LaptopBattery
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Burn baby burn: HP pays out $425,000 to prevent a disco (laptop) inferno
The Haus of Meg will pay $425,000 in order to settle a claim that it consciously flogged laptops with batteries that could overheat or catch fire. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission slapped the company on the wrist for not issuing a recall quickly enough. It claimed that HP knew about 22 incidents involving battery 'splosions by September 2007 -- including one instance of a user being hospitalized, but didn't begin issuing a recall until ten months later. By May 2011, the company had recalled over 90,000 affected units that were prone to the odd bout of spontaneous combustion. If you're concerned you've got a duff battery, check out our list here.
Microsoft says it's looking into laptop battery issues with Windows 7
We've already seen some evidence that suggests Windows 7 puts a particularly hard drain on at least some laptop and netbook batteries, and it looks like Microsoft has now heard enough complaints itself to open an investigation into the matter. Details are otherwise a bit light, but Microsoft is apparently looking into the issue in collaboration with its hardware partners, and says that the problem is likely related to the computers' BIOS, which Windows 7 relies on to determine if the battery needs to be replaced. Needless to say, there isn't much in the way of solutions in the meantime, and Microsoft isn't offering any indication as to when one might be forthcoming.
LG X130 goes from dawn till dusk on standard 9-cell battery
12 hours. That, according to LG, is the new benchmark by which all wannabe long-lasting laptops will have to measure up. Of course, we've seen similar aftermarket solutions before, but it's good to see a manufacturer stick a flag in the ground -- and a big rump on the back -- in the race for the highest endurance netbook. And boy is the X130 a netbook: 1024 x 600 resolution, 10-inch screen and the predictable Atom N270 et al. Koreans can grab one now for 789,000 Won ($639), with almost worldwide availability to follow shortly. Check out our review of the X120 for a flavor of LG's history in the market, while we go look for actual benchmarks undermining that legendary battery life claim. [Via Trusted Reviews]
HP recalls another 15,000 laptop batteries, this time in China
HP just recalled a hefty 70,000 laptop batteries earlier this month, but it looks like it still has a few more fires to put out, and it's now recalled another 15,000 batteries sold in China. No reports of any actual "flames / fire" this time around but, as with countless other recalls, the batteries are apparently prone to overheating, and can indeed pose a pesky fire hazard. Word of specific models affected is also a bit hard to come by at the moment, but the batteries were apparently used in laptops manufactured between late 2007 and early 2008, and include models sold under both the HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario brands. If that sounds like your laptop, you can get in touch with HP China for a free replacement battery.
AMD proposes new laptop battery life metrics, Intel is like "whatevs"
AMD has struggled of late to produce anything akin to a "good idea," but we've got to give a serious high five to senior VP and CMO Nigel Dessau on this one. While pumping gas one day and thinking about the low / high MPG ratings on vehicles, he began to wonder why laptops are being left out of that scheme. Handsets have talk time / standby time, PMPs have separate longevity ratings for audio and video -- so why on Earth are we generally given just a single figure for laptops? Testing has shown that almost always the quoted figures from laptop makers aren't even close to what users get in the real world, so Dessau is suggesting we implement a "guide rail" system that explains a maximum and minimum life expectancy. As for Intel's take? "There are many ways to measure battery life. We believe the best way to determine how to measure battery life is by making proposals and debating it in industry consortiums and not via a blog post." Oh Intel, could you possibly be any more corporate?[Via HotHardware]Read - AMD's takeRead - Intel's take
Boston-Power signs up HP as first partner for next-gen batteries
It's not exactly much of a surprise given that HP has already shown some considerable interest in the company, but Boston-Power has now finally officially announced that HP will be the first laptop manufacturer to offer its long-lasting (and less explosion-prone) Sonata batteries, which HP will sell under its new Enviro Series brand. According to Boston-Power, those batteries will be available as an optional upgrade in early 2009, and they'll be compatible with the "majority" of HP's consumer laptops. What's more, HP will also be offering a three-year warranty with the batteries, which is apparently the longest one available from a laptop manufacturer and, just as notably, this also apparently marks the first time that a US battery company has sold batteries to one of the top laptop manufacturers. One detail that hasn't been announced just yet, however, is the price, though we're guessing that little detail should be making itself known before too long.
