Toshiba to Exchange 340,000 Laptop Batteries 97
narramissic writes "Toshiba Corp. has offered to exchange 340,000 laptop computer batteries made by Sony. According to a Toshiba spokesman, the batteries may fail to charge correctly, causing the power to cut off suddenly. The company will be posting a software tool to its Web site, allowing customers to identify whether their computer is affected." From the article: "Toshiba's problems stem from a defect in the interface circuitry between the battery cells and the computer. That defect is caused by corrosion, said a spokesman for Sony, the manufacturer of the batteries. An ingredient used in the insulating paper of batteries manufactured between March and May can corrode components in the batteries' charging circuits, causing them to fail, said Sony spokesman Takashia Uehara. The supplier changed the composition of the insulating paper without notice, he said."
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Which Laptops? (Score:3, Informative)
Toshiba's free battery exchange program covers 11 notebook models sold in Japan, five sold in the U.S. and 12 sold in Europe, including the Tecra A7, Satellite A100, Satellite M50 and Satellite pro M70
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I tried posting the list, but the lame filter was to lame to realize it was ueful, and I am to lame to spend an the time needed to format it in an obvious enough way that the filter won't throw a hissy-fit.
Re:Which Laptops? (Score:5, Informative)
MODEL,NUMBER,CELLS
SatelliteA100,PSAA0-PSAA1-PSAA2-PSAA5,4-6R
SatelliteA100,PSAA8-PSAA9,6N-12N
TecraA7,PTA70-PTA71,6N-12N
SatelliteProA100,PSAA3,4-6R
EquiumA100,PSAA4,4-6R
SatelliteM70,PSM70-PSM71-PSM73,4-6R
SatelliteProM70,PSM75-PSM76,4-6R
EquiumM70,PSM77,4-6R
SatelliteM50,PSM53,4-6R
SatelliteProM50,PSM55,6R
EquiumM50,PSM59,6R
SatelliteM100,PSMA2,4-6R
SatelliteM100,PSMA0-PSMA1,6N
TecraA6,PTA60,6N
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Sony = Bad News (Score:1, Flamebait)
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Arrrrrr (Score:3, Insightful)
This sort of shakedown can only serve to improve the product before I finally pull the trigger and make that purchase
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I still use tincans and string.
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But seriously, it's not due to lack of technology that I haven't got a laptop, it's due to lack of necessity. It would be a luxury, one I can't afford just yet. What I meant by the GP was that this made it easier for me to withstand the urge to look into purchasing one. My desktop with dual monitors will suffice for now
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You can't put a price on mobility... I run Linux on my laptop, and can go work in the shitter at home if I want to ( or look up pr0n ). Now that's progress!
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You have no idea how annoyed I was when I checked and found my dell's battery isn't of the exploding variety. Now if I want more than 30 minutes of battery use time I'll have to buy a new battery myself...
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Hmmmm... I wonder how long the warranty period is. :)
In my experience with Playstations and similar devices, it's the damn connectors that give out. And since the connectors are usually proprietary, thanks to the thoughtfulness of Sony's MBAs, the device becomes obsolete before its time. For example, were it not for the failed totally-arbitrarily-proprietary video connector, my PS1 would still be cookin'.
And we are all aw
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In my experience with Sony devices, it's the optical drive that gives out. Probably more PS2s have died of this than anything else. #2 cause is spontaneous death of the power supply, I guess Sony's forte ain't really power delivery. Failed connectors is probably way way down the list.
Dea
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The batteries, made by Sony Corp., may fail to charge correctly, causing the power to cut off suddenly if the notebook is not connected to a mains outlet, said Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori.
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After this I wouldn't trust Sony (or any other comapny who will sell out quality and high standards to make a little more money) to make anything for me a
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The software (Score:4, Funny)
printf("Your battery is not affected.\n");
}
else {
printf("Your battery is affected.\n");
}
Lucky for Toshiba (Score:3, Interesting)
First of all, Toshiba isn't exactly a, how shall we say, 'household name' in the U.S./Western market.
Secondly, you can bet that Toshiba doesn't have to pay for Sony's mistakes - that role typically falls to Sony (or Sony's end-users). Thirdly, there is little the U.S. business news, and to some degree European news world likes to cover more than a big huffy-puffy recall, or RECALL RECALL RECALL!
