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More Sony Batteries Recalled

Scott Hagerman passes along news of yet another recall of Sony laptop batteries. The batteries in question, manufactured in the same timeframe as those involved in the massive 2006 recall, are in laptops sold by HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, and Acer. Neither Apple nor Sony itself used these batteries in their laptops. This time 100,000 batteries are involved — 65,000 of them sold outside of the US — vs. the 10 million recalled in 2006. The Consumer Product Safety Commission fielded 19 reports of batteries overheating and/or catching fire.

42 comments

  1. Hm, the smell of exploding lithium in the morning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I like it!

  2. That does not surprise me! by Wolfmandan72 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its funny how Sony does not use their own batteries because of this problem!

  3. Obligatory Sony Angst by kbrasee · · Score: 1

    We keep getting bad news, after bad news, after bad news...

    http://angrysonyfanboy.ytmnd.com/

    1. Re:Obligatory Sony Angst by Finallyjoined!!! · · Score: 2, Funny

      No angst for Sony from this quarter, stupid Chinese walls.

      Without them they'd be one of the best firms on the planet.

      --
      If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
  4. Lenovo and Acer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I only see HP, Toshiba and Dell mentioned on the two linked to websites. Where do the mentions of Lenovo and Acer come from?

    1. Re:Lenovo and Acer? by gweilo8888 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Mod parent up. Neither Lenovo or Acer are mentioned in the official recall notice: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09035.html

    2. Re:Lenovo and Acer? by richg74 · · Score: 2, Informative

      The CPSC notice page is here, and it makes no mention of Lenovo or Acer.

    3. Re:Lenovo and Acer? by gweilo8888 · · Score: 1

      Yep, Rich, that's exactly what I'd already said, right down to including the link to the CPSC notice. ;)

    4. Re:Lenovo and Acer? by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      That's too bad; I was hoping I could get Lenovo to give me a new battery!

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    5. Re:Lenovo and Acer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you know anything about coding, !Acer and !Lenovo mean "Not Acer" and "Not Lenovo" respectively.

    6. Re:Lenovo and Acer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "are in laptops sold by HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, and Acer." Where are the !'s?

    7. Re:Lenovo and Acer? by Mathinker · · Score: 1

      From the previous recall of 10M batteries, not this one.

  5. Re:That does not surprise me! It should. by Finallyjoined!!! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sony does not use their own batteries

    1d10t.

    They buy batteries in. "Hey, Korean battery manufacturers, I want 125 million batteries, to this spec. 'How much?' - Nah, too expensive", "Hey Taiwanese battery manufacturers". some time passes. "Hey small Chinese province battery manufacturers"

    "w00t, we got 125 million batteries for the same price as 62.5 million Big Macs"

    --
    If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
  6. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, redux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am the god of laptop, and I bring you... Fire! Your PC will burn. Fire! And your house will, in turn. I'll see it burn...

    1. Re:The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, redux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Link to the original.[requires flash]

      The 60's were indeed strange.

  7. Re:That does not surprise me! It should. by Finallyjoined!!! · · Score: 1, Insightful

    tw@

    --
    If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
  8. Outsourcing can be expensive by lucm · · Score: 0, Redundant

    The guy who decided to outsource the manufacturing of those batteries should be *fired* (or forced to use one of his own products, which has the same effect).

    Seriously, after Mattel, VW and Sony, how many examples do managers need to figure out that low-cost labor can be very costly?

    --
    lucm, indeed.
    1. Re:Outsourcing can be expensive by timmarhy · · Score: 1

      just one more we promise.

      --
      If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    2. Re:Outsourcing can be expensive by cpghost · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seriously, after Mattel, VW and Sony, how many examples do managers need to figure out that low-cost labor can be very costly?

      It's not necessarily low-cost labor as it is low-cost materials used in those batteries.

      --
      cpghost at Cordula's Web.
    3. Re:Outsourcing can be expensive by narcberry · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For every Mattel, VW, and Sony there are a thousand companies that saved millions by outsourcing.

      --
      Modding me -1 troll doesn't make me wrong.
    4. Re:Outsourcing can be expensive by freedom_india · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Firing is insulting to the victims.
      I *dearly* hope a super-rich-parents' 2-year old infant dies in this battery fire.
      Then we have a solid case for murder against Sony CEO and Sony US.
      Now, since Sony (like all other corps) claim they are a *person*, let them feel the effects of being indicted and convicted of murder.
      The entire board should be hanged till death for the murder of a 2-year old; in public.
      That will freeze any such quality vs money discussions in companies. Only one lesson is needed.

