Dell Issues Laptop Battery Recall

zoogies writes "The New York Times is reporting that Dell is now issuing a laptop battery recall — for notebooks sold between April 2004 and July 18, 2006. According to the article, 'The recalled batteries were used in 2.7 million computers sold in the United States and 1.4 million sold overseas. The total is about 18 percent of Dell's notebook production during the period in question.' This seems to go along with a June Slashdot story on an exploding Dell laptop, and a July Slashdot story on a Dell investigation into its exploding laptops. Curiously, there is nothing yet on Dell Support's product recall page about this latest recall."

Sony Batteries

[Trevahaha]

At least they're being open about the fact that Sony manufactured these defected batteries. I wonder if other devices using these batteries are going to start exploding as well?

Re:How To Check / What To Do

[NineNine]

Am I the only one who does this, anyway? I mean laptop batteries are ridiculously useless. If you're doing anything on the computer, especially with the DVD drive, they only last an hour or three at most. Besides, it's not like an electrical outlet is all that hard to find. I hear that they're even including standard 120V outlets in a lot of passenger cars now!
 
Getting rid of that useless battery saves tons of weight (not that laptops are heavy these days), but they also save a lot of heat on your lap, and potentially, extends the life of the laptop, because they're kept cooler with no battery.

Re:Dell laptops are now banned on Airplanes

[d1g1t4l]

On somewhere news in England, Dell Laptops are now banned on airplanes. Actually you can bring your Dell laptop on the plane but the battery is NOT allowed!!! (Can't edit my own comment!)

from report

[john_uy]

the same sony batteries are used by hp and apple too. so do we expect recalls from hp and apple or is it a different issue where the batteries explode on dell laptops only?

From the Article

[mkiwi]

FTA:

The safety agency said the batteries were not unique to Dell, meaning that other companies using Sony batteries may also have to issue recalls. Sony has sold its batteries to most of the major computer makers.

This leads me to wonder if some of the MacBook Pro batteries were made by Sony.

Yep, with Li-ion nano phosphate

[skids]

Pretty incredible things these are -- all the advantages of Li-poly with none of the stability problems. www.a123systems.com

Right now they are what powers the Dewalt 36V power tools, and you can pick up slightly-overpriced hobbyist assemblies at www.a123racing.com. Valence also makes something similar, perhaps a bit more famous for being in the Segway, called Saphion, but doesn't seem to direct-market them.

Re:Sony Batteries

[mjohnsond]

Take the number of vehicles in the field, (A), and multiply it by the probable rate of failure, (B), then multiply the result by the average out-of-court settlement, (C). A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.