So for a small name like Toshiba, this equates to free publicity, and goodwill; "Aww- look how well they took care of thier consumers."
from the article:
"Toshiba's free battery exchange program covers 11 notebook models sold in Japan, five sold in the U.S. and 12 sold in Europe, including the Tecra A7, Satellite A100, Satellite M50 and Satellite pro M70, Ohmori said. European customers can consult a list of affected computers on Toshiba's Web site "
So essentially, they are getting free publicity in the U.S. and European markets. (Not that this is a good or bad thing, just and interesting aspect of the situation) Ask someone in a week to name 5 laptop makers, and I'd wager Toshiba moves up the list in recognition. Longterm, (nearly) any press is good press.
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I do like their notebooks and support though, I hope this name recognition helps them.
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First link is 1.5 years old, second is 5 years old. Yeah, they're old, but they both show that Toshiba has an extremely large market share in the US. 5 years ago they had the third largest at 21%. 1.5 years ago, out of the they had 4 (including #1 & #2) of the top 10 selling laptops.
This in no way is to gain recognition because people don't know who toshiba is. They either got called on it privately, they're doing it in good faith, or they want to screw over Sony. Since they're t
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I'm not sure we're even disagreeing here, I was mostly intersted in pointing out that all in all, this will probably be a positive long term for Toshiba in the market, and especially as you point out, against Sony. I just happen to think Toshiba is experienceing luck of circumstance, it appears you think there is more maneuver involved.
I must say I was impressed and surprised by the links you helpfully put up, especially the first one. It does appear from the newer article t
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With regard to what you are actually saying, I should clarify. Since I know you read my statements in their context, I'm sure you noted that my point was that I had a hunch that having the highest selling laptops, and those laptops being relatively inexpensive, it implied some sales coming from outside of the 'West'. And wouldn't you know it,
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Perhaps, I was just speculating. Business is business, and most businesses do what they can to get ahead.
I see your point, but I disagree, sort of. I just don't think Toshiba is that "unknown" as a brand; I believe they have more brand recognition than you believe. Their market share as posted above (which were just two quickly googled links) seems to show that. They just don't
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Great news, mr Bin Laden, Brand recognition for Al Qaeda is up again. It was in the top 3 terrorist organisations named in last months survey.
We are working on Brand affection next. we are confident it will go up (it can hardly go down...)
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You will also note I qualified my statement beforehand anyways, hence "nearly" - so I'm not exactly sure if you were making social commentary, or disagreeing with me, or...?
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However, name recognition is not all. People hve to develop a liking to you and tyour product for any real #) ??? #+1) Profit! to happen.
On the other hand, I am joking around a bit on brand satisfaction and brand attractiveness, but the joke only works in the west. Within a certain target population, I am sure that brand attractiveness has gone up as well and people will in fact rather join a well known terrorist organisation than an obscure one.
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First of all, Toshiba isn't exactly a, how shall we say, 'household name' in my household.
There, fixed that for ya !
Pc World [pcworld.co.uk]
Currys [currys.co.uk]
Dixons (ok same as currys) [dixons.co.uk]
Debenhams [debenhams.com]
tesco [tesco.com]
Comet [comet.co.uk]
I could go on and on. In fact I would be surprised if anybody in the UK hadn't heard of Toshiba.
And your comment is currently at +4 Interesting.
Bollox.
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Now I await counterpoint for the U.S. market - I'm happy to be proven wrong on the point- you'll note above I've responded to someone else already who pointed out some interesing info - perhaps it helps to clarify my stance on'hou
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We have 7 odd laptops in that list, and I'll be doing the legwork getting serial numbers and sending/receiving batteries. Sure they pay for shipment but its unwanted hassle.
Not that we use its batteries at all... if the composition of the paper was changed, who knows it wont explode.
I'm typing this on a rather dangerous Tecra A7 timebomb.
This message will self destruct in...
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I would in any case that deviates from what was written in the datasheet.
I wouldnt complain if it works within its spec within its lifetime. Like the rest of the laptop.
So... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:So... (Score:4, Funny)
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Things could be worse (Score:3, Funny)
__________________________________________
Free iPods? Its legit [wired.com]. 5 of my friends got theirs. Get yours here! [freepay.com]
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What do you mean, "good?" Sony should become dust!
(By the way: "it's" and "you're," not "its" and "your.")
Probably because (Score:2)
1. A battery doesn't need drivers or transfer data in any form or shape. So basically noone figured out how to make a battery that installs a rootkit. That may well change, though, once trusted computing gets accepted. I'm sure someone will figure out a reason why it's vital to authenticate the battery.
