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Make My First Class Seat Extra-Crispy

September 21, 2006 at 11:46 AM | 0 Comments

Looks like road warriors will have yet another problem to face getting their laptops on board: battery fears. No, not the fear of running out of juice--although that's always an issue--but a few airlines (Quantas and Virgin, among them) are banning certain laptops. They're worried they might catch fire.

The two main targets are Dell and Apple, which recently recalled some laptops amid fire concerns. Somehow we doubt that the airlines know WHICH Dells and Apples are fire-prone--they won't be checking serial numbers. More worrisome is the fact that the jostling the laptops suffer when they are checked makes them morelikely to catch fire than when they are in the cabin.

Ultimately, we're sure this policy will change, just as soon as airlines figure out a way to charge for customers to plug in their laptops on board.

[Image via sizemporesr/Flickr]  

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·   Some Laptops Face Ban [WSJ]