Did you buy a laptop from Toshiba online? The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a public recall notice on behalf of Toshiba, warning that around 91,000 users in the US and 10,000 users in Canada should return their laptops to the company due to battery issues with Toshiba laptops.
According to the recall information, the issue affects lithium-ion batteries found in the Portege, Satellite, and Tecra models. The battery manufacturer is Panasonic.
All laptops sold in the US and Canada between June 2011 and January 2016, and manufactured in China and Japan, are affected. The laptops were sold primarily through Office Depot, Staples, Toshibadirect.com, and other online retailers.
Toshiba says the batteries in these laptops can overheat or even melt, injuring their owners. To date, four such cases have been reported.
Company representatives say that 39 laptop models may be affected. The company has published a page providing instructions on how to find out whether your laptop is affected by this issue or not.
Toshiba has an automated tool that can detect whether a computer is affected by checking its serial number and part of its battery number, letting the user know if their laptop is included in the recall.
The company says that all batteries have a problem, the battery numbers start with G71C (G71C *******).
The recall concerns new laptops that are still under warranty, but also users who had such a battery and replaced it even after the warranty expired.
The company also says that the simplest way to avoid problems is to remove the battery and run the computer directly from the charger.
