The recall by Dell Computer of 4.1 million notebook-computer batteries due to potential overheating and fire hazard - the largest computer-related recall ever recorded by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission-- underscores the need for the computing industry to fix hardware problems at source rather than issuing after-the-fact recalls, Info-Tech Research Group reiterated today. Info-Tech published a release calling for action in June this year given that incidents of computer batteries erupting in smoke, fire and even explosions have caused numerous laptop recalls within the last year and pose a threat to personal safety by users, especially during air travel.

"Today's computers are smaller and more powerful in their design which can result in reduced air flow and increased heat containment," said Carmi Levy, Info-Tech senior analyst. "Finally vendors are realizing that the potential for overheating and even fires and explosions related to these batteries is high and could happen in volatile situations such as during air travel."

In addition to today's recall of Sony-manufactured batteries by Dell, the company also recalled about 22,000 of its notebook computers in December, 2005 attributed to potential for batteries to overheat and potentially catch fire. Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced a recall of some 15,700 HP and Compaq notebook computer batteries in April this year after 20 reports of batteries overheating; and Apple Computer recalled 128,000 batteries shipped in its PowerBook G4 and iBook G4 laptops in the spring of 2005.

"The propensity for these devices to explode has been known for some time, and regulatory bodies and manufacturers need to turn up the heat on solving these issues rather than using recalls as a band-aid solution," said Levy. "Computer vendors need to ensure more rigorous testing of batteries before deploying them in their computers and should be working closely with safety organizations to raise the bar on regulations for the industry."