On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 05:57:49 -0400, Cub Driver usenet AT danford DOT
net wrote in :

On 15 Aug 2006 02:42:26 -0700, "cjcampbell"
wrote:

So, Dell has exploding laptops.

Not really. Dell sold laptops with SONY batteries in them, and these
SONY batteries occasionally burst into flame.


It took a long time for lithium battery development to achieve the
point where the batteries were considered safe enough to be used
outside the laboratory. Lithium is a very reactive and light weight
metal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium
Lithium will ignite and burn when exposed to water and water
vapors in oxygen. It is the only metal that reacts with nitrogen
at room temperature. Lithium has a high specific heat capacity,
3582 J/(kg·K), and a great temperature range in its liquid form,
which makes it a useful chemical.

Lithium in its pure form is highly flammable and slightly
explosive when exposed to air and especially water. Lithium fires
are difficult to extinguish, requiring special chemicals designed
to smother them. Lithium metal is also corrosive and requires
special handling to avoid skin contact. Lithium should be stored
in a non-reactive compound such as naphtha or a hydrocarbon.

...

And in an attempt to include some on-topic content:

Carriage and shipment of some kinds of lithium batteries may be
prohibited aboard certain types of transportation (particularly
aircraft), because of the ability of most types of lithium
batteries to fully discharge very rapidly when short-circuited,
leading to overheating and possible explosion. However, most
consumer lithium batteries have thermal overload protection
built-in to prevent this type of incident, or their design
inherently limits short-circuit currents.