CompuWorld

The Sony laptop battery fiasco of 2006 is stepping into 2007, as Acer has announced a recall of certain notebook computer lithium-ion batteries containing Sony-made cells. About 27,000 cells are affected, and Acer is recommending that applicable consumers should only use the notebook computer using AC power until a replacement battery pack is received.

Laptops containing the affected batteries are in the TravelMate and Aspire series with model numbers starting with 242, 320, 321, 330, 422, 467, 561, C20, 556, 560, 567, 930, 941 and 980. These laptops were sold in the U.S. and Canada between May 2004 and November 2006. A special Web site has been set up for owners of Acer laptops to compare their serial numbers with those in the affected range.

Over 10 million lithium ion laptop batteries have been recalled worldwide since last year. A long list of computer manufacturers has felt the effects of the defective batteries, including Sony, Dell, Apple, Lenovo and Toshiba.

In the interest and concern of consumers, the IEEE announced last November that it will revise its laptop battery standards to improve overall performance while make systems more reliable. Meanwhile, battery engineers are hard at work to develop new, safer battery technologies. Panasonic is now producing laptops with an improved lithium ion battery technology that safeguards against overheating.

While nearly all notebook computers on the market today use lithium, Apple started shipping lithium polymer batteries with several of its MacBooks as of late October. Lithium polymer batteries are already being widely used today in some newer models of PDAs and cell phones.

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