Laptops that only have internal batteries are much less likely to work without the battery, this is obnoxious because keeping dead/outdated batteries in live computers is a fire hazard, so one can't simply be assured it's possible to keep using the computer as a pseudo desktop or discount server once its use as a laptop is over.

Some of them will still work fine without a battery while plugged in, but it's no longer a reliable expectation anymore.

I hate this planned obsolescence crap. At this point one legitimately has no reasonable choice other than building a luggable out of an SBC & portable monitor + USB power bank or something (unless one feels like screwing with USB->AC inverter for microatx + conventional PSU, good luck with the power constraints & finding the components in the first place).

Fuck whoever thought that was smart.

How did things degrade so much in the last few years?