Recalled: 35,000 volatile Sony batteries in Dell / HP / Toshiba laptops
Ruh roh. We're really, really hoping this isn't just the first of another long string of laptop battery recalls, but the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with a slew of other outfits, has just announced a voluntary recall of around 35,000 Sony laptop batteries. As you'd expect, the Li-ions in question "can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers," and there have already been 19 reports of overheating including 17 reports of flames / fire and two reports of consumers getting mildly burnt. For the full list (and it's pretty long) of affected laptop models from HP / HP Compaq, Toshiba and Dell, be sure to give the read link some serious attention. Oh, and stop using that battery pronto if yours is one of the afflicted.
ZPower promises to deliver Silver-Zinc laptop batteries in 2009
ZPower has made a few promises before that haven't exactly panned out, but that apparently hasn't stopped it from making another bold claim at IDF this week, with it boasting that its newfangled Silver-Zinc battery will be rolled out in a "major notebook computer" sometime in 2009. According to ZPower, that battery will provide up to 40% more runtime than traditional lithium-ion batteries and, just as importantly, be far more "chemically stable" than its sometimes explosion-prone lithium-ion counterpart. ZPower also looks to be going the extra mile when it comes to recycling the batteries, with 95% of the battery itself apparently recyclable, and the company offering "financial discounts" to folks when they trade in their old Silver-Zinc batteries.
Samsung P10 laptop battery "melts" in South Korea
Merely days after LG put the brakes on sales of its Z1-AE007 laptop due to suspicions of a faulty battery within, yet another lappie in South Korea is making headlines for its overheating, er, abilities. Reportedly, the battery in a P10 computer, produced in 2002, "melted" after inexplicably emitting smoke during use. The device managed to burn a bed and a certain part of the floor, but thankfully, no "big fire" was started. According to company spokesman James Chung, Samsung is now "checking details of the incident," but the actual manufacturer of said battery has yet to be revealed.
LG halts sale of Z1-AE007 laptop, suspects defective battery
It's not like LG hasn't had issues with its batteries before, and even after confirming that they were unquestionably safe just last week, the firm has suddenly removed its Z1-AE007 from the market after suspecting that faulty batteries may be included. Reportedly, one of said models "caught fire" in Seoul and presumably startled the graduate student who owned it, but a company spokesperson stopped short of proclaiming that a recall was in order. Furthermore, the individual noted that "the matter should be consulted with the battery maker," essentially shoving every ounce of blame as far as humanly possible away from LG.[Via FarEastGizmos]
Build your own laptop battery... or not
Given some of the potential really bad things that can go wrong with professionally-made laptops batteries, we're not sure how good an idea it is to attempt to build your own, although that doesn't seem to have stopped some from trying. As the video after the break courtesy of "Kipkay" shows (he of the flashlight cellphone charger), the whole processes appears to be relatively straightforward, if not wrought with danger, and it will certainly save you a few bucks compared to the ready-made variety. Though we're guessing those savings may seem a bit less attractive if you suddenly find yourself in need of a whole new laptop, or some new eyebrows.[Via Uber-Review]
Boston-Power unveils long-lasting "Sonata" laptop battery
Following through on its promise, upstart Boston-Power has taken the wraps off its much-hyped laptop battery, now officially known as "Sonata," showing off the new-and-improved lithium-ion technology at the DEMO 07 conference that's rolled into Palm Desert, California this week. The company's also taken the opportunity to add some more specificity to its claims, boasting that the Sonata battery will last the life of your laptop and charge faster than any other batteries on the market, filling up to eighty percent capacity in just half an hour -- not to mention be less likely to explode. What's more, the battery will apparently not require any design changes on the part of laptop manufacturers, with HP already working with the company in the testing and validation process -- and presumably set to be one of the first to offer the battery. Not surprisingly, you can also expect the battery to come in at a premium price compared to traditional laptop batteries, although the company isn't saying exactly how much more they'll run. We should find out soon enough, however, with the first laptops using Sonata batteries expected to ship sometime this summer.Read - Boston-Power Press ReleaseRead - CNET, "Start-up to launch safer notebook battery"
Panasonic develops more capacious Li-ion laptop battery
While the IEEE is "hard at work" revising the laptop battery standard so these explosive cells permanently become a thing of the past, Panasonic has developed a new rechargeable battery pack with increased capacity and energy density, hopefully working on previous heat issues as well. The prototype, which is being shown here at CES, reportedly boasts a "20- to 40-percent" increase in capacity by using "an alloy material for the negative electrode instead of a commonly used carbon material" such as graphite carbon. Additionally, energy density per volume is increased to 740 Wh/L, which is 40-percent higher than that of the company's existing product. Notably, Panasonic claims that this newfangled Li-ion pack will tout a "heat-resistant layer made of insulating metal oxide," which purportedly "ensures improved safety while maintaining a current capacity as high as 3.6 Ah." As expected, there was no word on if (or when) this prototype would actually hit production, but the firm did state that it would like to commercialize it "within a few years" if everything progressed nicely.
