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Dell to recall over 4 million batteries

Several companies, including Valence Technology and PowerGenix, are working on safer lithium-ion batteries or batteries which rely on different chemicals.

"The timing of this does buy Dell goodwill with customers and potential customers," said Sam Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis. The first pictures of exploding laptops were posted in June, and the company has moved fairly quickly to investigate whether or not the problems were isolated or more widespread, he said.

It's possible that other PC vendors are using the Sony batteries in their products, Kay said. Dell executives told Kay that the company was one of the first to begin using this type of battery, and that they think other problems will crop up down the road for other PC companies.

But even if two companies use the same batteries, they don't necessarily design the technology that connects the battery to the laptop in the same way, Kay said. For example, Lenovo's laptops use software that's designed to shut down the battery if it notices a problem and they charge the batteries more slowly than others in the industry, a company representative said. A Dell representative was unable to comment on the specifc technology it uses to enclose its batteries.

Sony's lithium-ion cells can be found in the battery packs used by other manufacturers, but at this point Sony and those manufacturers have not seen the same level of problems that affected the Dell laptops with Sony's technology, Clancy said. "We are in close communication with our customers, and as appropriate we will work with them and the CPSC if needed," he said.

A Lenovo representative said the company has not seen an unusual pattern of problems with its laptop batteries, although no PC company is immune to battery issues from time to time. Lynn Fox, an Apple spokeswoman, said: "We are currently investigating whether batteries that have been supplied to Apple for our current and previous notebook lines meet our high standards for battery safety and performance." Representatives for HP and Gateway were not immediately available to comment.

Models in the hot seat
The list of the affected models is as follows:

Latitude
D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810

Inspiron
6000, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 500m, 510m, 600m, 6400, E1505, 700m, 710m, 9400, E1705

Dell Precision
M20, M60, M70 and M90 mobile workstations

XPS
XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710

Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission