I've been searching google and photo forums for like an hour and can't seem to find an answer for this...
When my D300 is in the off position it still shows the remaining shots on the top LCD. Is this supposed to happen? If so, is there any way to turn it off?
The power drawn by the LCD is tiny - think about LCD watches for instance. The number of shots remaining being there all the time is very useful, and in time you will be glad it's there.
When I'm packing my gear I love the fact that I can look at the top LCD quickly and it helps me figure out how many cards I need to take, and if there's one in the camera. I hope they never get rid of that feature.