      --
      "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
    5. Re:Outsourcing can be expensive by dkf · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Seriously, after Mattel, VW and Sony, how many examples do managers need to figure out that low-cost labor can be very costly?

      It's not necessarily low-cost labor as it is low-cost materials used in those batteries.

      That doesn't change the fact that it is the cheap-ass managements (on both sides) that are to blame. If you go to the cheapest supplier, you'd best be prepared for the quality to be terrible. Whether that is because of dodgy materials or incompetent staff (or both) doesn't really matter.

      --
      "Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
  9. known issue by Jerry+Smith · · Score: 3, Informative
    Already happened 13 years ago with Sony: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_5300#Batteries and http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb197/is_/ai_hibm1G117959276

    I wander why it's always their battery?

    --
    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
    1. Re:known issue by Predathar · · Score: 4, Funny

      karma :)

  10. Re:fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Attribution is the sincerest form of flattery:

    http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Goa_Tse

  11. Makes sense, but begging for a conspiracy theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Makes sense not to use something you KNOW is bad, but it's begging for conspiracy theories. They deliberately gave us flaming batteries so their laptops would look better! Maybe there will be a lawsuit or two, but I have to wonder why someone would look to buy parts from a competitor with a clear conflict of interest.

  12. Re:fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's some delicious copypasta. You should try some!!!

  13. Dammit! by scrod98 · · Score: 1

    Now I can't justify replacing my 2yo laptop because the battery no longer holds a good charge, they're giving me a new one.

    --
    LETS DECOMPOSE & ENJOY ASSEMBLING
  14. Re:Makes sense, but begging for a conspiracy theor by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 1

    Makes sense not to use something you KNOW is bad, but it's begging for conspiracy theories.

    Well you see, what happened was that SONY did not pay its greens fees at the Illuminati golf course. The CEO thought being a 32nd degree Mason would get him out of paying the greens fees, but alas that is only allowed for 33rd degree Masons. So now, not only are their batteries causing more problems, and them even more embarrassment, but the CEO of SONY is no longer able to get to the 33rd degree of the Scottish Rite of Masonry, where he can find out who really killed Kennedy, shake hands with some alien representatives, and have a tear of schnapps with Satan.

  15. Re:That does not surprise me! It should. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lay off the fucking leetspeak, kid. Nobody is impressed by it.

    That being said, I was wondering why your post started off talking about a 10 sided die, and what the 't' after it meant.

    sadly not the only one.

  16. Looks like my laptop's been affected.... by PNP_Transistor · · Score: 2, Funny

    Gotta plug my laptop in and take out the battery before it exp

  17. Take a lesson from the military... by Chmcginn · · Score: 1

    If you go to the cheapest supplier, you'd best be prepared for the quality to be terrible.

    All military contracts are lowest-bidder. By your arguement, none of the planes should fly, none of the guns should shoot, and none of the bombs explode.

    This obviously isn't the case - there's no fundamental problem with going for the lowest bidder for a particular project... as long as the standards are strict and are enforced.

    I'll guarentee there was a quality-control standard on the purity of the materials in these batteries. The fact that they're an apparent fire hazard is proof that either the standards were not enforced, or they weren't set properly to begin with.

    --
    Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
  18. Toshiba's position on this by Douglas+Goodall · · Score: 1

    I happen to have a Toshiba P35-S609 with a battery Model No. PA3383U-1BRS. I called them to ask if my battery is subject to this recall. They asked which version of Windows I was running and I indicated I was running Ubuntu Linux. Then they tried to give me the link to a web site where I could download a Windows program that would identify whether my battery needed to be replaced. The support person was an idiot and continued to try and give me the Windows link long after I had assured him I was unwilling to re-install Windows just to run his program. I will not be buying any more Toshiba products.

  19. Flamebait by nameendingwith · · Score: 1

    Is it just me or does being modded 'flamebait' on this topic take on a whole new meaning?

  20. QA by TheLink · · Score: 1

    It's called Quality Assurance. Remember that whenever you buy "a Sony".

    Sony: giving you more bang for the buck.

    --
    1. Re:QA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's called Quality Assurance. Remember that whenever you buy "a Sony". Sony: giving you more bang for the buck.

      At Apple they had at one time the Quality Assurance Program, QAP. Not for long though...