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https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

Not sure why Dell didn't just go with batteryprogram.dell.com or dell.com/batteryprogram.

I'm not here to defend Chinese industry, but it's not just China.
From https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/ (why is this a https: page?)

"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."

Only batteries manufactured in Korea were not part of the recall.

I don't think is QC issue, more likely a fundamental design flaw/change that for whatever reason was never implemented in Korea. Don't blame the factories of China for churning out batteries that meet a faulty specification. Blame the guys who wrote that spec.

In other words, blame Sony. :)

https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

This new incident raises a lot of questions. Power cord? Battery? Origin of battery? Etc.

Let's get this one out of the way first: the Inspiron 1200 was not one of the models listed in the recall program.https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

I would like to know if the battery in the defective unit was one of the batteries subject to recall. If it was, then the owner bears some responsibility.


IANAL (and this is not legal advice, yadda yadda...) but I think that, in order to prove that in court, you'd have to prove that A) the battery was one of the Sony recalled batteries B) The customer could reasonably be expected to have been aware that the battery in his laptop was one of the recalled batteries C) Despite knowing that the battery was dangerous and subject to recall, the customer did nothing to get a replacement

But more than this, the maker of the battery was likely of Sony origin and quality.
Which would only add a co-defendant in the lawsuit, if the guy were to go down that road.

And really, what is Dell supposed to say to claims of "you've burned my house down?"

Excellent point. If someone accused me of that, all I'd say is, "No comment." The next thing I'd say is, "Let's talk confidential settlement. Howzabout I give you a million dollars for your house, without admitting any liability?"

You don't need to talk to anybody at Dell or negotiate anything to exchange a defective battery. It's a simple process, just fill in your information at Dell's battery recall site. I hope this helps you out, as I can imagine how difficult it must have been for you to try to call dell once for each one of your four hundred batteries. The funny thing is that I found this site after only a few seconds of googling.

I know it's not a model listed on the https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/ website, but they do state many batteries were sent out as replacements too.

Dell records the serial numbers on every single item they send out - computers, power bricks, batteries, software bundles - it's all there on their pick lists. Why is it that consumers have to contact Dell to find out if a particular item is under Recall status, why aren't Dell actively contacting them?

I know it's not a model listed on the https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/ website, but they do state many batteries were sent out as replacements too. Guess it'll be difficult to read the battery pack serial number now...

Yes, of course, under many circumstances you should! And if your computer causes a fire you should be jailed for arson.

The fact is that technology may become dangerous. It doesn't matter if a mistake was made by someone else, if a tragedy occurs because you didn't care to act upon information that was available to you, then you are guilty as well.

Especially with small children in the house. I'd rather pay for the difference with money, rather than my health!

"I would encourage anyone with Sony batteries from Dell and other manufacturers to recheck the recall lists from time to time."

Good advice, but you forgot to give directions to the uninitiated.
Go to this URL to see if your Laptop battery is on the recall list.
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/batterymodels.a spx

Who needs C4?

Who needs a battery made from C4 when you can just use one of these: https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

Dell can't be behind the times.

Actually they had a battery recall program(that still hasn't ended) that started in Fall of 2004. This appears to be a new battery recall, but I bet it's the same old issues just becoming worse due to higher battery capacity with poor construction of the cells.

In fact, this may be the same recall that Apple had. Most Li-Ion consumer battery cells in the world are made by two or three companies. In order to cut costs, they make mistakes that affect all downstream manufacturers. It isn't the battery pack that's the problem, it's the cells inside the pack.

-Adam

not sure if it has been posted yet, here is the link to get your batt swapped or to check if you need it swapped: https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

Dell batteries subject to the recall :

  1K055 C5340 D6024 JD616 U5867 X5333 3K590
  C5446 D6025 JD617 U5882 X5875 59474 C6269
  F2100 KD494 W5915 X5877 6P922 C6270 F5132
  M3006 X5308 Y1333 C2603 D2961 GD785 RD857
  X5329 Y4500 C5339 D5555 H3191 TD349 X5332
  Y5466

The bottom or side of the dell battery will have
a serial number in the form of:

JP-111111-22222-333-4444

You should look for the number in the [111111]
section -- e.g.

JP-A1K055-22222-333-4444 .. would be an example of a battery subject to the
recall.

In order to verify your battery serial number, and
get one sent to you, go to:

https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx

When the story first broke this evening, bloggers wrote about it and noted the fact that their www.dellbatteryprogram.com was not up and running yet. Yes, I was among those bloggers.

Soon after the Dell battery posts started appearing, someone from Dell corporate was following Technorati and visited my blog. Not too long after that, Dell responded on their blog with details about the recall. And they even mentioned that the recall Web site will be live after midnight Central Time tonight.

Customers should contact Dell to determine if their notebook computer battery is part of this recall. Please visit the firm's Web site at www.dellbatteryprogram.com beginning at 1 a.m. Central Daylight Time Aug. 15 or call toll-free at 1-866-342-0011, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. Customers may continue to use the notebook computers safely by turning the system off, ejecting the battery, and using the AC adapter and power cord to power the system until the replacement battery is received. Customers can also write to: Dell Inc., Attn: Battery Recall, 9701 Metric Blvd., Austin, Texas 78758.

Dell has set up a website at http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com to check your laptop model.

This might be the link you were refering to andrewman327 (at least as it applies to Dell): https://dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx/

This might be relevant re your search for affected Dell batteries: https://dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx/

Battery Return has been available for several months.

For those who don't want to RTFA (it's pretty dry, but has some pictures). Dell products impacted consist of:

• Latitude(TM) D410, D505, D510, D600, D610, D800, D810;
• Inspiron(TM) 510M, 600M, 6000, 8600, 9200, 9300, XPS Gen 2;
• Dell Precision(TM) M20 and M70 mobile workstations
• Any of above: Purchased around: October 5, 2004 through October 13, 2005 and Made in China/Japan

Check if your battery is affected: https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx