Switching From Battery To Mains Power

[lutami]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and very new to laptops so these will be basic questions to some of you, bear with me I'm on a learning curve

I. Is it ok to just pull the plug when moving from room to room when using the laptop, does the battery automatically 'kick in' or will I be harming the system in anyway.

I've been doing just that and replugging in at another location.

2. Is it best when using battery to let it run out completely before recharging or is it ok to swap from battery to AC power.

Will appreciate any thoughts on this.

[grspider]

Generally it's best to reduce the charge/discharge cycles of your battery when AC power is available since this will shorten it's life. According to manufacturer specs, newer Li-Ion batteries in conjunction with smart charging systems allow the battery to be in place even when working using AC power for most of the time. On older laptops if they were used with AC power all the time with the battery installed those batteries died about 4 months later because of heating and continuous trickle-charging (especially Ni-MH ones).
This is not the case with newest models. To be safe, personally i have my battery disconnected most of the times since i use my R40 mostly in places with AC power available.
Unplugging and plugging back your thinkpad to a different outlet is not harmful in any way, nor it will damage your system.
I hope i helped a bit.
Thanks, GrSpider