Running Recalls

I had more fun than usual testing the subject of yesterday's column: the Nike + iPod running kit. It's a very exciting day anytime I can try a gadget that lets me go outside for a change, much less one that involves doing something I already enjoy. So, of course, I took a full month to try out this iPod add-on, running and walking with it in my shoe.

Now I just need to find some gadget to review that will require me to spend hours biking (then, in the winter, skiing). I guess handheld GPS receivers are an evergreen topic...

Also, don't miss this essay from Thursday's paper about the sorry state of the personal-computer business.

Blazin' Batteries

Elsewhere in the world of portable electronic devices, things have been pretty lousy. First Dell issued the largest product recall in the history of consumer electronics: 4.1 million lithium-ion laptop batteries. Then, last week, Apple followed suit by recalling 1.8 million of its own batteries.

In both cases, the fault was the same: production glitches at the Sony factory that produced these batteries, which left metal impurities inside them. These metal fragments can cause overheating, sparks or actual flames.

Both Dell and Apple have special Web sites that allow customers to see if their laptops include these defective batteries, then arrange for a free replacement.

Dell's site is at http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/.

It lists the laptops that may contain the recalled batteries: the Latitude D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800 and D810; the Inspiron 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505 and E1705; the Precision M20, M60, M70 and M90; and the XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710.

Apple directs its customers to http://support.apple.com/batteryprogram, where the affected computers are identified as 12-in. iBook G4 and 12- and 15-in. PowerBook G4 models.

As luck would have it, my mother-in-law's iBook G4 falls in that group; the first five characters of its battery's serial number also fall within a range Apple says is subject to the recall.

I tried walking her through the battery-exchange site over the phone and was not pleased by the results: After she typed the serial numbers for the laptop and its battery and clicked the "Continue" button on that page, she said the site said one of her serial numbers wasn't valid.

I tried submitting the same information and got the same results: a screen saying that iBook's serial number made it eligible for the battery-exchange program, but the battery's serial number was "invalid or does not qualify for the program."

"Please check the serial number and try again," the site advised.

How very unhelpful: Thanks a #@$&%! lot, Apple!

Either tell me the battery is fine, or tell me that I typed the serial number wrong and then explain how to enter it correctly. As written, that message leaves the user hanging, wondering what he did wrong, and in a situation where the wrong course of action could, you know, burn down the house.

Back at home, I seem to be safe: the Dell laptop there isn't on the company's list of suspect machines. But there's still cause for anxiety: At one time or another, I have had more than one of those Dell and Apple computers in my home. I hate to think about what that could do to my home-insurance premiums.

More on Microsoft's "Genuine Advantage" Program

In my Help File column two Sundays ago, I asked for input from readers who had seen their copy of Windows wrongly flagged as illegitimate by Microsoft's Genuine Advantage Notifications program. (To read my first Help File column on that subject, click here.)

Afterward, I heard from several readers who were in that boat. Two said their copy of XP validated properly after they corrected the computer's clock. One had a computer with a newly-installed copy of XP fail validation because he hadn't yet downloaded any of the Service Pack updates to XP; after installing Service Pack 1, Windows passed muster. And a couple simply had to re-enter the product key provided with their Windows CD, using the download provided by Microsoft.

Please keep those Genuine Advantage reports coming, you help me help other readers.

Sunday's Stories

Besides my Nike + iPod review, Sunday's personal-technology pages also featured the following stories:

No Web Watch this week; Frank Ahrens is off.

Post reporter David Betancourt writes about the profusion of Web tools that help sports fans set up and run fantasy-football leagues.

And in Help File, I outline three ways (all free) to edit the "places bar," the list of folders that appears at the left edge of file dialog boxes in in Windows.