Battery Woes: Detailed Help Desired

Question

So you've all head of this problem before. My MacBook battery isn't working. The details of the problem are this: my MagSafe Power Adapter broke this August (the wires frayed right at the magnetic connection the computer) and so my battery ran dry. I was out of the country for four months so I didn't replace the cord until recently. It's great to be back on my Mac, but unfortunately the battery isn't charging. It's not even recognized that it exists. There is a black "X" up in the charge meter, the kind that normally appears when your battery isn't connected to the computer. It's aggravating because I just replaced the MagSafe adapter.
To fix it, I tried pressing and holding the button on the battery for a few seconds. I also tried pressing and holding the main power button of the computer (the one just to the upper right above the keyboard) when the battery and MagSafe adapter were both disconnected. I read on the Apple site that doing this sometimes helps. But nothing worked. I do have the battery update (1.2, I think it is?) and Mac OS-X update that the website suggested in the help section. I haven't updated my software since August, though, so I'll try that and see if it helps. I kind of doubt that it will, though, considering that I have the suggested update and newer updates seem to have only caused trouble if what I read on these help-boards is accurate. I will update my software tomorrow, though (I will finally have internet access back) so I'll update my problem here on this message board once I try that.
What I really want to know, though, is if there's:
A) anything else I can do to try and fix the battery
or
B) if I've killed my battery and I need to buy a new one. I don't want to but I will if needed...I just want to be sure there is absolutely nothing I can do to fix the battery. I've had the MacBook for over a year and I have no applicable AppleCare plan or anything.
or
C) if contacting AppleCare and paying them to fix it/replace it is worth the trouble.
Please help or offer advice if you can. I know there are a plethora of topics on this problem but I've tried all the advice offered there and would appreciate some specific detailed help for my situation if it can be offered.
Thanks!

Answer 1

When you update your Mac to 10.4.11 the wrong battery update may be installed it may be 1.3. If it does you will need to remove it and put 1.2 back on.
You may be able to get a warranty replacement of the battery. The core duo batteries warranty has been extended and extra year. It doesn't matter if you have AppleCare or not as this is separate from that.
It sounds like your battery is dead. When the cells drop to a low enough voltage they may not recover to usable voltage. Since your battery was discharged for a long time when you were out of the country this probably happened. Your best bet is trying to get a battery replacement under the extended warranty plan. When you call Apple just explain to them you can't see how many cycles are there since your battery is not recognized. The phone number to call is in this link, battery update. It also describes the extended warranty.