Slashdot Log In
Toshiba to Exchange 340,000 Laptop Batteries
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue Sep 19, 2006 09:27 AM
from the can't-a-corp-catch-a-break dept.
from the can't-a-corp-catch-a-break dept.
narramissic writes "Toshiba Corp. has offered to exchange 340,000 laptop computer batteries made by Sony. According to a Toshiba spokesman, the batteries may fail to charge correctly, causing the power to cut off suddenly. The company will be posting a software tool to its Web site, allowing customers to identify whether their computer is affected." From the article: "Toshiba's problems stem from a defect in the interface circuitry between the battery cells and the computer. That defect is caused by corrosion, said a spokesman for Sony, the manufacturer of the batteries. An ingredient used in the insulating paper of batteries manufactured between March and May can corrode components in the batteries' charging circuits, causing them to fail, said Sony spokesman Takashia Uehara. The supplier changed the composition of the insulating paper without notice, he said."
Related Stories
[+]
Slashback: What Dell Knew, China's Fusion, Vista 154 comments
Slashback tonight brings some clarifications and updates to previous Slashdot stories, including: What Dell knew and when they knew it, GNU/Linux may gain from the Vista WGA crackdown, China's fusion test was a hoax, and the Vista startup chime will be optional. Read on for details.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
Which Laptops? (Score:3, Informative)
Toshiba's free battery exchange program covers 11 notebook models sold in Japan, five sold in the U.S. and 12 sold in Europe, including the Tecra A7, Satellite A100, Satellite M50 and Satellite pro M70
Re:Which Laptops? (Score:5, Informative)
MODEL,NUMBER,CELLS
SatelliteA100,PSAA0-PSAA1-PSAA2-PSAA5,4-6R
SatelliteA100,PSAA8-PSAA9,6N-12N
TecraA7,PTA70-PTA71,6N-12N
SatelliteProA100,PSAA3,4-6R
EquiumA100,PSAA4,4-6R
SatelliteM70,PSM70-PSM71-PSM73,4-6R
SatelliteProM70,PSM75-PSM76,4-6R
EquiumM70,PSM77,4-6R
SatelliteM50,PSM53,4-6R
SatelliteProM50,PSM55,6R
EquiumM50,PSM59,6R
SatelliteM100,PSMA2,4-6R
SatelliteM100,PSMA0-PSMA1,6N
TecraA6,PTA60,6N
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Arrrrrr (Score:3, Insightful)
This sort of shakedown can only serve to improve the product before I finally pull the trigger and make that purchase
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You have no idea how annoyed I was when I checked and found my dell's battery isn't of the exploding variety. Now if I want more than 30 minutes of battery use time I'll have to buy a new battery myself...
The software (Score:4, Funny)
printf("Your battery is not affected.\n");
}
else {
printf("Your battery is affected.\n");
}
Lucky for Toshiba (Score:3, Interesting)
First of all, Toshiba isn't exactly a, how shall we say, 'household name' in the U.S./Western market.
Secondly, you can bet that Toshiba doesn't have to pay for Sony's mistakes - that role typically falls to Sony (or Sony's end-users). Thirdly, there is little the U.S. business news, and to some degree European news world likes to cover more than a big huffy-puffy recall, or RECALL RECALL RECALL!
So for a small name like Toshiba, this equates to free publicity, and goodwill; "Aww- look how well they took care of thier consumers."
from the article:
"Toshiba's free battery exchange program covers 11 notebook models sold in Japan, five sold in the U.S. and 12 sold in Europe, including the Tecra A7, Satellite A100, Satellite M50 and Satellite pro M70, Ohmori said. European customers can consult a list of affected computers on Toshiba's Web site "
So essentially, they are getting free publicity in the U.S. and European markets. (Not that this is a good or bad thing, just and interesting aspect of the situation) Ask someone in a week to name 5 laptop makers, and I'd wager Toshiba moves up the list in recognition. Longterm, (nearly) any press is good press.
