Lenovo Recalls Sony-Made Battery Packs For ThinkPads


Lenovo is recalling 168,500 ThinkPad notebook battery packs in the United States and another 357,000 worldwide, saying the lithium-ion batteries can "cause overheating, posing a fire hazard to consumers."

The recalled batteries were sold between February 2005 and September 2006 for $150 to $180, according to a press release issued by Lenovo and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Sold with a notebook or separately, the batteries affect three ThinkPad product families: the T Series, including the T43, T43p and T60 models; the R series, including the R51e, R52, R60 and R60e models; and the X series, including the X60 and X60s models.

IBM also was included in the announcement as joining the recall with Lenovo. IBM manufactured ThinkPads until it sold its PC business to Lenovo last year.

More detailed information on the recall, including part and model numbers, can be found on the CPSC Web site.

The recall was issued after a report of a ThinkPad T43 that caught fire at Los Angeles International Airport. Earlier this week, Lenovo said it was investigating the incident and confirmed that the notebook had a Sony-made battery pack.

Raleigh, N.C.-based Lenovo is the latest PC maker to recall laptop batteries made by Sony, following massive recalls by Dell and Apple involving a total of some 6 million units. In addition, Toshiba is voluntarily exchanging some of its Sony notebook batteries because of what it said are quality control issues.