Gateway opens up to Sony battery recall
plan
By Tony Smith
24th October 2006 10:14 GMT
Gateway has become the latest notebook computer supplier to recall
Sony-made laptop batteries. It has asked for some 35,000
lithium-ion power packs to be returned. The batteries could, under
"very rare circumstances" overheat and catch fire, Gateway said,
though it claimed it has not heard of any instances of this
happening with its machines.
Gateway laptops covered by the recall began shipping in
September 2005 or later. The model numbers are the CX200, CX210,
E100M, M250, M255, M280, M285, M465, M685, MP8708, NX260, NX510,
NX560, NX860, NX100, MX1025, MX6918b and MX1020j. Full details can
be found on the company's website.
Gateway's announcement was accompanied by a a US Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC) statement adding that batteries from
Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba are also being recalled, putting the
formal stamp on battery recalls already announced by these
companies in the States and overseas.
The US recall amounts to some 340,000 units, but all four firms'
actions should see the return of around 3.42m battery packs
worldwide, the CPSC said. ®