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Friday September 29, 2006

Recall of some Sony-made lithium-ion batteries for notebook PCs

BY STEVEN PATRICK

PETALING JAYA: Computer makers Lenovo and IBM are recalling more than half a million Sony-made lithium-ion batteries for notebook PCs worldwide. The batteries are prone to severe overheating.

The recall, announced in the United States on Friday, follows an incident about two weeks ago where a Lenovo ThinkPad T43 portable burst into flames at the Los Angeles International Airport after its battery overheated.

This is the second time in four months that a recall has been made for the Sony-made batteries.

In June, computer maker Dell issued a worldwide recall after several of its notebook PCs with the batteries reportedly caught fire.

Lenovo’s Asia Pacific office, based in Singapore, estimated that about 526,000 of its machines would be affected by the recall, but declined to say how many were ThinkPads sold in Malaysia.

“There have only been two such incidents this year,” said Geraldine Kan, a communications officer at Lenovo Asia Pacific.

The manufacturer is offering customers free-of-charge replacements for the recalled batteries, whether sold separately or with a ThinkPad notebook.

The affected machines are the T43, T43P, T60, X60, X60S, R5E, R52, R60, and R60E.

Lenovo has confirmed that the batteries pose a potential fire hazard and is advising its customers to check if their notebooks are using any of the affected batteries.

Two different battery types are being recalled.

The first is ASM 92P1072, 92P1088, 92P1142, 92P1174 and 92P1170.

The other is FRU 92P1073, 92P1089, 92P1141, 92P1169 (or 93P5028), and 92P1173 (or 93P5030).

Sony has agreed to financially support the recall, according to Lenovo.

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