Just in case you were getting bored with the economy and the candidates, Sony brings you their 2nd Annual Battery Recall. This event is being held at the Palm Shore Resort and is hosted by Dell, Toshiba, and HP...... . Sorry, but a little levity helps as the occurance of laptops catching fire, and possibly damaging life and limb, has become so commonplace that it's almost a seasonal event. Reports of recalls surface regularly with updates to what are now standard recall pages at most manufacturer's sites.

Friday October 31st Sony said it will recall another 100,000 portable batteries worldwide. The recall is done in conjunction with the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Here's that link describing the affected units from Dell, Toshiba, and HP (Hewlett-Packard). The CPSC site reports 17 fires, 10 causing property damage and 2 causing minor burns to users. This only continues to reduce any confidence consumers had left in Sony and is just another small kick to a company that is down some $429 million from previous recalls.

Dell
This quote from Dell can be found on their website. "NOTE: In October 2008, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission made an announcement affecting a small number of battery packs sold by Dell. Pursuant to that announcement Dell has added [268] part identification numbers to this website. The battery model numbers affected by the 2008 Sony announcement are indicated by an asterisk in the table below and the affected part identification numbers have been added to this database. " The laptops involved were sold between November 2004 and November 2005 and are, so far, limited to some Latitude, Precision, XPS, and Inspiron models. Full details of the models involved can be found on the Dell Battery Recall page. You may also call Dell toll-free (866)-342-0011.

Toshiba
To view the Toshiba units affected, you can link to their Support Bulletin 98082080. The recall page was last updated on October 30th 2008. This latest recall affects both Satelite and Tecra models. The link states specifically that the battery packs used have caused fires and should be replaced today. You will also be able to review previous recall information from that bulletin. To contact Toshiba directly call (800)-457-7777.

HP (Hewlett-Packard)
Consumers with HP portables can view their Battery Pack Replacement Program here or call (800)-889-2031 between 7:00AM and 7:00PM CST Monday through Friday. This recall includes some Pavilion and Compaq Presario models that were sold between December 2004 and June 2006.

Laptop battery recalls for are becoming so common that it's easy to forget how severe the failures can be. It's been two years since Rob Cheng first reported on these fires. In November of 2006, Rob produced a video that gave a chilling view of how these fires start and escalate.

Today's recall is for laptops produced during the same time period as covered by previous recalls, but these models were omitted. Sony and the CPSC should recall all of the laptops that used the potentially dangerious batteries and quit gambling with our lives. What happens when one of these laptops starts a fire during a flight. There's certainly nothing to prevent that. In fact it was suggested as far back as June of 2006. While Sony waits for the CPSC to get enough complaints to force a recall on yet another model, I'm being put in danger. SONY, I call on you to put out a recall covering all the potentially dangerous batteries and do it now. Stop gambling with our safety to save your bottom line.

Don't delay, view the PC Pitstop video that Rob Produced. It's had well over a million views and shows exactly what happens when a battery fails. Check your laptop immediately and if it's on the list, replace it today.

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