Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Listener Joan in Santamaria, California got a refurbished tablet and it’s giving her some unusual trouble:
I’m trying to figure out how to use my ACER model ZEIV4 Iconia w3-810 using just the battery. I was part of a settlement and received a refurbished model but I have no instruction guide in how to use the unit without having it plugged into an AC adapter.
You probably have a bad unit. You really shouldn’t need to do anything at all to get the tablet to run on battery, just unplug it and go.
if the battery icon flashes when the tablet is plugged in, that’s their code to let you know that something’s wrong with the battery
If it’s turning off when you unplug it, there’s probably something wrong with it and you should probably be able to get a replacement.
Now, if the battery icon flashes when the tablet is plugged in, that’s their code to let you know that something’s wrong with the battery. If it is, check for firmware upgrades, that may be the cause of the trouble, and if there are none, or if that doesn’t help, you definitely want to take it in and see if they’ll exchange it for a working one. There are no instructions because there’s not much to say, all you should really need to do is pull the plug and keep using it.