[swiftcoder]

> I've not come across any laptop or Android smartphone that wouldn't power up without a battery.

I had the pleasure of working on an Android smartphone that wouldn't power up without a battery. Or even with a battery, if the outside temperatures were sufficiently low to cause the battery voltage to drop below the FCC-defined limits for running the radios.

[bserge]

What make/model? Sounds a lot like a soldering problem somewhere. Or really poor design heh