What to consider when purchasing a 6 or 9 cell battery

[GBAstar]

Hi guys,

I've been browsing these forums from time to time for almost a year. I apologize if this topic has been discussed ad naseum however I want to pull the trigger on a second battery for my year old S10-4133 netbook as soon as possible. I'm most concerned with battery life and compatibility. I don't really care about the aesthetics as long as the battery is black.

I've seen several eBay Buy It Now listings that hover around $40 for a generic 9 cell. I just want to make sure they are compatible with my netbook and won't cause any HARM down the road. I'm not good at understanding battery specs (i.e. mAh rating) so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Basically I bought a new laptop a few weeks ago and I love my s10 to much to part with it so I really want to make it ultraportable and get a super life battery that I can replace my stock 3 cell battery with so that I can lug this netbook with me when I'm out and about on a day of business and not have to worry about it dying after an hour or two of light work / wifi use.

Other things I could use help with is understanding what to do with the new battery. Can I just install it and I'm set to go? does it need to be fully charged first? How do I prolong its life? What do I need to AVOID doing to prevent harm to the battery or my computer?

thanks so much guys... this truly is a great board