More Sony battery troubles
p2pnet.net news:- One has to ask: how much longer can Sony survive?
In the latest of a long string of troubles which continue to haunt the company, “Toshiba Corporation today announced further measures to encourage greater customer participation in the global program to replace certain Sony battery packs installed in some Toshiba portable computers,” says Toshiba.
Sony is a member of the music and movie cartels which are currently suing their own customers, using alleged copyright infringements in a bizarre marketing effort to force people to buy corporate product, and to gain control of online distribution.
Among other events, Sony is distinguished by the rootkit spyware debacle in which it planted secret (and dangerous to PCs) DRM consumer control software on music CDs, only to be caught red-handed; exploding batteries; the failure of its expensive PlayStation 3 games console to captivate consumers; the fact Mora, run by Sony affiliate LabelGate, has been replaced as the default music store on Yahoo Music Japan; and, the failure of its Sony Connect to connect, forcing it to drop it.
Back to the batteries, says Toshiba:
On September 28, 2006, Sony Corporation announced a global replacement program for a number of battery packs supplied to computer makers, Toshiba among them. Toshiba is participating in the program and offering its customers free replacement of the battery packs identified by Sony.
On May 24, 2007, a Toshiba portable computer with a Sony battery pack caught fire. Toshiba immediately asked Sony to investigate. The investigation confirmed that the cause of the fire was the battery pack, as in other incidents reported earlier. Despite Toshiba’s continued efforts to promote participation in the replacement program, and although Sony recommended replacement, the PC still had the original battery pack. This incident followed another that occurred this April in Japan, also involving an unreplaced battery pack.
“Toshiba was one of many PC vendors that recalled more than 8 million rechargeable lithium-ion batteries made by Sony Corp,” says PC World. A manufacturing defect left those batteries vulnerable to short-circuiting and catching fire if they were jostled, prompting the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a broad recall.
“Dell Inc. was the first to recall those batteries in August 2006, and was quickly followed by Apple Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp., Gateway Inc. and Sony Electronics Inc.”
Click here for the list of Toshiba PC models with dodgy Sony batteries
Gateway battery problems
In associated news, “Lithium-ion battery packs shipped with some Gateway Inc. notebook computers pose a fire danger, leading to a voluntary recall Tuesday by Gateway and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,” says Associated Press, going on, “The battery packs can overheat and pose a fire hazard, the commission said in a news release. Gateway has received four reports of battery packs overheating, including minor property damage.”
Some 14,000 battery packs shipped as the primary or spare power sources for some Gateway 400VTX and 450ROG series notebooks, and identified by part number 6500760 or 6500761 were recalled, says the story.
“This recall affects only certain battery packs shipped from May 2003 through July 2003 as a primary or backup battery pack with the Gateway notebook PCs listed below,” says Gateway. “Not every Gateway notebook with either of the listed model numbers shipped with a battery pack affected by the recall.”
Only battery packs for notebook models 400VTX, part # 6500760, and 450ROG, 6500761, are included, says the company.
Also See:
Toshiba – Toshiba Redoubles Efforts to Implement Sony Battery Pack Voluntary Replacement Program, June 19, 2007
PC World – Toshiba blames recalled battery for laptop fire, June 19, 2007
Associated Press – Fire danger leads to recall of Gateway notebook batteries , June 19, 2007
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June 21st, 2007 at 7:24 am
You know I’m starting to thing they should start putting stickers saying “Sony NOT inside” on laptops that doesn’t have Sony batteries. Just like “Intel Inside” or “Made for XP”. I think its now a feature not to have a Sony battery when you buy a 1000$ laptop.
But really I’ll make sure to never have Sony batteries in my stuff.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:25 am
You know I’m starting to thing they should start putting stickers saying “Sony NOT inside” on laptops that doesn’t have Sony batteries. Just like “Intel Inside” or “Made for XP”. I think its now a feature not to have a Sony battery when you buy a 1000$ laptop.
But really I’ll make sure to never have Sony batteries in my stuff.