[jon l. dawson]

Picked up my iBook this morning to use. It's a G3 iBook 800, by the way, which I purchased back in April.

Turned it on, it boots up and reports 83% battery life. Then, a few moments later, I look back and it's got an X, saying there are no batteries available (even though I am clearly still running off battery power). I press the button on the battery and none of the indicator lights come on. I then attempt to power down and power back up, but it doesn't come back.

Dead battery? Just like that? It was fine! I've got it plugged in now, to see if it will charge. Started out at zero percent and just now it went to saying there are no batteries available. Is there anything I can do? Is this going to be covered under Applecare, and if so, how do I deal with Applecare when I don't have phone support?

[macaddict0001]

Not dead battery just dead board in battery most likely. But since it can't be easily repaired even by a professional you are stuck with a new one.

[Detrius]

Originally posted by jon l. dawson:
Is this going to be covered under Applecare, and if so, how do I deal with Applecare when I don't have phone support?

If you have Applecare, you have phone support. Whether they will replace the battery depends on how old it is, as they consider batteries to be consumables--as they should.

[KianD]

Originally posted by Detrius:
If you have Applecare, you have phone support. Whether they will replace the battery depends on how old it is, as they consider batteries to be consumables--as they should.

He said he got his machine in April, which means its under warranty even without Applecare. And I dunno about the US, but in the EU its illegal to exclude batteries from the base warranty - as I know from getting HP to replace my Omnibook's battery on around 360 days into the warranty.

That said, I think I'm right in saying in the US you actually don't have to give a 365 day warranty on computers?

[jon l. dawson]

I meant Applecare as in the standard one year warranty, where you only have phone support for ninety days.

Went to the nearby Apple store and they weren't able to do much because of the genuis bar being converted into a checkout counter to accomodate all the holiday shoppers. An employee there said maybe now would be a good time to get extended Applecare but then said I should be covered and I could bring it in next week. we'll see what happens.

[Detrius]

Originally posted by KianD:
He said he got his machine in April, which means its under warranty even without Applecare. And I dunno about the US, but in the EU its illegal to exclude batteries from the base warranty - as I know from getting HP to replace my Omnibook's battery on around 360 days into the warranty.

That said, I think I'm right in saying in the US you actually don't have to give a 365 day warranty on computers?

I missed the April detail, so it would be covered under the manufacturer's warranty. Note, though, that the standard warranty only has 90 days of phone support, while AppleCare (the three year option) has full phone support for three years.

[jon l. dawson]

Conclusion. brought it in to my local Apple Store, waited forever, walked out with a new battery. I'm happy.