HP recalls 70,000 laptops, danger of battery fire

The story that refuses to die gets another chapter this week, as Hewlett-Packard is recalling 70,000 notebook batteries due to a potential fire hazard.

Two batteries in the recall pool have already gone up in flames, so this isn’t a theoretical risk but one that should be taken seriously if you have an affected system. The packs were sold both bundled with new laptops and as aftermarket replacement batteries in a wide range of outlets, including HP’s online shopping sites and third-party retail outlets.

As well, the batteries included in the recall cover a wide range of notebooks under numerous HP brands, including HP Pavilion, HP Compaq, Compaq Presario, and the plain-old HP line.

To find out if your HP notebook is affected, check the model number on the service label on the bottom of your laptop or the LCD bezel. Those potentially affected include these machines:

> HP Pavilion: dv2000, dv2500, dv2700, dv6000, dv6500, dv6700, dv9000, dv9500, dv9700
> Compaq Presario: A900, C700, F700, V3000, V3500, V3700, V6000, V6500, V6700
> HP: G6000, G7000
> HP Compaq: 6720s

If your laptop model is listed, consult this HP web page and click “Validate Your Battery” to determine if your specific battery is being recalled. Alternatively, a list of affected battery serial numbers is available at this page.

The HP web page linked above will provide instructions on returning your battery in the event it’s been recalled, or you can call 800-889-2031 for instructions between 7am and 7pm Central Time, Monday through Friday.

Of course whenever there’s a battery recall from any manufacturer, it’s always a good idea to make sure your computer isn’t affected, no matter who made it, as virtually every computer company has recalled power packs in the last few years.

Source: Yahoo Tech

Labels: tech news

Top Pills for Fast Weight Loss

There are a lot weight loss pills on the market and if you want to know the most effective weight loss pills, then visit GetDietSolutions.Com today.

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Labels: product review

Software piracy costs $50 billion a year, according to BSA

A report released Tuesday claims that 20 percent of PC software within the United States is pirated – and that that rate is still the lowest in the world.

The sixth revision of a joint study between the Business Software Alliance and IDC found that that Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, and Zimbabwe are the countries with the highest amounts of piracy, topping 90 percent. Worldwide, the rate of software piracy rose from 38 percent to 41 percent, because of the increase of Internet users in high-piracy locations such as China and India, the report found. Software piracy within the U.S., meanwhile, has remained flat. Setting the effects of exchange rates aside, the report found that the estimated losses from software piracy grew by 5 percent to $50.2 billion.

In 2005, however, The Economist published a critique of the BSA/IDC methodology, concluding that the study’s results were exaggerated. BSA and IDC representatives were not immediately available for comment.

The report comes against a backdrop of widespread crackdowns on sites that have used the BitTorrent protocol to disseminate software, movies, and music. Both Sweden’s The Pirate Bay and The Netherlands’ Mininova are facing down prosecutors intent on shutting both sites down; the operators of The Pirate Bay were found guilty of infringement, but said they would appeal.

In 2008, the rate of PC software piracy dropped in 57 countries, remained the same in 36, and rose in the remaining 17, the study found. Lowering global piracy by just one point a year would add $20 billion in stimulus to the IT industry, the BSA claims.

“We are continuing to make progress against PC software piracy in many countries, which helps people working in the US-led global software industry. That’s the good news,” said BSA president and chief executive Robert Holleyman, in a statement.

“The bad news is that PC software piracy remains so prevalent in the United States and all over the world,” Holleyman said. “It undermines local IT service firms, gives illegal software users an unfair advantage in business, and spreads security risks. We should not and cannot tolerate a $9 billion hit on the software industry at a time of economic stress.”

The regions of the world with the least piracy include both North America and the European Union; the countries with the lowest piracy as measured by the study include the United States, Japan, New Zealand, and Luxembourg, all near 20 percent.

Source: PC Mag

Labels: tech news

Best Ellipticals at Nordictrack.Com

Elliptical trainers are relatively new additions to cardiovascular fitness equipment. Find the best elliptical for your total body workout only at Nordictrack.com.

There are few elliptical type that you can choose like Commercial Series, Ramp series, SpaceSaver Series, A Series and Freemotion Commercial Series. For example Ramp Series are rated as a Best Buy by leading consumer magazines, the Ramp Series ellipticals are the pinnacle of quality. You'll get years of silky smooth operation and intense calorie burning workouts.

Among top ellipticals at Nordictrack.com are A.C.T Elliptical, FreeMotion A.C.T Plus, AudioStrider 800 Elliptical,ASR1000 Pro and etc.

Labels: product review

Top Rated Acne Treatments

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Labels: product review

Super Cool Transformers Ravage flash drive


I have nothing but fond memories of my Transformers toys when I was growing up, but even with impressive additions like the Dinobots or SkyLynx, my hands down favorite transformer of all time was Ravage. Why? Because he folded up into an innocent looking micro-cassette that allowed him to be smuggled anywhere.

Sadly Ravage’s stealth was also his downfall because one day he went missing, and was never seen again. But my memories of Ravage will now live on thanks to this transforming USB flash drive. It’s available for pre-order from the BigBadToyStore for $42.99 (eta September 2009) which is actually pretty expensive for a 2GB flash drive. Still, even if it only came with 128Mb on board I bet it would still fly off the shelves.

Source: Ohgizmo

Labels: tech news

MAC Memory Upgrade

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Labels: computer accessories