This is definitely the story that simply wouldn’t die. Lenovo just announced their own battery recall and exchange program, recalling some 526,000 batteries used in Lenovo ThinkPad notebook computers, 168,500 of them sold in the United States and the rest sold around the world. The batteries were manufactured by Sony, and present the same fire hazard that Dell and Apple recalled their batteries for, especially after Dell laptops started exploding. Toshiba insists that their battery recall isn’t because of any hazard, but because the batteries may spontaneously fail, but either way, Lenovo has a pretty significant recall on their hands. According to the article:
In the latest recall, Lenovo cited a potential risk following one confirmed report of a Sony battery overheating and causing a fire that damaged the notebook computer. The batteries were sold between February 2005 and September 2006, separately or along with ThinkPad computers. They were distributed by IBM until Lenovo, a Chinese computer maker, bought IBM’s personal computer division in May 2005.
The reported battery fire, which occurred in an airport terminal as the user was boarding a plane, caused enough smoke that a fire extinguisher was needed to put it out. There was minor property damage and no injuries were reported.
Yowch. If you own a Lenovo ThinkPad computer, or bought an extra battery for your ThinkPad, head over to the article for model numbers and additional information, or contact Lenovo at 1-800-426-7378, or follow the links below to the news article or Lenovo’s battery recall website.