Toshiba laptop batteries withdrawn due to fire hazard

About 1,400 rechargeable batteries used to power Toshiba laptops are being withdrawn because they can overheat, creating a fire hazard, the company said Thursday.

The lithium-ion batteries, which were manufactured by Sony Energy Devices Corp., are used with the Satellite A100, Satellite A105 and the Tecra A7 notebook computers. The batteries were sold in the U.S.from January 2006 through April 2006. A company spokesman was not immediately available to say if the batteries were sold in Canada.

The company has received three reports outside the U.S. of batteries overheating. No injuries have been reported.

Consumers should use an AC adapter and power cord until they receive a free replacement battery from the company.

Over seven million Sony batteries deemed to be fire hazards were recalled in 2006. The batteries were sold with Toshiba, Fujitsu, Dell, Lenovo and IBM computers.