. Now the laptop will recognize the battery for about 10 seconds, be fore the light that represents the battery goes out. I have tried using an ink erasor to clean the contacts, and that hasn't worked. Buying a brand new laptop is not an option for me right now.

Can anyone give me any ideas on what to do. I'm not sure whether or not it's the battery or the laptop.

the_guy

[liquidguru]

i've found with all the laptops i've had, that the batteries have a life time of between one and two years. my present laptop, which i've used on mains power most of the time, is doing the same thing after two years...i'm sure it's your battery and not your laptop

[the_guy]

Thanks.

I just used the ink erasor again and it looks like the battery is fine again. If it does this anytime soon I'll probably just by another battery of ebay.

the_guy