Lenovo Thinkpad battery recall includes Drew-issued laptop models

Lenovo and IBM Corporation announced a voluntary recall of certain lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony Corporation. The recall affects laptops purchased between February 2005 and September 2006. There are four models in the Drew University Computer Initiative that were among those identified as possibly being affected by the recall - the Thinkpad R52, T43, R60, and T60. Computing and Network Services (CNS) has tested several laptops of each model with the tool on Lenovo's web site (http://www.lenovo.com/batteryprogram) and none have been found to be subject to the recall. Since Drew's computers are batch-produced and Lenovo estimates that fewer than 10 percent of the laptops were manufactured with the faulty batteries, it is likely that few if any Drew-issued laptops are affected; however, members of the Drew community who own one of the identified models are encouraged to visit the Lenovo web site and run the self-test. We also are working with Lenovo to determine conclusively if any distributed laptop batteries are affected, and will have more resources available in the next few days.

Please feel free to call the CNS Helpdesk at x3205 or visit the Technology Discussion in the Drew University community forums.