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Multi-bay battery chargers available for Lenovo and Dell netbooks

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Datamation Netbook Multibay Charger

I know we’ve been talking about netbooks a lot lately, but it’s not my fault – it’s what everyone else is talking about too. ;) Datamation Systems, producer of fine goods related to (physical) technology management, has announced the availability of a multi-bay battery charger for the latest Lenovo and Dell netbooks.

This handsome device certainly makes no claims of form, but hopefully follows through with the function. The beast can swallow 16 spare batteries, keep them charged, and even re-calibrate them for longer overall life. The models just released support the new Dell Latitude 2100 education netbook and Lenovo’s S9 and S10 netbooks, but they also have chargers for most other systems including the XO OLPC.

You can find out more about these stylish & sexy devices at the company’s cleverly named website: www.computerbatterychargers.com

Lenovo offers extended battery warranties

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

ThinkPad batteries

Previously, when you bought a Lenovo ThinkPad you got a 1 year battery warranty. If you had a 3 year system warranty, your battery only had a 1 year warranty. We all know that batteries are not good for a lifetime and will likely need replacement several times within the lifespan of the laptop itself.

Beginning May 19th, Lenovo launched an extended battery warranty program for ThinkPads. You do have to purchase the battery warranty within 90 days of system purchase, which I believe applies for a regular extended warranty as well, and the term of the battery warranty must match the system warranty. 

For those looking to add this on to your ThinkPad, you can find the part numbers below. I don’t have an accurate price list, but it looks like pricing will start at $139, which is about the cost of a new battery.

 

Service number         Service level

55Y2645                3Yr Depot + Battery Warranty
55Y2646                4Yr Depot + 4Yr Battery
                         Warranty
55Y2651                3Yr On-site + Battery Warranty
55Y9481                4yr Onsite+4Yr Battery Warranty
55Y9482                1Yr Depot+3Yr Battery Warranty
55Y9483                1Yr Onsite+3Yr Battery Warranty
55Y9484                3Yr Depot+5Yr Battery Warranty
55Y9485                3Yr Onsite+5Yr Battery Warranty
55Y9486                4Yr Depot+5Yr Battery Warranty
55Y9487                4Yr Onsite+5Yr Battery Warranty

HP recalls 70K batteries

Friday, May 15th, 2009

dell_laptop_fire

Nary a year go by that we don’t see a battery recall and we have the first of 2009 here. HP is recalling about 70,000 batteries used in a slew of popular notebooks sold between August 2007 and March 2008. There have been two reports of overheating that resulted in flames and caused property damage, so HP owners make sure you check this out.

 

HP PavilionCompaq PresarioHPHP Compaq
dv2000
dv2500
dv2700
dv6000
dv6500
dv6700
dv9000
dv9500
dv9700
A900
C700
F700
V3000
V3500
V3700
V6000
V6500
V6700
G6000
G7000
6720s

 

Full info at CPSC

Dell Adamo battery NOT user replaceable

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Dell Adamo battery

I’ll admit, I had hopes for Adamo. Sure, it wasn’t going to have the utility of a ThinkPad X300 series, but it could stand to open a new product segment for Dell. I was just hoping it wouldn’t be entirely Apple-esque. Something as critical to a notebook as the battery should never be locked behind poor design. Shame on you Dell.

Like many recent Apple offerings, the ultra-thin Dell laptop will have a non-user-replaceable battery Pocket-lint has learnt.

This means that Adamo owners will not be able to hot swap batteries on the go – and will have to get their laptops sent back to Dell when their factory issued battery conks out.

Source