Virgin Atlantic Bans Dell, Apple Laptops 205
TechFreep writes, "Amid a slew of incidents involving exploding Sony batteries, Virgin Atlantic announced that it won't allow passengers to use batteries in any Apple or Dell laptops on flights. The announcement, posted on Virgin's website, said that passengers may carry on the laptop itself, but batteries must be properly wrapped and stowed away in carry-on for the duration of the flight. However, the airline provided no details as to what proper wrapping entails. For those who wish to use a laptop while on the plane, Virgin plans to provide power adapters on flights where outlets are available." Will Virgin allow on board exploding Sony batteries in IBM ThinkPads?
Seat power outlets (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, this is the problem with most flights, particularly those that last longer than 3 or 4 hours. Specifically, there are simply not enough power outlets in the seats. So, if the airlines want to ban laptop batteries, and they want to maintain business, how about installing more power outlets? Its sad, but a classic case of airline security taking care of the problem after the problem has been identified and dealt with rather than being proactive in their plans. What this sort of behavior is doing, along with all of the other lame security procedures like taking off belts, shoes and sandals is simply making airline travel more onerous.
I can't tell you how frustrating it is to have to try and work on a flight after security delays of sometimes hours have meant getting on board with a laptop battery that is drained only to find out there is no power port on board the flight. Even worse, on several Delta flights where they were *supposed* to have power outlets in the seats, they have been non-functional.
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Easily solved. I carry a spare,charged battery. While waiting in terminals, I plug in my wall wart and run from that while keeping my Thinkpad charged, minimizing battery use.
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Put this in the window (Score:3, Funny)
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still 2 batteries will fly you to europe, and somehow I always find an airport plug to leach some free juice into my devices (no one ever came up to me telling not to use an outlet)
my point is : i have a good and a shitty laptop, get one
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Don't count on that. The last one I used (on a new Air Canada Embraer 190) had only enough power available to charge the battery *or* run the laptop (a Dell D610).
Until the battery was fully charged, I had to leave the laptop turned off or else the breaker would trip every 2 minutes.
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Technically you could go to AC, split it, and have two or more people connect into a power strip, but there are some serious amperage limits, which will be made worse by the loss of going from DC to AC and back to DC again -- If you have a bit of a power hungry notebook to begin with, you'll often need to remove the battery as the socket may not be
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What's the amperage like on the 120V systems?
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Like it or not, people are not going to not travel if they can't use a laptop on the flight.
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For some airlines, this is completely intentional. If they put outlets only in business class, then people who are making money from laptop use will share that money with the airlines. This screws the people who can't justify paying $50-200 per hour for an outlet and a big chair, of course. But given the precarious financial conditions of t
Outrageous. (Score:4, Funny)
If action is not taken within 24 hours I may have to start an Internet petition to augment my activist efforts here so described.
Re:Outrageous. (Score:5, Insightful)
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OH GOD NO (Score:5, Funny)
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I'm sure there's less pathetic ways to get your point across.
Fixed.
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Something tells me it's a lot riskier to let pilots fly without a blood test.
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As far as the internet petition, those tend to be worth the paper they're printed on, so I'm sure the airline will care there too.
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Meh. (Score:3, Insightful)
Will they work without the battery? (Score:2)
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I hope that laptop manufacturers have designed current models to be able to run using either battery or adapter power. I would hate to have to get an airline to give me and AC outlet capable of doing 120 watts so my c
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Uninformed management (Score:4, Insightful)
(Unless their "proper packaging" includes automatic sprinkler systems)
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Maybe another s/.er can confirm.
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US airlines moved quickly to install fire suppression systems in their cargo hold after the ValuJet plane crash in 1996. Some airlines didn't even wait for the FAA to require it.
One Jet's already burned. (Score:4, Informative)
In these cases, the batteries were not on, nor even in computers. The things are dangerous.
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Poor planning, really.
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It means the TSA monkeys never get to paw through your luggage without you being there to watch them, and it means that your luggage won't miss the flight or be sent to Timbuktu.
