My main work laptop is an ACER Aspire V5, and I was having battery issues last month. In my case, the battery would only hold a 45-50 minute charge. I bought a replacement from Amazon for $11.67 and it resolved the issue - now I get 2-1/2 hours on a recharge. It has a spendypants touchscreen, and has been a workhorse - I can't speak highly enough about it.
[yes, the touchscreen is needed in my work as a technical program manager building dynamic mobile, tablet & desktop compatible websites] I have only added two (2x) things: 1) extra memory (maxed the ram), and 2) an extra VGA/ethernet dongle.
My vote would be to keep your current laptop since (other than the battery dying) it sounds like it's satisfying your needs.
I recommend buying a battery, and if that doesn't resolve the issue satisfaction, sell it on CraigsList - advertised as "with New Battery" to offset some of the replacement cost.
