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HP Recalls 135,000 Laptop Batteries

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the also-replacing-laps dept.

caffeine_monkey writes "AP is reporting that Hewlett Packard is recalling 135,000 notebook batteries because they occasionally overheat and melt. Affected models are HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP Compaq and Compaq Evo. More details are on the HP support site. From their FAQ: Is it safe to buy HP notebooks? Absolutely. HP fully stands behind the products it makes."

8 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. no one is going top care.... by hector_uk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    see how no one is going to care about this, but when it happens to apple it's on ever news site and used as flame ammo by every apple hater, just the same as the ipod flaws that are shared by almost every player.

    1. Re:no one is going top care.... by Comatose51 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm sure many Slashdotter share the same experience as I have in high school. Whenever I made a mistake in math or science class, everyone just piles in and ridicule even though most of them can't come close to handling some of the problems. When you're at the top, everyone holds you to much higher standards than their own. Take it as a compliment.

      --
      EvilCON - Made Famous by /.
    2. Re:no one is going top care.... by heinousjay · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The only people that think Apple is renowned for extraordinary quality are those that close their eyes intentionally to the flaws in Apple products. There are plenty of us out here not fooled into thinking rounded-corner white plastic means anything more than decent corporate design.

      In reference to the GP, the people on this site pile on Apple because of the zealotry. Calm down about how this particular company is the second coming of whatever, and people will calm down about how it isn't.

      Round up the apple zealot downmods! Nail me, please!

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
  2. Re:HP stands behind their product by steve_l · · Score: 2, Insightful

    aah you worry too much.

    I just checked the batteries on my hp nc6000 laptop and was disappointed to see they werent part of the recall. Disappointed? Yes, because being a year old, the batteries only go up to 90% and 95% charge respectively. Getting free replacements would have brought them up to spec; hey I'd have it done every year, although that bit "only use on AC power till your replacement comes in" is a bit inconvenient.

    Incidentally, wearable computers have always had a problem with military use, despite the vision of the soldier with the head-up-display, and the problem was the batteries. A bullet entering the body after passing though a li-ion battery is more poisonous, plus the batteries themselves are a fire risk (do not shoot is implicit in the 'do not penetrate' bit of the disclaimer).

  3. Not a Bad Thing by Comatose51 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "From their FAQ: Is it safe to buy HP notebooks? Absolutely. HP fully stands behind the products it makes."

    The more cynical ones are going to dismiss this as just marketing BS but I'm glad HP is at willing to admit their mistake and rectify it. At least they're not trying to pull a Ford Pinto here. Even in the computer industry there are companies who would pretend there is no problem and hope it goes away. My laptop had a defective hard drive and when I called support they blamed it on the fact that I leave my computer on all the time (it wasn't IBM but a much smaller brand).

    --
    EvilCON - Made Famous by /.
  4. I have one of these by beaverbrother · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So both my mom and sister have a Compaq Presario 2100, one of the affected models, but according to HP's site they don't have the issue thats being recalled. One of the computers recently died due to melting near the power supply. The other is like 150 degrees all the time, and has a battery pack that has bubbles of plastic from the melting and has had a number of labels melted off. So in what way do my computers not have overheating problems? I just spend $1500 on my sister's computer to replace it because it is no longer usable or fixable.

  5. Re:HP stands behind their product by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why not put them in the bottom of your boots? Odds are you wont get shot through there (unless you're prone and shot from behind, which shouldn't happen). Only risk is land mines, and if you step on one of those.. you're already not going to do too well.

    --
    Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
  6. HP and defects by phorm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It seems that the defect has to be potentially life-threatening for HP to react. I have an HP ZD7000 laptop. There is a known fault in something to do with the RAM controller wherein - if you have the secondary RAM slot filled - the laptop will reboot or shutdown spontaneously in instances of applications that have heavy memory usage (I'm assuming those that have requirements of memory from both slots). Generally the problems have been noticed in photoshop, but I've had them occur in GIMP or some games. Others have been experiencing the same problems. Adobe has a warning on this.

    So I've contacted HP technical support about this. I've talked on the phone, and then by email. The representative from HP assured me that no such issue existed, and we back-and-forthed for awhile. Eventually, I found this article on HP's own website. When I emailed it to the HP rep, he prompted stopped answering my emails.


    Maybe if my battery had exploded I would have gotten better support from HP, but it seems it has to be a big issue for them to do anything about it.

    "HP fully stands behind the products it makes?" Maybe, but only when it looks like it might lose them money due to lawsuits or poses a health risk.