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ninjadex · May 10, 2004, 11:40 AM

My new 12" seems almost flawless except for one thing, the alumnium cover for the battery seems to be slighty warped on the front left edge making it not align properly with the main aluminum frame of the machine. The front left edge of the battery cover sticks out, even if just a little bit.

Is this a common issue with this machine? I think I may go back to the local apple store to see what they think,but it is really kind of bugging me as I am afraid it will catch on my laptop bag as I put it in.

Does your new 12" have any alignment issues with the casing and/or battery?

iREZ · May 10, 2004, 12:05 PM

I have a Rev B 12" and the battery doesn't line up to the body but it has never been a problem with my marware sleeve that I use. I have seen extreme cases tho, you should post a picture so we could tell you if its a problem or the norm.

ninjadex · 03:03 PM

As you can see, look closely at the far left lower edge, the cover comes out and goes lower than the main case, by about as much width as the aluminum case is thick. I thought that they advertised this thing as a SEAMLESS design.

diskgolfking · May 10, 2004, 01:00 PM

iREZ · May 10, 2004, 01:02 PM

I have a gap but not as big as that, not that the one you have is big. You might wanna take the battery out and put it back again. If that doesn't help your best bet is to see what Apple can do for you. I have the same thing on my 12" but alot less then yours, but you could still feel it when rubbing your hands on the underside of the 'book. Best of luck to ya.

Dont mean to rub salt in the wound but check out the bezel (grey plastic thing that goes the circumference of your PB) right infront of your trackpad and see if that is warping as well, thats a norm and it seems like every 12" has that problem, just letting you know more stuff so as not to surprise you later on.

NightEyes · May 10, 2004, 01:03 PM

I believe that is within spec. As long as your PB doesn't wobble on a flat surface, you should be good to go.

ehwang114 · May 10, 2004, 01:29 PM

Originally posted by ninjadex:
As you can see, look closely at the far left lower edge, the cover comes out and goes lower than the main case, by about as much width as the aluminum case is thick. I thought that they advertised this thing as a SEAMLESS design.

my battery has a little gap also. not as big as that but it does bother me, not enough to do anything about it though.

but my pb does wobble a little bit. i dont think its my desk because ive used it on many different surfaces and this is consistent. does anyone else have this problem?

365 · May 10, 2004, 01:37 PM

Originally posted by diskgolfking:

Did someone step in something and bring it in here?

ninjadex · May 10, 2004, 01:39 PM

A little gap is one thing, but the aluminum actually protrudes out and from under the case, hardly seamless design. The battery cover is actually closer to the table at that left edge than it is to the correct position. If I take the battery out and look at the aluminum I can visibly see it is not shaped exactly like it should be.

I will be visiting the Apple Store this evening and see what they say.

365 · May 10, 2004, 01:46 PM

Originally posted by ninjadex:
A little gap is one thing, but the aluminum actually protrudes out and from under the case, hardly seamless design. The battery cover is actually closer to the table at that left edge than it is to the correct position. If I take the battery out and look at the aluminum I can visibly see it is not shaped exactly like it should be.

I will be visiting the Apple Store this evening and see what they say.

Take it back and ask them to take a look, any reasonable human being should see that that is not within tolerances.

Lancer409 · May 11, 2004, 07:02 PM

any updates? i am curious as it seems this happened to me after i put in ram .. did i tighten ram door too much? (causing it to bend in? ...

eatinwokout · May 11, 2004, 07:32 PM

I thought I would post this here since there was some talk of a funny fitting battery. Anyway... I noticed that the led's on the bottom of my battery are always lit when the ac is plugged in. Is this normal? I wouldn't think so because they are there as indicators for when you want to check the capacity of the battery with the little button.

ninjadex · May 11, 2004, 11:39 PM

OK..quick update,

the Apple Genius replaced the battery with a new one, and while it is not aligning perfectly it is much better, and acceptable in my opinion.

Lancer409:
Funny you mention the fact you added RAM as I also did immediately when I got it. I did not notice if this issue happened after I installed it, or if it was that way out of the box. Are you sure it was after you added the RAM?

Lancer409 · May 12, 2004, 04:50 AM

Originally posted by eatinwokout:
I thought I would post this here since there was some talk of a funny fitting battery. Anyway... I noticed that the led's on the bottom of my battery are always lit when the ac is plugged in. Is this normal? I wouldn't think so because they are there as indicators for when you want to check the capacity of the battery with the little button.

are you sure it's always lit? or only when it's charging .. ie, when battery is at 100% (green adapter light) does ur battery still light up ...

off topic .. my battery never hits 100% or almost never .. it floats at 99% .. any ideas why?

Lancer409 · May 12, 2004, 05:12 AM

Originally posted by ninjadex:
OK..quick update,

the Apple Genius replaced the battery with a new one, and while it is not aligning perfectly it is much better, and acceptable in my opinion.

Lancer409:
Funny you mention the fact you added RAM as I also did immediately when I got it. I did not notice if this issue happened after I installed it, or if it was that way out of the box. Are you sure it was after you added the RAM?

i added ram exactly 5 days after i purchased the laptop (ups bumbled a 2 day air shipping and it took 6-7 WTF?)

i say the ram because .. well .. the battery was perfectly smooth as far as i could tell, and being the only battery i own, i would never take it out . unfortunately the directions say to ground urself on the battery slot. so i opened it up .. then proceeded to install the ram. (512mb from crucial btw). i notice unscrewing was a job in itself. while not hard to do (process) it was in pretty tight.

after popping the ram in, i put the cover back, then popped on the battery. the next day i had my hand under laptop and i felt a bump/ridge. seems the seam isnt flat as well as front corner. i have since tried re opening ram port, popping battery in while ram door was open, trying to smooth it down, then closing ram to see if it flexed any and helped. nope ..

i just figured it was in tight from the factory and the stress was fine, but since u pull it out, u can no longer get it into that small space. i dont know if that 's it but that's what i'm assuming at this point. it's not a big enough deal for me to return it, although i do love smooooth laptops... they swapped a new laptop for me within 20 hours of purchase because of one stuck pixel, so i figure ... considering their policy (they dont replace over 1 pixel stuck or dead) i figure i should let 'em kick back a bit unless something bigger happens. i hope someone can figure out how to pop it in smoothly .. just because i'm a stickler for perfection.

Lancer409 · May 12, 2004, 05:15 AM

btw, not editing so u can see what i changed or added... to clarify, when i say after removing battery you cant get it back into that small space, i dont mean battery wont go in the slot, just that you cant get a perfect snug fit like before.

'gnite guys

f1000 · May 12, 2004, 08:51 AM

Warping of the aluminum battery cover caused my 12� PowerBook to slightly wobble, so I detached the cover from the battery and gently bent it until it fit better. I also curved the retaining bar slightly so that it would hold the aluminum cover more tightly against the battery.

Lancer409 · May 13, 2004, 05:03 AM

how'd you remove it from the battery... any pix?

f1000 · May 13, 2004, 08:15 AM

Use fine needle-nosed pliers to remove the aluminum retaining bar. The bar will pull straight off. Place some tape on the pliers, though, to prevent them from scratching the aluminum.