the battery will trickle charge when using ac power till its fully charged then charging will stop.

After opening the box is it alright to use the laptop while doing the initial charge?  My inspiron 6000 is 3 years old and it instructed me to charge for 12 hours before using, as far as i can remember...  Thanks again.  8

make sure the battery is dead (run it down if you have to). charge it up and leave it over night. i always do one more cycle after that (charge and kill) then i dont worry about it. these new batterys dont have any memory, i just do it twice to make sure.

 

other then that, leave it plugged in as much as you can (the best way to extend battery life is to not use it). dont tug/bend up you ac adaptor cord (get a second cord for work if you are taking it back and forth) and your gear should last awhile...