Some Dell laptop users may have three-week wait for new batteries

CPSC Dell Battery Recall Notice

Federal employees who use Dell laptop computers hit with a battery recall could wait three to four weeks for a replacement battery said a spokesman for EDS, which supplies Dell laptops under a number of federal contracts, including the Navy Marine Corps Intranet contract.

EDS is exploring ways to more quickly deliver battery replacements to key federal customers, said Travis Jacobsen, an EDS spokesman. He said 45,000 of 135,000 NMCI users with Dell laptops have computers with recalled batteries. Jacobsen said he did not have a total count of Dell laptops that EDS has supplied federal users.

In cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Dell announced Aug. 14 a voluntary recall of 4.1 million lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony and used in Dell’s Inspiron, Latitude, Precision and XPS brands. About 2.7 million of those batteries had been sold in the United States, and 1.4 million in other countries.

CPSC said Dell decided to recall the batteries after it received six reports of batteries overheating, resulting in property damage to furniture and personal items. No one has reported injuries caused by overheated batteries.

Jacobsen said EDS will notify affected NMCI users by Aug. 17, directing them to use the Dell battery recall Web site to order new ones. Affected users should immediately remove the battery pack and run their laptops on AC power only.

Dean Sprague, a spokesman for the Army Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS), said the office has already discovered 6,500 recalled batteries fielded by its Project Manager Logistics Information Systems and purchased off the Dell Army Desktop and Mobile Computing-1 contract.

PEO-EIS is working with large-project managers to identify batteries covered by the recall and provide replacements, Sprague said. Smaller-scale users should use the Dell Web site to directly order replacement batteries, he said.

CPSC recalled batteries that were sold with the following Dell computers:

• Latitude D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810.
• Inspiron 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, 500m, 510m, 600m, 700m, 710m, E1505, E1705.
• Precision M20, M60, M70 and M90.
• XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710.

Laptop users should also check the battery numbers printed on the battery packs, the company said. These battery numbers are subject to recall:

• 1K055.
• 3K590.
• 59474.
• 6P922.
• C2603.
• C5339.
• C5340.
• C5446.
• C6269.
• C6270.
• D2961.
• D5555.
• D6024.
• D6025.
• F2100.
• F5132.
• GD785.
• H3191.
• JD616.
• JD617.
• KD494.
• M3006.
• RD857.
• TD349.
• U5867.
• U5882.
• W5915.
• X5308.
• X5329.
• X5332.
• X5333.
• X5875.
• X5877.
• Y1333.
• Y4500.
• Y5466.