Lenovo is asking for 150,000 customers in Australia and around the world to check their ThinkPad laptops; a dozen different models are affected by a battery recall due to some 3-, 6- and 9-cell batteries overheating.
If you have a Lenovo ThinkPad T-, W- or X-Series or Edge notebook from 2010 or 2011, it’s worth checking out the battery recall website to see if your model is affected. The laptops were sold within a seven month period from the start of October 2010 to the end of April 2011, with eight models sold locally.
The battery cells are at risk of overheating, which may lead to “the risk of fire and burn hazard” to customers. Lenovo has set up a website for owners to check whether their particular purchase is at risk; the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission also has the salient details on its Recalls page.
This is a relatively minor recall, as recalls go — there’s no indication that any batteries have caught fire or exploded, and Lenovo’s laptops can still be used with the batteries removed. You’ll just have to keep your Thinkpad near a power point until you receive a replacement cell. [Lenovo]