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Toshiba to Exchange 340,000 Laptop Batteries
narramissic writes "Toshiba Corp. has offered to exchange 340,000 laptop computer batteries made by Sony. According to a Toshiba spokesman, the batteries may fail to charge correctly, causing the power to cut off suddenly. The company will be posting a software tool to its Web site, allowing customers to identify whether their computer is affected." From the article: "Toshiba's problems stem from a defect in the interface circuitry between the battery cells and the computer. That defect is caused by corrosion, said a spokesman for Sony, the manufacturer of the batteries. An ingredient used in the insulating paper of batteries manufactured between March and May can corrode components in the batteries' charging circuits, causing them to fail, said Sony spokesman Takashia Uehara. The supplier changed the composition of the insulating paper without notice, he said."
if(1) {
printf("Your battery is not affected.\n");
}
else {
printf("Your battery is affected.\n");
}
This is a fairly lucky break for Toshiba - for those who haven't already moved on down the reply-line, let me explain why:
First of all, Toshiba isn't exactly a, how shall we say, 'household name' in the U.S./Western market.
Secondly, you can bet that Toshiba doesn't have to pay for Sony's mistakes - that role typically falls to Sony (or Sony's end-users). Thirdly, there is little the U.S. business news, and to some degree European news world likes to cover more than a big huffy-puffy recall, or RECALL RECALL RECALL!
So for a small name like Toshiba, this equates to free publicity, and goodwill; "Aww- look how well they took care of thier consumers."
from the article:
"Toshiba's free battery exchange program covers 11 notebook models sold in Japan, five sold in the U.S. and 12 sold in Europe, including the Tecra A7, Satellite A100, Satellite M50 and Satellite pro M70, Ohmori said. European customers can consult a list of affected computers on Toshiba's Web site "
So essentially, they are getting free publicity in the U.S. and European markets. (Not that this is a good or bad thing, just and interesting aspect of the situation) Ask someone in a week to name 5 laptop makers, and I'd wager Toshiba moves up the list in recognition. Longterm, (nearly) any press is good press.
Advertising is a poor, failing, ghost of an attempt at the power of honest word of mouth. -Locution Commando
They've got some good news in the pipeline: since all of these battery recalls are costing them so much, they're planning on raising the price of the PS3. As everyone knows, we are each going to buy one (Sony execs told us so!), which will finally help Sony balance themselves out a bit. It's looking like the year is going to end very well for Sony!
This guy's the limit!
When is Sony going to, you know, recall the batteries from their own laptops? Or did I miss that?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Be grateful, things could be worse. At least these batteries don't install a rootkit and then spontaneously combust. Sony, Sony, Sony, its a good thing your so loaded. A smaller company would been dust by now.
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Free iPods? Its legit. 5 of my friends got theirs. Get yours here!
Anyone else notice that in a race to lower production costs to their absolute minimum, companies are spending more and more money fixing problems down the line?
I would love to see the bid contracts that went out. Odds are that someone who's a little more reputable was within a few cents per battery of this outfit, but lost out because they weren't the lowest cost bid.
Now you have a piece of paper worth a fraction of a cent costing Sony at least $50 to $100 per battery.
Nice cost savings.
My work pays me to post on Slashdot (well ok not really) ...
MODEL,NUMBER,CELLS
SatelliteA100,PSAA0-PSAA1-PSAA2-PSAA5,4-6R
SatelliteA100,PSAA8-PSAA9,6N-12N
TecraA7,PTA70-PTA71,6N-12N
SatelliteProA100,PSAA3,4-6R
EquiumA100,PSAA4,4-6R
SatelliteM70,PSM70-PSM71-PSM73,4-6R
SatelliteProM70,PSM75-PSM76,4-6R
EquiumM70,PSM77,4-6R
SatelliteM50,PSM53,4-6R
SatelliteProM50,PSM55,6R
EquiumM50,PSM59,6R
SatelliteM100,PSMA2,4-6R
SatelliteM100,PSMA0-PSMA1,6N
TecraA6,PTA60,6N
It's an issue with Lithium-Ion batteries in general. The Sony faults just make the problems even worse for laptops. All Lithium-Ion batteries have safety concerns when exposed to rapid discharging or overcharging. Specifically, the batteries will become quite hot when this occurs beyond a certain rate. My father, who is not normally a tech savy person, has even known about this flaw for years now because of his hobby: Radio Controlled Airplanes.
People who use electric motors on their RC Planes frequently use Lithium Ion batteries, however, because of the nature of the hobby, the batteries tend to discharge at an extremely high rate, or people in a rush can not pay attention and overcharge them. Apparantly there have been many reports over the years in this hobby of planes exploding in mid air or people's cars/homes catching fire because of a rapid buildup in heat by the batteries. The issue got so prevelant that they actually sell pots for people to place their batteries in so that if they do go up in smoke, they won't catch anything else on fire in the process.
Now, of course, this is a hobby where the batteries are being put under unusual and frequent stress, and I'm sure some of the cases were also due to poor quality control. However, it is just one example of many that shows that the problem is not Sony alone, it is a fundamental problem with Lithium-Ion battery technology in the first place. A significant enough problem that the smallest iregularity can result in potentially major issues. All of this is just another example of why, given the increasing portability demands in the technology sector, we need new battery technologies.
You are who you are, let no one tell you different. But, never close your mind to a new point of view.