dog
Our consumer advocate investigates...
PTriton Online Service PCoolmax
PMore Bad Sony Batteries
that’s 19 amps doubled for about
456 watts. That’s better but some-
thing still doesn’t smell right.
Taking all of the seller’s
specs at face value (which you
shouldn’t do), the Coolmax falls
far short. For a comparison, the
Dog looked at PC Power and
Cooling’s new 1KW-SR PSU which
uses a single +12 volt rail for
936 watts. Enermax’s Galaxy
claims 1,020 watts of 12-volt
power using five rails, each car-
rying 17 amps of juice. Even
Silverstone’s 850-watt PSU would
surpass the Coolmax, with 840
watts of 12-volt power using four
22-amp rails. So is Coolmax bla-
tantly ripping off its customers?
Looking at the published specs
on the online store, one would
say yes. But if you go directly
to Coolmax’s website, you can
see the problem: The web store
chopped off part of the spec.
According to Coolmax, version
2.20 of the CTG-1000 features
four separate 12-volt rails, each
providing 18 amps of power, or
about 850 watts.
Again, this is taking the
manufacturer at its word. The Dog
is pretty sure the power-output
rating represents the best case scenario, and
doesn’t take into account fluctuations in tem-
perature, which can have a major impact on
power output. That’s not something that can,
nor should, be answered here. Just somethingto keep in mind. The basic lesson here is that
you shouldn’t trust the specs given by resellers,
or even magazines or websites, for that matter.
Mistakes are made. The most accurate specs
will always come from the manufacturer.■ You knew Sony’s battery recall couldn’t end
without Sony’s own notebooks being affected.
And sure enough, the company is now recall-
ing notebook PC batteries that could overheat
and cause a fire. The batteries were sold with
the following Sony VAIO models: VGN-FE550G,
VGN-FE570G, VGN-T240P, VGN-T250, VGN-T250P,
VGN-T260P, VGN-T270P, VGN-T340P, VGN-T350,
VGN-T350P, VGN-T360P, and VGN-T370P, as well
as additional battery-pack models VGP-BPS3A
and VGP-BPS2B.
The list of bad battery models are too
numerous to list here, so consumers are advised
to visit http://esupport.sony.com/battery for more
information. Consumers can also call Sony
directly at 888-476-6972. Replacement batteries
will be provided at no cost to consumers, but
they are advised to stop using the bad cell until
a replacement arrives.■ Gateway is also now advising its customers
about bad batteries. Gateway is recalling about
35,000 Sony lithium-ion batteries that might
overheat and pose a fire hazard. The bad batch
of batteries were sold with the following Gateway
notebook models: CX200, CX210, E100M, M250,
M255, M280, M285, M465, M685, MP8708, NX260,
NX510, NX560, NX860, NX100, MX1025, MX6918b,
and MX1020j. More information about Gateway’s
recall is available at http://www.gateway.com/battery
or by calling 800-292-6813 between 7 a.m. and 10
p.m. Central standard time, seven days a week.Recall Alert
Don’t go by the resellers’ word for hardware specs, as
they often under- or over-report figures, as with this
Coolmax 1,000W PSU, which seems to output just 456
watts of power at 12 volts.Coolmax’s website reports the spec as 850 watts.This time,
notebooks from Sony and Gateway
are added to the long list of products
using bad batteries.