Howard Winter wrote:
> Russell,
>
> On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:44:39 +1300, Russell McMahon wrote:
>
>   
>> Sony estimates the overall recall action will cost it $US429 million.
>> 9.6 million batteries affected.
>> 4.1M Dell, 2M Apple,  + 5M customer peace of mind  request option.
>>
>>         http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127637-pg,1-RSS,RSS/article.html
>>
>> A laptop catching fire AT an airport was apparently the trigger to the 
>> recall decision.
>>     
>
> I have a nasty feeling we may not have heard the last of this!  I wouldn't put it past "them" to ban lithium-powered laptops from aircraft when they 
> get round to it, which would be somewhat disasterous for travellers until an aftermarket "NiMH replacement for Lithium batteries" industry springs up, 
> with attendant lousy battery life.
>
> Cheers,
>
>
> Howard Winter
> St.Albans, England
>
>
>   
Actually, this story seems to be getting bigger and bigger. My sources 
tell me that the source of the problem is Chinese cell knockoffs that 
cannot be identified from the
high quality Sony cells. This is getting ratcheted up into an 
international incident, because diplomats are unable to get China to 
close down these cloners.

The IEEE committee and the FAA are leaning heavily toward banning Li-Ion 
celled laptops on certain flights. Don't bet your shirt that it won't 
happen.

Stay tuned, news at 6.

--Bob.
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