Lenovo recalls laptops for fire hazard; Is yours on list?

Lenovo has rolled out a voluntary global battery recall for select ThinkPad laptops after identifying a potential fire hazard with the same manufacturer that has also prompted Sony to issue a warning earlier this month to users of its Vaio Fit 11A.

In a statement issued by Lenovo, the affected Lenovo laptop batteries are identified as sold incident the ThinkPad models: T410, T420, !510, X100E, X120E, X200, X201, X201s, Edge 11, Edge 13, Edge 14.

The batteries may also have been sold separately, with the manufacture part numbers identified as: 43R9255, 51J0500, 57Y4186, 57Y4564, 57Y4565, 57Y4625, 57Y4559, 43R9254 and 0A36277.

While Sony has reported on three incidences of its Panasonic battery overheating and causing partial burns to the PC, in an emailed statement to Emirates 24|7, a spokesperson with Lenovo confirmed that even as it shared the same battery manufacturer, there were no incidents here in the UAE.

The spokesperson said “There were zero cases in the UAE but Lenovo voluntarily replaced 220 batteries in the UAE for free.”

The spokesperson further added: “In cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Lenovo is voluntarily recalling certain lithium-ion batteries worldwide.

“These batteries were manufactured for use with ThinkPad notebook computers that shipped between October, 2010 and April, 2011.”

The Lenovo spokesperson declined to reveal the number of units sold of the potentially affected models in the UAE.

Lenovo has stated it will offer customers free-of-charge replacement batteries for all recalled batteries.

If customers believe their laptop battery is affected, the company has advised customers to ‘turn off their laptops immediately and remove the battery, and only power the ThinkPad laptop by plugging in the AC adapter power cord’.

Lenovo has advised customers to determine if they are using one of the recalled batteries by visiting Lenovo.com/batteryprogram2014 or call UAE number 04 429 4300

Earlier this month, Sony identified issues with its newly launched Vaio Fit 11A, stating in a recall notice: “It has come to our attention that some of the internal, non-removable battery packs provided to us by a third party supplier and included in VAIO Fit 11A released in February 2014 have the potential to overheat resulting in partial burns to the housing of the PC.

“If you have one or more of the VAIO Fit 11A models listed below, please immediately discontinue use, shut down and unplug the PC.

“We are currently identifying affected PCs by serial numbers and developing a program to repair or replace the affected PCs at no charge, or to refund the purchase price for the affected PCs, in accordance with the program.”

The program announcement is expected to be announced by the company in a few days.  
   
 

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