Dell recalls 4m laptop batteries
Discussion
BBC said:
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 has already launched a website (www.dellbatteryprogram.com) telling customers how to get a free replacement battery.
No injuries have been linked to Dell laptops with defective batteries, the company was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
The CPSC has identified 339 incidents in which lithium batteries used in laptops and cell phones - not just Dell products - overheated between 2003 and 2005.
Some incidents involved minor skin burns or actual injuries as well as property damage, Mr Wolfson said.
And the CAA are allowing laptops back on planes again...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 has already launched a website (www.dellbatteryprogram.com) telling customers how to get a free replacement battery.
No injuries have been linked to Dell laptops with defective batteries, the company was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
The CPSC has identified 339 incidents in which lithium batteries used in laptops and cell phones - not just Dell products - overheated between 2003 and 2005.
Some incidents involved minor skin burns or actual injuries as well as property damage, Mr Wolfson said.
Just spent the last 2 days trying to recover the HD on mine. Got it up and running this afternoon to find a completely empty disk. Everything is missing - loads of work (mostly backed up thank god) but also pics, videos, favourites, e-mails, the whole lot has gone
Still, at least I have got a non flammable battery although I do feel
like setting fire to the damn thing and heaving out of the window at the moment.
Still, at least I have got a non flammable battery although I do feel
like setting fire to the damn thing and heaving out of the window at the moment.
We asked Dell if they could tell us what battery was fitted in each laptop, as we had purchased 650 D610's and approx 300 d620's. The answer, no.
Our server team wrote a batch file script to get the serial number of each battery from every Dell laptop that is put on the network. If the laptop has a faulty battery then it will display a message on the screen telling the user to remove the battery, so far it has ID'd about 10 laptops.
Our server team wrote a batch file script to get the serial number of each battery from every Dell laptop that is put on the network. If the laptop has a faulty battery then it will display a message on the screen telling the user to remove the battery, so far it has ID'd about 10 laptops.
panclan said:
Our server team wrote a batch file script to get the serial number of each battery from every Dell laptop that is put on the network. If the laptop has a faulty battery then it will display a message on the screen telling the user to remove the battery, so far it has ID'd about 10 laptops.
Don't want to mail that script to me do you..?!?!
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