Laptop power supply - mains or battery?

[Mamohau]

Most of our company staff use laptops as they're often out of the office (keeps them working at weekends too!). We've just had this strange message from our IT department (or MIS as they like to be called):
To All Laptop Users


"From walking around the building, I am constantly seeing laptops that are permanently plugged in.

Please do not leave your laptop on permanent charge - this will damage the battery !

Laptop batteries are expensive to replace.

Your battery should last approximately 2 - 3 years before they need replacing.

If you wish to leave it plugged into mains power, take the battery out."

Huh?? So then if there's a powercut there's no battery to fall back on? Can this really be true??? We, the minions who just run the company are having the wool pulled over our eyes? Perhaps it's an April Fools' day joke, fo June?

any suitable comments to feed back to our rather archaic IT department would be great!

Thanks

[Steve R Jones]

Probably 99% of all notebook users (myself included) leave the battery in all the time.

Ask your MIS department about batteries that drain when not plugged in: "won't that hurt the battery too?"

[BipolarBill]

Fooey. I say leave it in.