gateway m285-e wont power up

Someone gave me a gateway m285-e that they were throwing out. Not sure what the history or condition it is in but had now ac power cord so I thought what the heck and ordered one. When plugging in a red indicator light came on but would not power up so I let it charge over night. Now I see a blue indicator light on but still will not power up. My question is if the battery is bad with the ac adaptor plugged in should it still power up? If the fact is that it will not power up with a bad battery I might just order one to see if I can get a boot up.

Some laptops will not power up without the battery inserted. So, if you want to spend the extra money, do so then at least you'll know it's not that, that is the problem. I hope it doesn't cost you too much though. Of course it could be a dead motherboard and that's why they threw it out.

gateway m285-e from Oct 2006.
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/...08804sp2.shtml