"Under certain conditions," Gateway says, "these battery packs can overheat and create a potential fire hazard." The battery packs in question were included in the Gateway 400VTX and 450ROG series, which were sold through a variety of channels between May and August, 2003.

The press release goes on to say that consumers should remove their battery pack and look to see if it is marked with part number 6500760 or 6500761 (included on a label on the underside of the battery pack). Only those part numbers are affected by the voluntary recall.

Benjamin Gray, an analyst for Forrester Research, said in an e-mail that in his discussions with Gateway, the company has only reported four actual instances of overheating, but the company is reacting quickly to prevent problems.

"PC suppliers don't want to risk the safety of their customers -- not to mention the risk to their reputation -- should there be a hardware failure that causes injury," Gray wrote. "As a result, all it takes are a few reports of malfunctions for a supplier to launch a product recall (in this case, there were four reported incidents)."

Free Replacement

Gateway said in its press release that it will replace affected battery packs at no cost to the customer . "In the meantime," the company advised, "customers may continue to use their notebook PCs by turning off the system, removing the battery pack, and powering the system via AC adapter and power cord."

The company said that it is working with its suppliers to cover the cost of replacement batteries, and as a result, expects its costs to be limited to "incidental expenses associated with administering the exchange program."

Other Recalls

Gateway is hardly the first laptop manufacturer to recall overheating batteries. During the last year alone, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has either ordered or encouraged recalls by several other manufacturers, including Toshiba, Acer, and Lenovo. The dubious crown in the battery recall race, however, goes to Sony, which last year was forced to recall over 10 million faulty batteries.

Like many other manufacturers, Gateway was affected by the Sony recall. The company's "Battery Exchange Program" lists six different battery part numbers and eighteen different laptop models that were included in last year's recall.

The scope of the problem has led at least one law firm, the Washington, D.C.-based Schmidt & Clark, to create a "Gateway Battery Recall Lawsuit" page that begins with the provocative question, "Have you experienced severe personal injury, property damage or property loss due to a defective Gateway battery fire?" The page is decorated with the image of burning laptop, although given the size of the image, it's a little difficult to tell exactly which manufacturer's laptop is on fire.