On Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:29:53 -0700, mike wrote:

You'll find youtube videos on how people added power supplies to
keep the chip powered while replacing the cells "hot".
Another problem is that even if the chip doesn't turn the system
off, it sometimes remembers the old battery capacity and reports
that to the laptop which turns off based on the wrong number.
It's always something.

If the computer remembers the battery capacity, what happens if a person
gets a new battery? If the old battery was at (example 25%), then a
brand new battery will only work at 25%.

I never knew it was so complicated to change a battery in these laptops.
I think my plan to rig up an external motorcycle battery pack is looking
better by the minute. I did remove the battery yesterday and was able
to run the computer via power cord connected to AC outlet. If that
battery is gonna shut down the computer so I cant use it at all, I wont
be putting it back. From now on it will operate off AC or an external
battery only.

Thanks for the extensive info about this.