You're Not Mobile: Dell Replacement Laptop Batteries to Take Weeks to Arrive
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Fastest replacement option is the recall process, says Dell, but be prepared to plug in for a while.
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Computer giant Dell is to recall 4.4 million laptop power adapters because of a fear they could overheat, creating a risk of fire or electric shock.
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Toshiba Corp. (6502.T) said on Tuesday it  would replace about 340,000 laptop computer batteries made by  Sony Corp. (6758.T) worldwide, the latest in a string of Sony  battery woes.
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You might like those pretty colors the new Dell laptops come in, but paint problems are delaying their arrival to buyers.
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Dell Inc.'s  recall of computers fitted with Sony Corp.  batteries will not impact its brand in Japan, where two Dell computers are reported to have caught fire, the head of its local unit said on Tuesday.
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Dell Inc. DELL.O will recall about  990,000 power adapters for some of its laptop computer models  because of a risk of overheating which could lead to a fire or  electrical shock, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission  said on Friday.
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By Rachel Konrad< Associated Press  SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer Inc. on Thursday recalled 1.8 million Sony-built notebook batteries that could overheat and catch fire, just 10 days after Dell Inc.'s record-setting recall involving the same problem and the same supplier.
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(InfoWorld) - Following a series of massive notebook PC battery recalls in August, a group of PC vendors met last week to seek safer lithium ion cells, resolving to draft an improved standard for battery manufacturing and quality control by the second quarter of 2007. About 20 representatives, including people from Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Polycom Inc. met Sept. 13 in San Jose, California, said Kimberly Sterling, a spokeswoman for IPC, an electronics industry group whose full name is the Association Connecting Electronics Industries. Sterling said some additional companies participated, but declined to name them or indicate how many there were. The companies are trying to allay consumer fears afterÂ a handful of batteries in notebook PCs overheated, some bursting into flames and injuring their users. However, their efforts may be hindered by the absence of Sony Electronics Inc. and possibly Apple Computer Inc. as well, since those companies may not abide by the standard without having an opportunity to help draft it. Sony wouldn't commit to following the IPC advice until it collects further information, said Sony spokesman John Dolak. Sony skipped the meeting because it was never invited, Dolak said. Instead, the company has representatives on similar boards; Sony executive Doug Smith is chairman of the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp., a trade and lobbying group sponsored by battery manufacturers. Apple did not return calls about the meeting, which was run by committee chairman John Grosso, an executive at Dell. In August,Â Dell recalled 4.1 million notebook PC batteries, and Apple recalled 1.8 million notebook batteries.Â Sony made all the faulty batteries and blamed the problem on short circuits caused by a manufacturing flaw that left microscopic shards of metal floating in the lithium ion cell. Polycom, of Pleasanton, California, attended the meeting because it had recalled 27,700 of its wireless conference phones in February 2006. It is unclear whether Sony manufactured those batteries, too. Sony announced another defect in its batteries on Monday, when Toshiba Corp. offered to exchange 340,000 notebook batteries for fear they could suddenly lose power, shutting down the computer without saving users' work. Another hurdle for the nascent IPC standard is criticism from some experts that well-designed laptops shouldn't catch fire even if they do have faulty batteries. If PC vendors had used standard safety precautions in their notebooks, the defective batteries would have merely shut down, not overheated, said Donald Sadoway, a chemistry professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The technology came out in the mid-90s; we know how to build a safe lithium ion battery," he said. Engineers typically avoid overheating in lithium ion batteries with safety features such as microcircuitry that monitors the charging process, an additive that makes the electrolyte less flammable or a porous polypropylene spacer that melts at high temperatures, automatically shutting down the battery's chemical reaction. Sadoway pointed out that it is PC manufacturers who typically specify requirements to battery suppliers. "So the question in my mind is 'Why are people not building batteries with these safety precautions?' Something is wrong here, and I believe it has to do with human behavior, not electrochemistry," Sadoway said. "In our attempts to bring portable power to the masses, we may have gotten too aggressive in our cost cutting. If you want something that's quickly recharged, delivers high bursts of power on demand, and is cheap cheap cheap, I would say that's over-specified." Sony agreed that variations in PC and battery design can make a difference in how they handle short circuits. After manufacturing, Sony's cells are configured into battery packs by either Sony itself or by third-party contractors such as Simplo Technology of Taiwan. Depending on the contractor, the batteries can use a variety of safety mechanisms, said Sony