My Battery has finally died.

[mysticwolf]

You're saying you had the laptop plugged in 99% of the time? So it sounds like it was basically a desktop. In which case, you should have just taken the battery out. But too late for that, so you can still get a replacement battery, assuming it's a relatively common model. Check eBay or something for a new OEM battery (as in made by manufacturer of the laptop, I don't think I would suggest a third party replacement battery.