Dell Recalling More Batteries

Dell and Toshiba are expanding their recalls of Sony-made notebook batteries.

Dell on Friday said it's recalling 100,000 more laptop batteries than it initially announced last month and said some defective batteries may have been provided to customers during service calls.

The Round Rock, Texas-based PC giant said new information has led it to increase the number of Sony-made batteries under its present recall from 4.1 million to 4.2 million. The company announced its massive recall last month, after months of reports of Dell laptops that had caught fire.

Toshiba, meanwhile, said it's extending its exchange program for 340,000 Sony-made notebook batteries, which included 100,000 in the United States, to 830,000 batteries, according to Reuters.

The recall announcements are the latest in the laptop battery saga.

Lenovo, in conjunction with IBM, on Thursday said it was recalling 526,000 Sony-made battery packs for several models of ThinkPad notebooks. And last month, Apple announced a recall and an exchange program for 1.8 million Sony notebook batteries.

In Dell's latest announcement, the company said "additional information was received regarding affected battery packs containing cells manufactured by Sony, which led to an increase in the number of recalled batteries from 4.1 million units to approximately 4.2 million units."

Dell asked all customers to "recheck their batteries" against a list of affected models at dellbatteryprogram.com if they have not ordered or received a replacement battery.

On the battery replacement site, Dell acknowledges that "these batteries MAY have also been provided in response to service calls." The suspect batteries shipped between April 1, 2004, and July 18, 2006.

Dell has been working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on the recall. The CPSC issued a statement late Thursday saying it has verified "at least 47 incidents involving smoke or fire associated with notebook computers, from January 2001 through August 2006."

In its statement, the commission offers several tips for "Notebook Computer Use," including advising against the use of "incompatible computer batteries and chargers" and not letting "a loose battery come into contact with metal objects, such as coins, keys or jewelry."