With the battery being such an integral component of a notebook computer, the cost of the laptop battery can have a noticeable effect on the cost of the entire notebook.

Reuters reports that Dell announced this week that there was a shortage of laptop batteries because in part of a fire at a major laptop battery manufacturer - LG Chem.

Dell also admitted that prices for laptop batteries sold separately from a notebook system have gone up because of the shortage. LG Chem, one of the leading makers of batteries for laptops, had a fire in its Ochang plant on March 3. Dell says that it is working with other vendors to obtain batteries in an attempt to stave the shortage and prevent price increases for new notebooks from being passed on to consumers.

Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn told Reuters,

“We sell battery packs. The prices of those battery packs for people ordering extra batteries have gone up.”

However, Blackburn didn’t comment on the amount of the price increase.

Dell isn’t the only PC maker looking at laptop battery shortages; Hewlett Packard is feeling the same pinch. Hewlett-Packard spokesperson Mike Hockey said,

“The full extent of the impact to Hewlett Packard and other OEMs is still being determined. We are aggressively working within the battery cell industry to secure additional supply of battery cells.”

Source: DailyTech.com

Dell laptop battery stores:

• JustLaptopBatteries.com
• LaptopPartsWorld.com
• HQBatteries.com

LG Electronics has offered free replacement batteries after two users claimed that their notebook PCs exploded. Despite the recall offer, LG has so far described the incidents as “isolated “. The partial recall applies to batteries manufactured by LG Chemical for two recent laptop models, the LG Z1 and LG Z2.

Video shot in January showed a journalist’s LG Z1-AE007 notebook burning and then exploding.

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