Dell Computer announced on Monday the recall of approximately 4.1 million Dell-branded lithium-ion batteries with cells manufactured by Sony. Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could cause a risk of fire.
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The recalled batteries were sold with the following Dell notebook computers: Dell LatitudeTM D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810; InspironTM 6000, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 500m, 510m, 600m, 6400, E1505, 700m, 710m, 9400, E1705; and Dell PrecisionTM M20, M60, M70 and M90 mobile workstations; and XPSTM , XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710. The batteries were also sold separately, including in response to service calls. "Dell" and one of the following are printed on the batteries: "Made in Japan" or "Made in China" or "Battery Cell Made in Japan Assembled in China." The identification number for each battery appears on a white sticker. Customers should have this number available when they contact Dell to determine if their battery is part of the recall.
Dell sold or provided these batteries with the notebook computers, as part of a service replacement, and as individual units from April 1, 2004, through July 18, 2006. The computers with these batteries sold for between $500 and $2,850 (US) and individual batteries sold for between $60 and $180 (US).
Dell said customers should contact it to determine if their notebook computer battery is part of this recall. Visit the firm's Web site at www.dellbatteryprogram.com . It also said it would notify affected customers by mail and online, or through corporate sales representatives, and arrange to send a replacement battery. In the meantime, it advised owners to remove the original battery and use a power cord.
Depending on the number of the batteries that are still in use, the cost of the recall could exceed $300 million. Dell did not estimate the cost, but said the recall would not materially affect its profits. Sony, which affirmed yesterday that its batteries were responsible, said it was “financially supporting” Dell in the recall.
The New York Times says that Dell has been bedeviled by reports of burning laptops in recent months. In June, a Dell notebook burst into flames during a conference in a hotel in Osaka, Japan. In that case, an analysis showed the fire was probably caused by microscopic metal particles produced during the manufacturing process. In July, firefighters in Vernon Hills, Ill., were called to an office of Tetra Pak, the food processing and packaging company, to extinguish a notebook fire hot enough to burn the desk beneath it.
That same month, a Dell notebook in the cab of a pickup parked alongside Lake Mead in Nevada caught fire, igniting ammunition in the glove box and then the gas tanks. The truck exploded. “A few minutes later and we’d have been coming up out of the canyon when the notebook blew up,” said Thomas Forqueran, owner of the computer and truck. “Somebody is going to wind up getting killed.”
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