Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter

Computer company, Dell, is to replace, free of charge, all laptop batteries of the same model that has received complaints of overheating and even catching fire.

Alfred Thompson, technical director of First Point Ltd., the local service provider for Dell, said there was no question of Jamaican customers having to incur any cost. Mr. Thompson said he was awaiting further instructions from Dell and would inform the public via the media in terms of drop-off and pick-up points for the batteries.

"We've been getting calls but no problems so far," said Mr. Thompson. He said the number of laptops that would be affected in Jamaica would run into the thousands.

In the biggest product recall in United States history, Dell, the world's largest manufacturer of personal computers, recalled 4.1 million lithium-iron laptop batteries, placed in laptops which were shipped between April 2004 and July 2006, which are made by Sony. About 2.7 million of the batteries were in computers sold in the United States with 1.4 million of them sold elsewhere.

Models

They were included in some models of Dell's Latitude, Inspiron, XPS and Precision mobile workstation laptops.

According to Dell, there have been six instances since December when the batteries overheated or caught fire.

Dell laptop users have been asked to remove the batteries from their laptops and to run them on power cord only.

Local provider

For information on how to get a free replacement battery contact First Point Ltd., the local service provider for Dell, by phone: 906-1550; or visit the Dell website dedicated to the battery recall: www.dellbattery program.com.