EnerAge plans to power your laptop with a hydrocarbon fuel cell
If all goes well for fuel cell designer EnerAge, you may soon be able to fill up your laptop at the same time that you fill up your car's gas tank. CNET is reporting that by early 2007, the Los Angeles-area company claims that it will demo a 25-watt fuel cell that will keep your laptop juiced. While we've already seen a few fuel cell hopefuls, this new one is potentially among the most innovative. EnerAge's fuel cell allegedly will burn any hydrocarbon fuel, including methane, butane, methanol or ethanol -- so it would seem that burning diesel or gasoline is within the realm of possibility as well. While there have been countless previous attempts at fuel cells, EnerAge's design is a "direct oxidation fuel cell," which CNET explains as such: "It mixes air with a hydrocarbon. When the materials come in contact with the membrane, electrons are released. The reaction also results in byproducts like water and CO2." However, there still remains a huge engineering puzzle to get around, which is that the fuel cell itself can reach temperatures of as high as 600 degrees Celsius (that's 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit). Yikes. And let's not forget the carbon dioxide factor -- exactly what we're trying to get rid of from automobile and coal emissions (to name a couple). As you can imagine, we're skeptical at best, but any solution that might enable increasingly plugless computing is worthy of a second glance by us.
IEEE at work on revised Li-ion battery standard
Yeah, we're trying to hold back the snickering too. It seems the IEEE has chosen now as the time to start looking over those (previously innocent) battery protocols, and the timing couldn't be any more convenient. Rather than buckling down and getting a finalized 802.11n standard out the door, the task force is being silently forced to take a good, hard look at battery criteria. Currently focused on IEEE P1825 -- the designation for lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries used in digital cameras and camcorders -- the crew is hoping to set more uniform regulations for the "design, production, and evaluation" of said cells. The update is supposedly aimed at revising "design analysis, testing and qualification checks" to ensure those QA reports filter out any, um, potentially explosive misfits, and while the project is scheduled to be completed "within 18 months," we know how quickly these folks let their deadlines slip. But the force isn't letting those increasingly-concerned computer manufactures get too much of a head start, as the IEEE 1625 is also slated for a (very necessary) revamp -- which makes perfect sense considering its label: "laptop battery standard."
Dell and Sony knew about laptop battery defects back in October 2005
There were some rumblings a couple of months ago that Dell had known about its laptop battery issues for a while, but now InfoWorld reports that a Dell spokesperson has confirmed that they had been discussing the issue with Sony (the maker of the batteries) since October of last year and had decided to hold off on issuing a recall "until those flaws were clearly linked to catastrophic failures causing those batteries to catch fire." Sony did make some design changes to help alleviate the problem (like strengthening the lining of battery cells), but that doesn't do much for batteries that are already in the market. We can understand not wanting to issue a recall until it's clear that there truly is a problem (rather than just a potential problem), but let's just say that Dell and Sony are lucky that no one's been killed or seriously injured by an exploding battery.[Thanks, Emanuel]
