Hewlett-Packard along with its Compaq division has recently issued a recall of approximately 70,000 notebook PC batteries because of fears that these batteries could overheat.

The lithium-ion batteries that are contained in certain notebook computers were the subject of two reports that were submitted to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as Health Canada. The said reports were said to contain examples of minor property damage.

The batteries affected by the recall were those manufactured between August 2007 and March 2008. Among the computer models that likely contain the faulty batteries are:

HP Pavilion
dv2000
dv2500
dv2700
dv6000
dv6500
dv9000
dv9500
dv9700
dv6700

Compaq Presario

A900
C700
F700
V3000
V3500
V3700
V6000
V6500
V6700

HP Compaq

6720s

The recalled batteries will also have the following barcode levels. Please note that the ^ denotes any letter or number in the code:

62940^^AXV^^^^
65033^^B7U^^^^
65033^^B7V^^^^
65033^^BGU^^^^
65035^^B7U^^^^
65035^^B7V^^^^
65035^^BGU^^^^
65035^^BGV^^^^
67059^^V8U^^^^
67059^^V8V^^^^

It is interesting to note that the last time a battery recall happened, which was in 2006, it began a series of recall announcements from a number of companies. This means that this could be the beginning of a massive recall move from other companies as well.

Last January Dell released details about the Adamo, a new laptop that is being touted to be an Apple Macbook Air killer. But details were a little sketchy on when we will actually see it.

But Dell has finally revealed the actual ship date for the much publicized machine. March 26 is when we will see the world thinnest laptop — yes, it’s thinner than the Macbook Air. Measuring at just 0.65 inches thick. it is 1/10 of an inch thinner than the Macbook Air. What it lost in thickness though it has gained in weight as, at 4 pounds, it is heavier than the Macbook Air’s 3 pounds.

Expect to see two colors when the Adamo is released. There is the silver anodized aluminum version that is etched with interconnecting shapes and will have pearl finish. The other version will be in onyx black and will have a brushed aluminum lid.

Prices of the Adamo will start at $1,999.

General Dynamics Itronix has released another new entry to the rugged laptop market sector. The GD8000 is a small laptop that is being marketed towards military use, law enforcement and other professions that will require a heavy duty laptop like construction oil exploration and transportation.

The GD8000 m has a 13.3 inch screen and weighs 7.9 pounds. The touch screen equipped display has been configured for daylight viewing. the 120 GB hard drive has been shock mounted for extra stability. It has 802.11 a/g/n connectivity, an integrated Gobi 2000 WWAN, and Bluetooth. The battery life is pegged at a respectable 10 hours. It sports a 1.86Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 and could be equipped with up to 4 GB of DDR 3 memory. The integrated graphics is an Intel GMA 4500MHD. There’s also a super password utility and a trusted platform module.

The GD8000 has passed the US military’s MIL-STE 810F ruggedness standard, which means it can withstand drops from up to 42 inches, simulated rainstorms, extreme heat and cold, and also extreme dust and vibration.

The GD8000 will sell from $3,800 upwards.

All this attention to Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ health and his decision to step down temporarily from his position at Apple has actually left me forgetting about the new offerings from the company — namely, the revamped Macbook Pro.

The new version of the 17-inch Macbook Pro is both underwhelming and just right. The fact that it was underwhelming was because of rumors that it will get the aluminum brick chassis, glass trackpad and Intel CPU.

But as revamps go, it was still (a little bit) okay. The biggest news is the now non-removable battery. Apple said that a removable battery left a lot of “wasted space”. By making it non removable it gave it more space to put in a higher capacity battery. The company claims the new battery can work up to 7 to 8 hours in a single charge. It also has a new LCD screen and with option to get a glare or non-glare screen.

The new Macbook Pro will retail at $2,799.

MSI recently released its “Mac Air Clone” at the CES 2009.

Of course, MSI is not marketing the MSI X320 as a clone but the way the whole laptop looks will remind every singe laptop user of Apple’s super slim laptop.

The MSI X320 will range from $800-$1,000. Just like the Air, it will sport an all-aluminum chassis that measures less than an inch in thickness and weighs 2.9 pounds — a bit lighter than the Air. It will sport a 13 inch 16 by 9 screen that is rated at 1,366×768 resolution (which is a just a bit different when compared to Air’s 16 x 10 1,280 x 800 resolution).

The MSI X320 will also have a full sized keyboard and there is also talk of providing gesture control for future versions of this new model.

It will also sport three USB ports, VGA and ethernet slots, SD slot and webcam. With a 160GB drive, Bluetooth and WiFi, this is shaping up to be a winner.