Evidently, the battery for my hp pavilion zx5000 laptop is toast. While it is seen to be online by the computer it has zero power and will not charge. I assume it has shorted out. When I look for a replacement battery to buy the prices range from $70 to $150. What should I look for in a replacement battery? I assume some are significantly better than others and would like to increase the probability that I make a good choice as they are not cheap.
There’s really not much to look for, other than that it fits.
Unlike flashlight batteries, where there can be several fundamentally chemistries (carbon-zinc, alkaline, NiCd, NiMH, etc) in the same form (eg: AA, C, D cells) there’s going to be just one battery that fits your laptop, and whatever sort of cells are in it are whatever the manufacturer originally specified.
Where you can try to contain costs is in buying a genuine HP battery, or trying to find an aftermarket one. New vs reconditioned vs used is another way - used batteries will be ceaper, but might be just as bad as yours.
It might be worth checking to see if your CMOS setup utility has a ‘battery learning mode’ or similar; mine does and it rendered an apparently dead battery usable; as it ages, the output curve of the battery changes and left alone, the PC hardware/firmware can sometimes interpret slightly lower (or just different voltage levels overall as complete failure; the battery learning operation tries to charge the battery and discharge it and in the process, learn the new output curve.