Toshiba, Sony at Heart of Another Recall

About a month ago, Carlo Orlando reported on Toshiba's plan to combat falling revenue by doubling production of its NAND flash memory chips. Not a bad idea, although one wonders if the company should be fixing its foundation before building a new rec room. Once again, Toshiba is recalling a significant number of laptop batteries, representing just another chapter in a long and painful customer service manual.

Thankfully, the numbers continue to decrease. This time, Toshiba is forced to call back just 10,000 of its potentially dangerous batteries. Of course, as has been the case for most of this strange epidemic, Toshiba is not behind the manufacture of these faulty wares. Instead, it's another stroke against Sony.

According to IDG News Service, "Both recalls are related to battery packs manufactured by Sony". Furthermore, "even if you participated in the earlier battery swap...you still need to deal with this recall if you have one of the affected batteries". (Source: p2pnet.net)

So, what batteries should consumers be looking out for?

If you're an owner of Toshiba laptops under the names Satellite A100/A105 or Tecra A7, you'll want to get in touch with the company immediately. Also affected are any replacement batteries numbered PA3451U-1BRS and PA3399U-2BRS. (Source: computerweekly.com)

For those who want an immediate answer on whether or not to contact Toshiba, the company encourages the use of its Battery Check Utility. On screen instructions will guide a user through the process, as can a call to tech support at 800-457-7777.

So, what's the impact of yet another recall?

Given the growing laptop market, inevitably consumers will become more and more educated on what vendors and manufacturers should and shouldn't be trusted. In no retail atmosphere do the words "Toshiba strongly recommends that customers participate in this new battery pack replacement program as soon as possible," sound like good business.