OK, this isn’t my usual Byte fodder – but I use a Dell and since I had to look up the details I thought I’d share.

If you haven’t heard Dell is recalling certain batteries sold with laptops because people have had their laptops blow up. You can see why this caught my eye. Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or separately as secondary batteries:

Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710
In addition, these batteries may have also been provided in response to service calls. The batteries were shipped to customers between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006. The words “DELL” and “Made in Japan” or “Made in China” or “Battery cell made in Japan, Assembled in China” are printed on the back of the batteries.

Sadly, I have an Inspiron 700M. So I needed to check to se whether my computer was one of the lucky few, which meant checking the battery. I found directions for removing the battery.

Luckily, my battery part number was not included in the recall. But if it had been I could have gone further on the site presumably to double check to make sure my battery was part of the recall and then to place on order for a battery switch. I will plug Dell here because I had to order a replacement piece earlier this summer. They never really asked how I broke the computer, they sent a free replacement, and (this is the best part) it was hand delivered by a technician who handled the replacement.

To learn more about the battery recall, visit the Dell battery recall site: https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx

While I was looking into this I noticed another page of interest that lists other Dell Recalls, visit the Dell web site.