Re: (Score:2)
First link is 1.5 years old, second is 5 years old. Yeah, they're old, but they both show that Toshiba has an extremely large market share in the US. 5 years ago they had the third largest at 21%. 1.5 years ago, out of the they had 4 (including #1 & #2) of the top 10 selling laptops.
This in no way is to gain recognition because people don't know who toshiba is. They either got called on it privately, they're doing it in good faith, or they want to screw over Sony. Since they're t
Re: (Score:2)
Great news, mr Bin Laden, Brand recognition for Al Qaeda is up again. It was in the top 3 terrorist organisations named in last months survey.
We are working on Brand affection next. we are confident it will go up (it can hardly go down...)
So... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:So... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Things could be worse (Score:3, Funny)
__________________________________________
Free iPods? Its legit [wired.com]. 5 of my friends got theirs. Get yours here! [freepay.com]
Re: (Score:2)
What do you mean, "good?" Sony should become dust!
(By the way: "it's" and "you're," not "its" and "your.")
Probably because (Score:2)
1. A battery doesn't need drivers or transfer data in any form or shape. So basically noone figured out how to make a battery that installs a rootkit. That may well change, though, once trusted computing gets accepted. I'm sure someone will figure out a reason why it's vital to authenticate the battery.
2. A battery can't get copied or ripped to MP3, and you can't upload it on P2P networks. So it's hard to justify -- either to the users or to your own accoun
Quality?? (Score:3, Insightful)
Isn't this not supposed to happen? I thought that the ISO 900x process was built to flag these issues before they became the nightmare that has since developed?
Re: (Score:2)
No, ISO 900x only insures that everything you do is documented. It doesn't even try to address the validity of the processes that are documented. All of your processes can be total crap as long as everyone does what it says in the document.
Race to the bottom (Score:4, Interesting)
I would love to see the bid contracts that went out. Odds are that someone who's a little more reputable was within a few cents per battery of this outfit, but lost out because they weren't the lowest cost bid.
Now you have a piece of paper worth a fraction of a cent costing Sony at least $50 to $100 per battery.
Nice cost savings.
What am I not getting? (Score:2, Insightful)
It isn't just a sony issue (Score:4, Informative)
People who use electric motors on their RC Planes frequently use Lithium Ion batteries, however, because of the nature of the hobby, the batteries tend to discharge at an extremely high rate, or people in a rush can not pay attention and overcharge them. Apparantly there have been many reports over the years in this hobby of planes exploding in mid air or people's cars/homes catching fire because of a rapid buildup in heat by the batteries. The issue got so prevelant that they actually sell pots for people to place their batteries in so that if they do go up in smoke, they won't catch anything else on fire in the process.
Now, of course, this is a hobby where the batteries are being put under unusual and frequent stress, and I'm sure some of the cases were also due to poor quality control. However, it is just one example of many that shows that the problem is not Sony alone, it is a fundamental problem with Lithium-Ion battery technology in the first place. A significant enough problem that the smallest iregularity can result in potentially major issues. All of this is just another example of why, given the increasing portability demands in the technology sector, we need new battery technologies.
There may (not) be a problem with your battery (Score:3, Interesting)
From that page:
Way to send mixed messages folks. It looks bad for Toshiba that they have faulty batteries that may or may not be under a recall. It looks even worse for Sony as they are responsible for both recalls.
Re: (Score:2)
The batteries, made by Sony Corp., may fail to charge correctly, causing the power to cut off suddenly if the notebook is not connected to a mains outlet, said Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Hmmmm... I wonder how long the warranty period is. :)
In my experience with Playstations and similar devices, it's the damn connectors that give out. And since the connectors are usually proprietary, thanks to the thoughtfulness of Sony's MBAs, the device becomes obsolete before its time. For example, were it not for the failed totally-arbitrarily-proprietary video connector, my PS1 would still be cookin'.
And we are all aw