HP recalls 135,000 laptop battery packs

Hewlett Packard is recalling about 135,000 battery packs for some HP and Compaq laptop computers because of reports they overheated and melted, the Palo Alto, Calif., company announced Friday. The lithium ion rechargeable battery packs are used with HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP Compaq and Compaq Evo laptop computers. The company has received 16 reports of the batteries' overheating; four cases occurred in the United States. The recalled packs bear a barcode label starting with GC, IA, L0 or L1. The battery packs were sold internationally from March 2004 through May 20005 by national and regional electronics stores and on Internet sites such as www.hp.com and www.hpshopping.com. Consumers should stop using the products and contact the company for a free replacement. For more information, call Hewlett-Packard at 888-404-7398 or visit www.hp.com/support/ or www.cpsc.gov.

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