Sony Recalls Batteries Due to Fire Hazzards

While we were busy testing the battery life on the Samsung NC10 this week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was issuing a recall of Sony Lithium Ion batteries. Initially the Commission stated that there were 35,000 (65,000 worldwide) hazardous batteries found in HP, Toshiba and Dell laptops, but now the number has hit 100,000 batteries as Acer laptops have been added to the list. The recalled batteries can overheat, and potentially burn consumers. “There have been 19 reports of the batteries overheating, including 17 reports of flames/fire (10 resulting in minor property damage). Two consumers experienced minor burns,” the press release stated. All the laptops were sold between 2004 and 2006. For information on the recalled batteries (including what to look for on the battery itself) and the laptops they were included with check out the full report here. If your battery is being recalled, the commision suggests immediately removing the recalled battery from the notebook, and contacting the manufacturer to request a free replacement. After removing the recalled battery from the computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives.