val() gets the default value even if another value is filled

val() gets the default value even if another value is filled

Hi,

I have a form with a input text field, a link, when I click the link gets the value of the field, but

as the field has a default value it gets that even if the user fills something else.

I get the value like this:
$("#input_email").val()

and the field looks like:

<input name="email" id="input_email" type="text" class="txtField01" value="Email Address" />

It works only if I refresh the page first, and that is not nice :)

Can someone help?