This is something

to which you do NOT want to wake up:

… A battery in a Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> notebook computer melted on Sunday, officials from the company and South Korea’s fire department said.

The notebook battery emitted smoke after being used for about three and a half hours on a pillow, a fire department official in Seoul told Reuters by telephone.

The battery burned a bed and a floor a bit, but did not cause a big fire, he added.

A Samsung’s spokesman said the notebook was the P10 model, which was produced in 2002 but did not give further details such as a producer of the battery….MORE….

What’s the real probability of this happening to you? Chris Null says:

… Lately I’ve been hearing from countless people with Dell laptops who are concerned that their notebooks could blow up at a moment’s notice. People are trying to call the Dell recall phone number, and it’s completely jammed. Panic is rampant. People seem to think they’re sitting on a time bomb, and they want it off their desk immediately.

Well I’m here to tell you one thing: Relax.

Seriously. Calm down.

OK. Now listen: Should you return your recalled Dell battery for a new one? Yes. Do you need to do it right this second? No. Some of you have been using these computers for years and the battery hasn’t exploded yet. What are the odds that it’s going to happen this weekend? Or even in the next few weeks? Virtually nil.

But let’s look at this more thoroughly. What are the odds of a Dell notebook going up in flames? I put pencil to paper to figure it out.

Dell has reported that 4.2 million laptops are at risk (about 7 million total have now been recalled), and, as near as I can tell, about 8 known cases of batteries melting or exploding over the last two years. Let’s play pessimist and assume the problem is much worse than Dell knows about. Let’s assume that over the next three years, a full 60 notebooks will explode if left with at-risk batteries. Doing the math: That’s a 1 in 210,000 chance per year of a recalled battery exploding. Over the next two months, should you decide to wait a bit to replace your battery: The odds are 1 in 1,260,000…..MORE…..

I guess I can stop worrying now.

ThankYouVeryMuch!

Owlbert

ps - and if your laptop DID melt, you can always replace the battery like so:

Laptop battery for Hp Omnibook XE4100 XE4400 XE4500 NEW

2pc NEW Genuine Dell Laptop Battery Modules 8012P 75UYF

Laptop BATTERY COMPAQ EVO N600 N600C N610C N610V N620C

NEW Laptop Battery for Dell Inspiron 1000 1200 2200

NEW LI-ION BATTERY for Dell Latitude C600 C610 laptop +

Laptop Battery for ACER ASPIRE 1681 3000 3003 3500 New

Laptop Battery Charger for HP Compaq Presario 2100 2500

NEW Laptop battery FOR IBM ThinkPad T40 T41 T42 R50 R51

Box of 15 Alphasmart 3000 Rechargeable Battery Packs