Toshiba Corp. is offering to replace a further 830,000 laptop batteries containing cells made by Sony Corp., it said Friday. The offer covers computers sold worldwide and is separate from a similar announcement made by the company last week.
Toshiba is offering to exchange the batteries to ease customer concerns in the light of several recent high-profile battery recalls, it said.
“There is no safety issue, we will voluntarily exchange the battery pack used in certain notebook PCs,” said Keisuke Ohmori, a spokesman for Toshiba in Tokyo.
Last week, Toshiba offered to exchange 340,000 notebook batteries because it said they could unexpectedly cut power, causing users to lose unsaved work.
The latest offer covers batteries in the following laptop models: Satellite T10, T11, T12, T20, A50; Tecra M3, M4, M5, M7, S3; Portege S100, M300, M400, M500; Dynabook SS LX, L10, L11, M10, M11, M35, MX, MXW; Dynabook R10; Dynabook TX/2, TX/3, TX4; Qosmio G30, F30;
Other models sold only overseas are also covered but were not named by Toshiba in Japan.
Fujitsu Ltd. will offer owners of some of its laptop computers replacement batteries as part of Sony Corp.’s global battery exchange program, it said Saturday.
Sony announced the program Friday in response to growing consumer concerns about its laptop PC batteries, which are used by many companies. Since mid-August, about 6.6 million laptop batteries containing Sony-made cells have been recalled by computer makers because of a potential fire hazard.
Fujitsu said it believes there is no danger in using Sony-made batteries in their machines, but following recalls from other PC vendors the companies are offering replacements to ease customers’ concerns.
The Fujitsu Japanese-market models are: FMV Biblo Loox P-series P70R and P70S and the Biblo Loox T-series T50M, T50R, T50RN, T50S, T50SN, T70M, T70M/T, T70MN, T70R, T70R/T, T70RN, T70S, T70S/V, T70SN and the FMV-P8210.
Those sold outside Japan covered by the exchange are: Lifebook P1510, P1510D, P7120, P7120D, S7020, S7020D, S7025, S7025D, C1320 and C1320D.
