Blinking red light on my dell laptop

SOURCE: Lights on front panel on Dell Inspirion 1100

The orange lights are an error code. Dell has the exact code so the best thing to do is contact Dell tech support & let them tell you what the specific code means. Hope this helps.

SOURCE: flashing red light

It is an indication that the battery is beginning to fail. Portable system batteries have a useful life of approximately 300 to 500 recharge cycles on average. (Some last longer, some shorter)

If the battery is over a year old, then the warranty on the battery is expired. You'll need to purchase an new battery

SOURCE: battery light blinking red during charging

Dell or Panasonic? Your post has both listed.

If the blinking light on a Dell is yellow or amber or orange (somewhere in that color range) and continues to blink the entire time it is plugged into AC power (wall outlet) and when you unplug it from the wall the laptop immediately dies .... then you battery is dead and needs replaced.

If the blinking light stops after a while (perhaps a minute?) and then turns green while plugged into AC power, then it is successfully charging - or so it thinks.

When you unplug it from the wall, does it stay up and running?
If it runs, it's OK - just ignore the light and plan on getting a new battery one day, start browsing now. :)
If it dies immediately upon unplugging, then your battery is dead and needs replaced.