I have my laptop battery connected all the time. When I use it, I usually connect to AC power with the battery attached. If I remove the battery I lose the date and time and have to reset them. I've noticed in stores that they have their laptops hooked up to AC power all the time without a battery attached. This is misleading because the form factor is much more when the battery is attached. Also ads usually portray the laptop being used on rugs, beds, etc. If people follow the ads, there will be burned out laptops all over the place! Anyway, to get back to my question. I store my laptop when not in use with the battery attached. When I use it at home I usually connect to AC power with the battery attached. Is this a good practice? Or if I don't store it, can it be hooked up to AC power all the time w/o the battery attached? In an unswitched outlet of course. Then, every once in a while I'd treat myself to an untethered battery use just to keep the battery up to snuff. In the case of hooked up to AC power with no battery, can the battery be attached while plugged into AC, so the date/time is not lost going from AC to battery? Views, suggestions?

>> If I remove the battery I lose the date and time and have to reset them. << If that happens then you need to replace the CMOS battery. Removing mains power and the main battery should have no effect on time and date settings. I've noticed in stores that they have their laptops hooked up to AC power all the time without a battery attached. This is misleading because the form factor is much more when the battery is attached. << What is that supposed to mean? As far as I am aware the only thing that changes when you attach a battery is the weight. If you are going to use the laptop on mains power for any length of time the best thing to do is to store that battery fully charged in a cool dry atmosphere where there is little temperature variation. The will extend the life of the battery. In that case the stores are doing th right thing as the laptop may be sitting on the shelf for weeks or months. Connecting the mains lead with the battery attached won't do any harm, indeed it is the recommended way of charging a flat battery. Stuart

There was an article on MSN ealier that said that leaving a battery in any device, (cell phone, laptop, etc), and having it being constantly plugged in will lessen the battery life if left like that for a long time. I would recommend keeping the battery out of the laptop while using AC, unless you are charging it. and looking into replacing your CMOS battery, as Stuart is correct, the main battery in the laptop should not effect the date/time settings. Hope that helps! Please respond after you have solved your problem to notify who helped you and what solved the problem. Both sides benefit when you do.

Hi, The guys are right. IBM ThinkPad manual used to state the same about leaving the batt out. If automatic chargers were truly 100% efficient there would be no need to remove the batt, but I have yet to see one that is. Luck, Jim

Hi again, OOPS! Forgot to say that Yes, the CMOS SETUP battery needs replacing. Jim