Dell recalls 4m laptop batteries - PBX Info :: Your Free PBX, PABX and Telephone Information Resource

***JulianW*** · 08-15-2006, 04:42 AM

The world's largest manufacturer of personal computers, Dell, is to recall 4.1 million of its notebook computer batteries because of a fire risk.
Most batteries are in computers sold in the United States but more than 1m are believed to be outside the US.
Dell says it knows of six instances since December when the batteries, made by Sony, overheated or caught fire.
The US body responsible for consumer safety says it is the biggest recall of electrical products in its history.
A spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Scott Wolfson, said users of affected laptops should only run the machines on a power cord.

'Rare cases'
The Sony lithium-ion batteries were placed in laptops shipped between April 2004 and July 2006.
They were included in some models of Dell's Latitude, Inspiron, XTS and precision mobile workstation notebooks.
"In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and or fire," said Dell spokesman Ira Williams.
"It happens in rare cases but we opted to take this broad action immediately."
Dell plans to launch a website telling customers how to get a free replacement battery, the Associated Press news agency reports.
No injuries have been linked to Dell laptops with defective batteries, the company was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

**rixride** · 08-21-2006, 03:56 PM

oops only 4 million?

***JulianW*** · 08-22-2006, 06:00 AM

If I remember it correctly about 2.5 million in the US and the rest are scattered around the globe.

***sepay*** · 08-22-2006, 07:38 AM

does that include the asian countries? cause we have one dell latitude d510 here. We usually stack it on the server room, if this gets on fire, this will be a lot of trouble for us and the whole company.