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The oxygen masks intended for emergency use by passengers are supplied by oxygen generators, which use a chemical reaction to generate oxygen. They get quite hot and will ignite anything combustible that comes in contact with the generator. Combine that with the additional oxygen, and you have a potential problem. For that reason, they are
Shouldn't be a problem for apples (Score:5, Funny)
That shouldn't be a problem for people with Apple machines. I hear those are capable of running solely on one's own sense of self-superiority.
Powerbook terrorist (Score:2)
Or is this rule to prevent someone from using the battery as a weapon? Powerbook terrorist: "Turn this plane around, or this battery will certainly explode"
Why not ban *all* batteries? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Yeah, this was mostly a figure of speech, rather than literal. After I submitted the parent post, I realized then that someone was probably going to bring this up.
Pants on Fire (Score:3, Interesting)
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Whoever is hired to come up with those regulations doesn't seem to have a very firm grasp of real life. In the end the only way to travel safely would be ship anesthesiated people stark naked (after t
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Lead acid batteries on the other hand are even more dangerous, luckily, these are alre
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* An SLA doesn't explode if punctured, it just leaks corrosive paste everywhere (still nasty).
* An SLA doesn't explode if overcharged, it generally just busts open and leaks the corrosive paste.
* An SLA doesn't explode if undercharged, it just sulfates the plates causing the battery to not work well.
* An SLA doesn't explode if shorted
Re:Why not ban *all* batteries? (Score:4, Interesting)
I had a special item wish me- an ultra powerful rechargable battery-powered flashlight. I had not perfected the design (I had not even tried to design a case) and I ended up using high capacity handset batteries from Radio Shack to power the thing. All in all, there were about 51,000mWH of power strapped to what was little more than a assembly to hold the lights and a separate double-sided copper pcb that all the anode and cathode terminals were connected to.
The thing worked great, it was incredibly bright (it used three high luminosity light bulbs), it just looked like a bomb. I mean, the little battery cells looked like mini sticks of dynamite ready to explode at any time.
Only problem was I did not consider airport baggage handlers in my design. They ended up cutting the sheathing of one of the positive wires with the copper clad PCB. Of course, it had to be in the negative terminal, which burned a huge hole in my polyester bag, burned through two pairs of shorts, and melted a toothpaste tube, all tucked away inside the cargo cabin of the plane.
I was not pleased to find out that my great invention had been so easily destroyed (for heaven's sake it was the ultimate rechargeable flashlight!). My uncle found out about the incident and gave me a fire extinguisher rated for electric fires for Christmas. T.t (crying face)
Looking back, how the hell did they even allow that device on the plane? That could have seriously damaged someone's luggage (besides mine) and filled the cabin with toxic smoke, or worse yet exploded inside the cargo cabin, all 51Wh of it all. Banning ALL Apple and ALL Dell batteries, not just those made by Sony, is shortsighted and likely a decision made by a very uninformed person. My battery was more a risk to the plane then any of the Sony batteries and they inspected it and let me on. What gives?
Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
Why not ban all muslims from airplanes, since a few muslims hijacked some airplanes? IT'S THE SAME THOUGHT PROCESS. You think the muslims are pissed about the pope right now? Wait 'till you piss off some Apple fanatics - then you will be in a living hell.
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Even worse - Muslim Mac users!
The DHS should add that category to their profile Top Ten List, right above Weird Looking Guys with Beards.
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Apple fanatics don't firebomb Anglican churches just because a Roman Catholic suggested they refrain from violence.
That's right. It's the Linux fanatics that firebomb Anglican churches just because a Roman Catholic suggested they use Windows.
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They'll show him eventually -- just keep burning and killing to show how violent they aren't.
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muslims are people. batteries are inatimate objects.
people, which we've established muslims are a subset of, have rights, including the right of religious freedom and freedom from discrimination based on said religion. there are other, differences, too. one can check to see if a battery is the affected model by simple inspection of its serial number. humans don't come with easy ways to check if they
Ugly hack (Score:5, Insightful)
Welly welly well! (Score:5, Insightful)
Publicity stunt? (Score:2)
85 Watt MacBook Pro Power Supplies (Score:5, Insightful)
No toothpaste, no pocket knives, now no laptop. I'm really getting sick of the air travel nazis. It's making the "won't you think of the children" bunch look sane.
