>>Just in case anyone missed the news:
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>>https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx
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>>I knew about this on the 4th of July. The local stores were all out of lighters, so I bought a Dell laptop to set off my fireworks.
>>
>>
>>The PA Crew just ordered a large shipment of Dell Laptops. We're going to use them randomly in our training centers. (It's a little game we like to play).
>>
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>>As I type this, I'm reclining in my favorite chair with my laptop (literally) in my lap. Glad it's a Toshiba and not a Dell, otherwise....(damn, I've got a great line right now, and I can't repeat it!)
>
>That Toshiba may not make you as safe as you think. The batteries were made by Sony and are used by MANY lapop vendors. ;-)

Funny this should come up! I bought a Toshiba laptop about two years ago and it just went on the fritz despite being lightly used. The battery won't charge, and even running off AC it quickly crashes. I suspect a virus -- unrelated to the battery's early death -- but it won't stay booted, when it gets that far, for me to be sure. No joy booting from CD, either. The Toshiba was used mostly by the girls, i.e. sporadically, and was seldom left plugged in with the battery engaged. I'm guesstimating it had 200 or 300 hours of use, and now it's as responsive as Edgar Allan Poe. I'm not messing around with it any more, not even to buy a replacement battery for $110 (!!!). I ordered a cheap, brand new Dell laptop on eBay yesterday. Toshiba, you be dead to me.