Hi, I have got a MacBook Pro 2.16GHZ (End 2006) with the same problem!
The only differnce is that my NUM-LED starts flickering in baterymode too.
Does anybody know something new about the problem?
Or does anybody know how to ease this problem?
I know you obviously found the existing thread through a search, but you'll probably have better luck posting a thread in the MacBook forum, since this forum is dedicated to the higher end desktop systems.