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There is zero excuse for busness travel anymore.
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What's the possible harm? As long as the cockpit is properly secured, and you manage to ban power tools, axes, and things of that class, nobody is going to take over the plane anyway.
Things were very different pre-9/11, back then a hijacking just meant everyone would get an unexpected stopover and a bunch of time and hassle for every
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No explosions, please. (Score:4, Funny)
Any battery that is currently exploding is probably not allowed, regardless of make.
Indiscriminate ban (Score:2)
My Dell laptop is so old that it isn't subject to the recall, but Virgin's ban is for all Dell laptops.
Ah well.
Proper wrapping (Score:2)
Be sure to use lots of layers of tinfoil wrapped tightly around the battery!
title is wrong (Score:2)
Apple recalls. (Score:2)
http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/13/ 1710258 [slashdot.org]
For the life of me, I cannot grasp that the hell is in the minds of these corporate lackeys. Will they ever realize that assembling things on the cheap not only endangers lives, but ends up costing tons more in the long run, by way of recalls, damage control and alienated customers?
That said, now that Apple is doing a massive
I'm not worried about the ones in the cabin (Score:2)
Sounds like defensive lawyering.
And there are subst
Apple had best... (Score:2)
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oh man I hope this news doesn't get out.... (Score:2)
Don't fly virgin (Score:2)
Wrapping details... (Score:2)
"Here is some duct tape. Please affix your laptop to the underside of the plane. If your laptop falls off in the course of the flight, we will refund you the cost of the tape."
I've got about 300K frequent flier miles on Virgin (Score:2)
My PowerBook goes everywhere with me; not close by, not partially disassembled, but sleeping nearby and ready to be used.
I like Virgin but they can go to hell. And I'm not booking any more long haul BizTrip in Virgin Upper Class either.
I'll give the Biz to a more rational airline.
Stupid to ban the manufacturers who recalled batt. (Score:2)
They should have either banned *all* Li-Ion batteries, or find other ways how to deal with it, e.g. put fire-proof cases or asbestos bags/blankets on the plane where they can drop a burning laptop into. On Lufthansa planes you were
Not all batteries affected (Score:2)
Of the six batteries in my household (some dell, some apple), just one of those has been recalled. There are far more Dell and Apple batteries out there that aren't affected by the recall than are. If someone were able to furbish documentation that their battery is in the clear, will Virgin be able to c
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Regardless of a number of equally stupid rules on air travel these days, I don't think this is likely to last very long, lawsuits incoming.
Better than lawsuits, people will not fly.
Me, I have had it being stranded in airports because some ditz didn't schedule a plane on time with a connecting flight. I will not forget the time I entered a plane in Chicago for Milwaukee and 5 minutes after the last bus went to Milwaukee they let us off the plane when they didn't have a pilot.
I would rather drive down th
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Company is expensing everything, and if anything vital is broken on the trip - company is paying for it.
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Hahahaha. Oh god, that's hilarious. Lawsuit? On the grounds that you cannot use your laptop on a flight? Oh, man, fucking priceless!
It IS a real fire hazard (Score:3, Insightful)
http://wcco.com/consumer/local_story_148150249.htm l [wcco.com]
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets [gizmodo.com]
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Re:WTF, someone can't cause other laptops batterie (Score:2)
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Next time your buddy's dad asks you such a dumb question, ask him if he'd be willing to attack 150 people simultaneously with a pair of nail clippers.
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For goodness sake, they were taking fingernail clippers from people visiting
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You can teach chimps to recognize a Dell or Apple logo, you likely cannot teach them to verify against a serial number database (which would need to be maintained too, since the recall might well be expanded)
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It's rarely "hey, book your own flights, just try not to use airline x, y, and z".
Besides, mos
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(The only reason I take my laptop with me is so he can play half-life instead of bothering me).