battery at 98% when plugged in

[adalgisa]

Hi, I've got a laptop here that's about a month old, and most of the time has been running on ac power. The power meter doesn't register any higher than 98% charged. Is there a problem with the battery? Is this normal?
It is a T61 Thinkpad, if that matters.
thanks

[EzyStvy]

For grins - run it off battery for a few hours and then recharge.

[thefultonhow]

ThinkPads have a really nice feature where they won't start recharging until they reach a certain threshold. The default is 96%, but I set it to 93% on my T43p, and it may even make sense to go a bit lower. It's a good idea because it prevents the computer from recharging the battery when it dips down to 99%. It's just as bad for the battery to go from 100% to 99% and recharge as it is to go from 100% to 30% and recharge, and batteries will often discharge even when the computer has remained plugged in, due to the heat the computer produces. If the computer recharges the battery every time this happens, the battery's lifespan really suffers.

So basically, it's a feature, not a bug.