-Dell-Recall Laptop Batteries

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Dell announces recall of notebook batteries because of fire hazard

Eds: SUBS grafs 4-5 with 3 grafs bgng. 'Dell spokesman ....' to

UPDATE with Panasonic comment; Moving on news and business wires

DALLAS (AP) - Dell Computer Corp. is recalling about 284,000

batteries used in its notebook computers because they can overheat and catch

fire.

Dell and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday

the company had heard one report of a battery that overcharged and caught fire,

resulting in minor property damage.

The recall covers batteries used in Inspiron 5000 and 5000e

notebooks shipped to consumers from Jan. 7, 2000, to March 21 of this year. Dell

and its service providers also sold the batteries separately during the same

time for $100 to $130.

Dell spokesman Tom Kehoe said the recall would not have a material

financial impact on Dell.

Kehoe said the batteries were made by Panasonic, though a Pansonic

spokesman disputed that characterization.

Kurt Praschak said the batteries were made by Matsushita Battery

Industrial Co. Ltd. and do not carry the Panasonic name. Panasonic is a brand

name of the parent company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

Dell said consumers should remove the batteries from their notebooks

and call the company. The recall doesn't affect the computers themselves, which

sold for $2,100 to $3,100.

The faulty batteries have a colored sticker with an identification

number containing the either ''99'' or a series of numbers ''00 51'' or less and

the letter P in the first line, Dell said.

In October, Dell recalled about 27,000 batteries used in notebook

computers because of a similar fire hazard. That recall mostly affected Latitude

and Inspiron 3700 and 3800 models sold last year.

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On the Net:

http://support.dell.com/i5000battery

AP-WS-05-03-01 1744EDT