2. A battery can't get copied or ripped to MP3, and you can't upload it on P2P networks. So it's hard to justify -- either to the users or to your own accoun
Quality?? (Score:3, Insightful)
Isn't this not supposed to happen? I thought that the ISO 900x process was built to flag these issues before they became the nightmare that has since developed?
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No, ISO 900x only insures that everything you do is documented. It doesn't even try to address the validity of the processes that are documented. All of your processes can be total crap as long as everyone does what it says in the document.
Race to the bottom (Score:4, Interesting)
I would love to see the bid contracts that went out. Odds are that someone who's a little more reputable was within a few cents per battery of this outfit, but lost out because they weren't the lowest cost bid.
Now you have a piece of paper worth a fraction of a cent costing Sony at least $50 to $100 per battery.
Nice cost savings.
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I would love to see the bid contracts that went out.
I can produce a set of laptop batteries using an old newspaper and 3 paper clips (can be bent, or rusty, preferably not colored). Cost: A Big Mac + Coke
Regards, Sony
PS: The Big Mac from the menu with the toys if possible (I can make mp3 player outs of them). Thanks!
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What am I not getting? (Score:2, Insightful)
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Acer affected? (Score:2)
The battery was a few years old, and maybe it was jus
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I looked in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
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Tesla motors (Score:1, Offtopic)
Now it appears it can outburn a Dell too. It is built using some 7000 laptop batteries.!!!
certainly, give us that, have a nice Dell battery. (Score:2)
between rootkits and burning batteries, it's Sony, the one and only....
sony hires kids for PR positions ? (Score:2)
will these PR guys ever grow up? The supplier is to blame ? How did this pass quality then?
Third Sony battery recall this year? (Score:2)
Does this mean another in-flight ban? (Score:2)
It isn't just a sony issue (Score:4, Informative)
People who use electric motors on their RC Planes frequently use Lithium Ion batteries, however, because of the nature of the hobby, the batteries tend to discharge at an extremely high rate, or people in a rush can not pay attention and overcharge them. Apparantly there have been many reports over the years in this hobby of planes exploding in mid air or people's cars/homes catching fire because of a rapid buildup in heat by the batteries. The issue got so prevelant that they actually sell pots for people to place their batteries in so that if they do go up in smoke, they won't catch anything else on fire in the process.
Now, of course, this is a hobby where the batteries are being put under unusual and frequent stress, and I'm sure some of the cases were also due to poor quality control. However, it is just one example of many that shows that the problem is not Sony alone, it is a fundamental problem with Lithium-Ion battery technology in the first place. A significant enough problem that the smallest iregularity can result in potentially major issues. All of this is just another example of why, given the increasing portability demands in the technology sector, we need new battery technologies.
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Virgin to ban Toshiba too? (Score:2)
To recap:
Virgin Airlines was not allowing ANY Apple or Dell computers, regardless of the battery manufacturer, to use batteries on board its planes. Batteries would have to be checked in and sit in the cargo hold of the plane. The only way to power your computer is then from the power brick, which few planes provide.
Now, will Virgin Airlines ban all Toshiba laptop batteries, too?
There may (not) be a problem with your battery (Score:3, Interesting)
From that page:
Way to send mixed messages folks. It looks bad for Toshiba that they have faulty batteries that may or may not be under a recall. It looks even worse for Sony as they are responsible for both recalls.
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There are two separate issues with Sony batteries currently.
One, early-build Apple MacBook Pro 15" models had a battery issue very much like Toshiba's: the battery could not correctly charge or diagnose an impending shutdown, so the laptop would just shut off instead of properly go to sleep. The groups of batteries affected are being replaced by Apple at no charge if the serial number indicates the right lot numbers.
Two, many Apple PowerBooks (I don't *think* any later MacBook and MacBook Pro models)
Certain laptops banned on airlines (Score:1)
Just heard this morning... (Score:2)
BTW - Toshiba may not be very popular in the US, but I have friends a
here at sony... (Score:1)
BTW, I dont own
PS3 (Score:1)
Canadian Recall (Score:1)
http://209.167.114.38/support/TechSupport/TSBs/AL
What this all means (Score:1)
A warning for Linux users (Score:1)
I have one of the affected batteries according to the visual inspection instructions provided by Toshiba here [toshiba-europe.com]
I rang the Toshiba helpdesk to report this and was told that because I run Linux, this would be a problem. According to the helpdesk assistant, I would need to return the entire laptop to a repair center, and have it running the installed Operating System (Windows XP Home) with the test utility installed. The repair center will then carry out diagnostics to determine if the battery should be rep