Dell Laptops Can Catch Fire

It seems that the "Sony Incident" has a really nasty habit of repeating itself. While in NEC's case the issue was related to some faulty PSUs, it seems that Dell has some problems too. And this time, it's all about the batteries again. On one of its websites, Dell warns of a having "potential issue" with some of its Latitude, Inspiron, Precision and XPS notebook batteries. The notebook batteries have Sony cells and that says it all. The following words come directly from their website:

Dell has identified a potential

issue associated with certain batteries sold with Dell Latitude™, Inspiron™, XPS™ and Dell Precision Mobile Workstation™ notebook computers. In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies, Dell is voluntarily recalling certain Dell-branded batteries with cells manufactured by Sony and offering free replacements for these batteries. Under rare conditions, it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could pose a risk of fire.

Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or separately as secondary batteries:

Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710

In addition, these batteries MAY have also been provided in response to service calls. The batteries were shipped to customers between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006. The words "DELL" and "Made in Japan" or "Made in China" or "Battery cell made in Japan, Assembled in China" or "Assembled in Taiwan" are printed on the back of the batteries.

So, in case you have a laptop with Sony LiIon cells, make sure that you send back the battery to Dell. The replacement is free of charge and you'll end up with a brand new one.