While not related to the exploding/fire-catching defects that plagued Dell and others, some retailers are still finding themselves affected by bad batteries manufactured by Sony. Most recently, Toshiba is looking at replacing up to 340,000 defective units around the world in their Dynabook and Satellite series of laptops. In particular, ones manufactured from March to May of this year may have an issue that cause them to suddenly run out of power:
Sony said in an official statement that the recall arises because, on rare occasions, microscopic metal particles in the recalled battery cells may come into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit within the cell. Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell short circuit occurs.
A nuisance, for sure, but a far better story than a battery burning a house down. Toshiba isn't releasing specific serial numbers or units that are affected, though they will be replacing the units for free.