Dell's Laptop - Update

Following my earlier post on Dell's Laptop, Dell has now recall batteries in the Laptop.

Dell recalls 4 million batteries

PC maker Dell overnight issued a recall of 4.1 million notebook computer batteries made by Sony in response to concerns about overheating and fire risk.

"Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could cause a risk of fire," Dell said today in a statement.

In recent weeks there have been a number of reports of Dell notebooks catching fire, the most well-known case happening in Osaka, Japan two months ago when a laptop computer was photographed as it burst into flames.

The latest recall affects batteries in certain Inspiron, Latitude, Precision and XPS models and were sold either with the units, or as a service replacement, between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006.

Dell said the identification number for each battery appeared on a white sticker, and Australian customers could contact it on 1300 734 947 to check if their battery was part of the recall. Alternatively, details of the recall have been posted on its site at http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com

Recalled batteries were sold with the following units:

Dell Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810

Inspiron: 6000, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 500m, 510m, 600m, 6400, E1505, 700m, 710m, 9400, E1705

Dell Precision: M20, M60, M70 and M90 mobile workstations

XPS: XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710.