spokesman Rick Clancy. "Within battery packs, there are different specifications related to charging and voltage, and regulators that monitor temperature to indicate overheating and shut it down," Clancy said. "But we've pretty much agreed with our customers not to point fingers at each other, so I'm not going to get into that." PC designers also make decisions that can affect overheating, such as specifying batteries with a range of 6 to 9 cells, and placing them in various proximity to heat sources such as the processor and charger, he said. Another aspect of computer design that could aggravate faulty batteries is pulse charging, a method of recharging batteries very quickly when they're plugged into a wall outlet, said industry analyst Rob Enderle. Dell disputed that point, saying they are not aware of any connection between pulse charging and overheated batteries, although they do use the technology, according to Dell's chief technology officer, Kevin Kettler. Â
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Had trouble meeting demand for high-capacity power packs Sony has admitted it could have moved "more quickly" to tackle the burning battery bug that hit two of the company's biggest power-pack customers, Dell and Apple, and prompted many others to recall Sony-made lithium-ion batteries.â¦
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Hewlett-Packard is making a high-stakes bet that it won't get burned by a bad battery. Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba and Fujitsu are recalling 7.7 million laptop batteries made by Sony. The batteries can, in rare instances, overheat and catch fire. HP uses Sony battery parts, too, but it is not recalling them. The company believes it is safe because it reviewed and rejected Sony battery parts for nearly a year before buying any, spokesman Mike Hockey says.
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In the largest electronics-related recall involving the Consumer Products Safety Commission, Dell Inc. agreed to replace 4.1 million notebook computer batteries made by Sony Corp. because they can burst into flames.
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(InfoWorld) - Gateway Inc. is recalling 14,000 batteries used in its notebook PCs after four customers reported that their computers had overheated, a similar condition to the massive battery recall that swept the industry in 2006. Dell Inc., Apple Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and other vendorsÂ recalled more than 8 million batteries made by Sony Corp. when customers began complaining that the rechargeable lithium-ion cells could overheat and catch fire after being dropped. Gateway recalled 35,000 batteries in that episode, beginning in October 2006. However, the new recall affects battery cells made by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and assembled into battery packs by Simplo Technology Co. Ltd., of Taiwan, Gateway spokeswoman Lisa Emard said on Tuesday. Gateway, the third-largest PC vendor in the U.S., expects both vendors to help cover the cost of the action. "We're working with our suppliers to cover the cost of replacement battery packs and other direct costs. We expect our costs to be limited to incidental expenses associated with administering the exchange program," Emard said. Simplo and Samsung did not return calls for comment. Even when they offer free replacement batteries, PC vendors face a challenge in persuading laptop users to participate in recalls. Earlier Tuesday,Â Toshiba launched a campaign to remind laptop users to return Sony batteries, after one user's computer burst into flames eight months after the previous recall began. Gateway expects better results from this recall since all the PCs were purchased through direct channels, either over Gateway's Web site and phone lines or through professional direct sales, Emard said. That means Gateway still has the buyers' addresses, and plans to contact them with news of the exchange program. The recall affects certain Gateway 400VTX and 450ROG series notebooks sold between May 2003 and August 2003, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The faulty batteries are identified by part numbers 6500760 or 6500761 and say "made by SMP" on a label pasted on the underside of the battery pack. "The root cause of this failure becomes apparent as the batteries age and perform repetitive charging cycles," Emard said. Of the four customer complaints, one had caused minor property damage while the others simply overheated, she said. Â
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Dell  said on Monday it  would recall 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because  they could overheat and catch fire, in the biggest recall in  the 22-year history of the world's largest personal computer  maker.
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Blog: Stripped-down laptop, which was supposed to launch this week, needs a little more time after the discovery of some glitches.
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October 8, 2004 - Dell Inc. is recalling about 2.9 million AC adapters nationwide_ 4.4 million worldwide_ used with notebook personal computers because they can overheat and cause a fire and electrical shock
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matrix42 is responding to Dell's notebook lithium ion battery recall by offering companies a fast and easy way to identify the devices that may contain the potentially dangerous batteries.
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Performance problems only - no fire risk, company says Toshiba has joined Dell and Apple, and asked its customers to send back their Sony-made laptop batteries currently sitting in Dynabook and Satellite machines. The notebook maker's recall extends to some 340,000 customers worldwide.â¦