 time bombs that can apparently go off whenever it feels like the urge to explode.</p>
<p>Take, for example, this account from the Something Awful forums:</p>
<blockquote><p>…when suddenly this guy comes running the wrong way up the jetway, pushing other boarding passengers out of the way, he quickly drops his laptop on the floor and the thing immediately flares up like a giant firework for about 15 seconds, then catches fire.</p></blockquote>
<p>There have been several stories of laptops ’sploding lately, specifically Dells and Apples, but this was an IBM Thinkpad, and the owner claims he had checked it against the recall list. So this begs the question: is it just these specific Sony batteries that tend to flame up, or is it the technology?<img align=)
I just watched a laptop battery catch fire, at LAX, in the United terminal [Something Awful]
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Matt Hickey
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September 16, 2006
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You’re an idiot
Where is the Thinkpad recall? Looks like Dell and Apple already solved the issue with Sony batteries.
That’s completely awesome that you found the lead on SA. Was it sent to you, or is someone at CrunchGear a goon?
Also, I’m not looking forward to the first time one of these blows up on an airplane, instead of before a flight. Aside from the fact that something horrible might happen, we might not be able to work on the plane anymore, but I’m most worried about the media firestorm of speculation that the fire was deliberate and terrorist-caused, not just shoddy batteries.
I’m a goon.
i can see it coming, the blacklisting of laptops in your carry-on bag.
Now, we’ve learned our lesson.
>Also, I’m not looking forward to the first
>time one of these blows up on an airplane,
>instead of before a flight.
Or people getting shot because their Notebooks explode and they’re mistaken for terrorists…
Everything is blowing up now a days.
Don’t those flame retardant sleeves only protect you if your laptop is closed and IN the sleeve? Don’t laptop batteries tend to explode while in use rather than when the machine is shut down?
Those flame retardant cases seem to fit over a closed laptop, not one open and in use. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me unless the batteries spontaneously combust while the machine is shutdown…
I think some of the batteries did explode while the computers were sleeping (or in hibernation or whatever it’s called in Windowsese :-)
@ Michael Vincent Wood
Korean Air and Quantas Airlines have already banned Mac and Dell laptops from their flights. While I appreciate their prudence, I would think simply removing the battery from the laptop and storing separately would be a more reasonable accommodation to prevent a potential fire/explosion. I expect that we will see some changes in laptop policies by the FAA in the near future.
If this is a problem with the battery techonology, then why are we only hearing of batteries exploding recently? I think the technology has been used for a while.
I think it’s more likely that the problem is a manufacturing defect. Time will tell.
This story is a complete hoax. Somethingawful.com is a photoshop, joke and comedy site. The photo EXIF tags are dated January 2004. There was no fire call at LAX that day. You may want to update your post.
this is most cert not a hoax – iwas on the flight to london – it was very scary to imagine what could have happened if it had gone off after take off – its hard to picture just how intense the flames were – like a big blowtorch with intermitent explosions – some people were in tears/visibly shaken – airport/airline staff were extremely unproffesional in not evacuating immediately.
You guys are idiots. This post was from back in 2005. Who cares? THIS IS NOT NEWS *************************************************************************************************************************************************