Hottest Laptop On The Market!

The hottest laptop computer on the market is about to get a downgrade. Sadly, this will end hours of internet excitement and viral video. But, in the interest of public safety, Dell computers is recalling 4.1 million laptop computer batteries. They have a teensy little flaw in them that can cause them to burst into flames (Earlier report on exploding laptops here and the picture link still works!).

A Dell spokesman said the batteries were made by Sony Corp and placed in notebooks that were shipped between April 1, 2004, and July 18 of this year.

"In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and/or fire," said the spokesman, Ira Williams. "It happens in rare cases, but we opted to take this broad action immediately."

The battery packs were included in some models of Dell's Latitude, Inspiron, XTS and precision mobile workstation notebooks. Dell planned to launch a Web site overnight that would describe the affected models. Williams said the Web site would tell how consumers to get free replacement batteries from Dell.

There have been numerous recent news reports about Dell laptops bursting into flames, and pictures of some of the charred machines have circulated on the Internet.

Dell, the world's largest maker of personal computers, confirmed that two weeks ago, one of its laptops caught fire in Illinois, and the owner dunked it in water to douse the flames. Other reports have surfaced from as far away as Japan and Singapore.

Monday's move was at least the third recall of Dell notebook batteries in the past five years.

As I originally wrote, I don't think I'd want one of those on my lap. Ever. Really.

No word yet on the Flaming Zip Drive, though.