Archive for the 'Laptop Batteries' Category

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in cooperation with Lenovo today announced a voluntary recall of the nine-cell extended batteries for laptops sold between November 2005 and February 2007 with ThinkPad R series, T series and Z series, because of accidents caused by battery overheating.

“If the battery in the laptop is struck forcefully on the corner, such as from a direct fall to the ground, the battery pack can overheat and pose a fire hazard to users,” CPSC says.

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A portable power solutions provider Boston-Power today announced its next-generation Sonata lithium-ion batteries for laptops, enhancing “both performance and safety”.

Sonata’s proprietary safety features include slower chemical kinetics, novel current interrupt devices, new thermal fuses, unique pressure relief vents and safer pack configuration.

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Samsung has demonstrated a docking station incorporating a 1,200-watt-hour fuel cell for laptop computers. When powered by presented fuel cell, Samsung Sense Q35 notebook can work without recharging up to one month, assuming it runs for eight hours a day five days a week.

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Researchers from the University of Tokyo are developing inductive power transfer methods that will allow charging of mobile devices wirelessly. Although similar systems are already close to commercial roll-out, such as UK-based SplashPower, the Japanese technology would seem to promise very thin and flexible charging mats that could be integrated into everyday materials. For example, it could be possible to produce mouse pad that charges battery of laptop and cell phone just by putting mobile device on that pad or near it, the reports say.

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Matsushita Electric Industrial, best known for its Panasonic brand, today announced the establishment of a mass-production system for a lithium-ion battery that incorporates the heat resistance layer (HRL) technology. The HRL has enabled Matsushita to increase energy density and mass-produce safer lithium-ion batteries, the Matsushita’s press release says.

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Laptop makers will “likely” soon choose to incorporate lithium polymer batteries over the current commonly used lithium ion batteries, Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said during a meeting with reporters Wednesday.

Notebook battery manufacturers have pushed the energy density (or capacity) of lithium ion batteries, with lithium packed into cells. When an internal short occurs, it can set off a chain reaction and start a fire. This was a cause of massive notebook-use lithium ion batteries recalls recently. On the other side, lithium in lithium polymer batteries is contained in a polymer gel.

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The massive laptop battery recalls, caused by Sony’s faulty Li-Ion cell units, haven’t put most business buyers and consumers off from buying laptop. But the recalls may push some buyers to switch brands, according to a new IDC’s study.

Some 85% of respondents said the widespread battery recalls won’t affect their future notebook purchasing decisions, according to a survey. But, 15% of both buyers said it will change their buying plans.

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Among six tested notebooks which were not affected by massive Sony laptop battery recall, Panasonic Toughbook CF-51 is the best choice for all around value in a notebook computer, and one that runs a lot cooler than most, delivering incredible battery life. But for those users who prefer a cool-running notebook with a more powerful processor and a widescreen display, the Jetbook 9700P delivers the best value, says CRN Test Center.

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The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) will revise its laptop battery standard, IEEE 1625, targeting an improvement in the overall performance of laptop battery systems and seeking to address recent calls to make these systems more reliable and robust. The revised standard is expected to be completed within 18 months.

“The 1625 update will be a global effort,” says Rashba. “The leading laptop OEMs and battery manufacturers such as Apple, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sanyo, and Sony have indicated strong interest to participate.”

The group will meet bi-monthly in the U.S. and Asia to complete the work.

IEEE BEGINS REVISION OF LAPTOP BATTERY STANDARD

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A group of notebook computer vendors and battery manufacturers plans to announce a standard for making safer lithium ion batteries by June 15, 2007. The battery standard is an attempt to recover from recent massive laptop battery recalls, PC World reports.

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Acer said it won’t need to make any recall related to a Sony battery cells production glitch, causing laptop batteries to overheat. For the small number of Acer laptops that do use Sony materials in their batteries, Acer’s battery charging mechanism ensures the batteries will not have problems, said Gianfranco Lanci, president of Acer, at an investors conference on Friday.

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The USA based Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation, a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, reported that on October 24, in Japan, a battery pack in a Fujitsu mobile computer (a Japanese market model equivalent to the Fujitsu LifeBook model P7120 notebook PC sold in the United States) overheated and damaged the computer. Japan’s Fujitsu Ltd. said on Friday its laptop with a Sony-made battery overheated and sparked earlier this week in Japan, causing minor burns to the hand of a user, the Reuters reports.

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Sony today announced the recall of the additional 250,000 Vaio laptop batteries worldwide, after the company recalled 90,000 Vaio battery units in the Asia Pacific.

In the United States, the affected Sony Vaio batteries were sold from December 2004 through October 2006. In the Vaio FE series, the recalled batteries were sold with Vaio VGN-FE550G and VGN-FE570G notebooks. In T series, Sony recalled battery units sold with VGN-T240P, VGN-T250, VGN-T250P, VGN-T260P, VGN-T270P, VGN-T340P, VGN-T350, VGN-T350P, VGN-T360P, VGN-T370P laptops. It is possible that some of the affected batteries were sold separately.

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A voluntary recall of 340,000 laptop batteries made by Sony was officially announced in the United States today. The latest-recalled lithium ion batteries containing Sony cells were used in Fujitsu’s, Gateway’s, Sony’s, and Toshiba’s notebook computers. These lithium ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published.

According to the CPSC’s press release, consumers should stop using the recalled batteries immediately unless otherwise instructed.

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Gateway announced today a voluntary recall of approximately 35,000 notebook-use lithium ion batteries containing battery cells manufactured by Sony.

“Under very rare circumstances, these batteries can overheat and create a potential fire hazard. While Gateway has not identified any failures of this type in Gateway systems using the recalled batteries, the company is cooperating with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Sony to act in the interest of customer safety”, Gateway published.

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