Hewlett-Packard’s global battery problem extends to Asia Pacific, but only impacts on 0.23% of the total HP notebook shipment for the region, including Japan.

The voluntary recall, in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, will involve the replacement of 3,768 removable battery packs used in certain models of HP and Compaq notebooks.

To date, 20 incidents have been reported worldwide. HP and the battery manufacturer identified a defect in batteries assembled between January 1, 2005 and January 10, 2005. HP considers the defect to pose a potential safety hazard to customers.

The affected battery packs are used with the following HP notebooks in Asia Pacific:-

• HP Pavilion dv1000 Family
• Compaq Presario V2000 Family
• Compaq M2000 Family
• HP Pavilion ze2000 Family
• HP Compaq nx4800 Family

All affected battery packs have a barcode label starting with L3 and will be replaced by HP free of charge. Customers who may be affected could check if their battery packs are involved in the replacement program by going on-line at www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or contact HP’s Customer Support Centre on 13-10-47.