hello all,
wondering if you can help me with an HP dv1000 (actually 1520us) problem i've recently been having regarding the battery and charging.

it seems that the battery isn't charging well. here are the symptoms:

1. when the laptop is plugged in AC, and the battery is installed, the "battery" icon in the system tray blinks from a "plug" to a "battery" icon...the "plug" icon does not have the lightning bolt symbol on it. it shows the "plug" icon, then blinks a "battery" icon briefly, then goes back to a "plug" icon, quite regularly (like every 2 seconds).

2. if i remove the battery and use only AC power, the laptop works fine.

3. as soon as i install the battery, the blinking thing happens. that means that the battery takes very long to charge, as it's only getting charged during that brief 1 second when the icon changes to a "plug" symbol (note, it's a plug symbol alone, not a plug-with-lightning-bolt symbol).

4. jiggling the power cord around the power jack area does not make a difference.

5. if i substitute batteries with a dv4000 battery (same, except it's 10.8V instead of 11.1V) the same blinking thing happens.

any ideas?

Check and reset the power settings in the control panel. These settings may have been corrupted

This issue still happens on a fresh install of XP Home...

dv1000s have a big problem with badly soldered power connectors, its possible the battery's link to the power jack is degraded. you might consider having someone check it out (or do it yourself if you have the right equipment) then solder any unsolid connectors