Sun
“Hey dude, your Dell’s on fire,” is not a likely advertising campaign, but Info-Tech Research Group is warning that incidents of laptop computer batteries erupting in smoke, fire and even explosions have caused numerous laptop recalls within the last year and pose a threat to personal safety, especially during air travel. “The most recent event we’re aware of involved a Dell laptop exploding and bursting into flames at a business meeting in Osaka, Japan,” said Info-Tech senior analyst Carmi Levy in a press release Friday. “The potential for an in-flight incident of this nature when travellers are using battery power for portable PCs certainly exists.” Dell announced a recall of about 22,000 of its notebook batteries in December 2005. Hewlett-Packard announced a recall of some 15,700 notebook batteries in April this year after 20 reports of batteries overheating.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
