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Dell Notebooks Catch On Fire!
Mr_Person writes "Dell Computer will recall about 284,000 notebook batteries due to a flaw in batteries incorporated in Inspiron 5000 and 5000(e) notebooks. The flaw causes the batteries to produce excessive amounts of heat, in fact,
at least one notebook has even gotten to the point of
catching on fire!" I thought the worst part of Dell Laptops was the fact that they broke all the time, and that they billed me for months after I shipped them the laptop back claiming they never got it. Maybe you could use Dell Laptops as an alternate heat source, what with rising gas prices *rimshot*
What do we do with a completely anectodal and flamebait topic? I'll go anectodal: I love my Dell Laptop. It kicks ass. It cost half of what the IBM was, and it is close to three times the machine.
Aliens land in Wyoming, Ship Uses Linux
Larry Ellison is the Anti-Christ, Bible Scholars Say
CmdrTaco Uses Windows at Home- say sources
Oh yeah, I am so sure Michael is SLIGHTLY embarrassed. He has just managed to give Steve Jobs more ammo in the escalating war of words between Apple & Dell.
As I recall, Mr. Dell made a comment about Apple's flaming powerbooks a few years back. Maybe instead of jabbing them he should have asked Apple how not to create a flaming notebook.
I can hardly wait for all of the payback.
Or if works the way it happened to me... 1. You register for a battery. 2. You wait 4 weeks. 3. You call them up. They say they didn't receive the registration, but they agree to send a new battery. 5. Wait 4 weeks again. 6. Call Dell again. They say the replacement was cancelled, but can't tell me why. I talk to a supervisor. She agrees to send me a battery. 7. Dell rep calls me to schedule time to come out to replace battery. I tell them the send me the battery. They say they can't send it, they have to have a technician do it. I tell them this is lame, but send the tech out. 8. Tech calls 3 days later, arranges time to show up. 9. Tech shows up next day, swaps battery out. He's in the building less than 30 seconds. 10. 1 month later, Dell sends 2nd battery.
People don't really try to run Linux on laptops, do they?
What would be the point? Linux is a time sharing system. Most laptops have one, or at most two serial ports. Where would you hook up the banks of dumb terminals?
If Dell eus this recall like they did the previous battery recall, it will work like this:
It worked out pretty well then.
Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is paved with melting snowballs.
I read the internet for the articles.
Damn, now I'm a little annoyed that my Latitude wasn't subject to the recall. :)
There's another side to this. Laptop batteries degrade slowly over time. I certainly noticed this. When I first got my laptop I could play a full DVD and half of another one before the battery would start getting low. Now I'm only barely finishing the first one before it's time to swap batteries. Too bad the battery charger puts so much noise on the audio lines (there is a definate warbling hum on the speakers when I plug the laptop into the TV) and I have to run it off of battery power to watch DVDs.
Down that path lies madness. On the other hand, the road to hell is paved with melting snowballs.
I read the internet for the articles.
Do you call your workstation a desk?
You are incorrect a to the cause of innovation. People don't innovate because something doens't work right, they innovate because they can make it work even better. They innovate because that's what people do. Even perfectly working technologies get replaced by better (or just different) things. The batteries in Dell laptops, even if they worked perfectly, will be replaced by better, smaller, longer lasting and more environment friendly batteries, and it has nothing to do with how good (or bad) they are right now.
"Hot lesbian witches! It's fucking genius!"
Maybe with the later versions of laptops, they'll bundle a package of marshmallows rather than Microsoft Works. You might get more done in the long run anyway with the marshmallows. :)
(I own a 5000)
Tip #1 Never place your laptop on a bed, on cushy upholstery, soft carpet, comforter, etc. for long periods of time or operation
If you want to fry your laptop, your couch, or your own leg (i.e. under a comforter), that's the fastest way. From what I can gather, the laptop is designed to radiate heat downward. When you place it on an insulator like a carpet, a bed, or a comforter, it gets hot REALLY fast.
Yes, it is a laptop. But I wouldn't recommend curling up with it on a cold night with your favorite quilt--unless your heat is out.
Tip #2 Fan == "Danger Will Robinson!"
Shortly after owning my laptop, I noticed that the little fan in the back would come on and turn off. One day, the area under the Enter key was super hot--I could feel it through my keyboard. I ejected my modem and ethernet cards and I couldn't hold them they were so hot! I grew worried (I really love this laptop) and so I called support thinking my fan was busted. The info I go was shocking.
The standard operating temperature for the processor is 150F. The fan kicks on only if the processor is starting to operate out of the spec'd range of "standard". If your processor starts getting up around 180F, the fan kicks on to cool it off.
Those numbers are based on memory, but they feel right (i.e. by how hot my cards get ).
Now, I don't care how many assurance that Dell tech gave me--180F is not a Good Thing[tm]. When I hear my fan kick on, I usually give my laptop a quick look-over to make sure I can't do anything to help it cool down. Proping the back end up on a book *might* help.
Needless to say, if your fan is on for a long time, you might want to check on your laptop. OTOH, maybe your just cracking distribited.net blocks ;-)
(disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for anything stupid or reasonable you do with your own laptop; take or ignore this advice at your own risk)
All that being said, I really dig my 5000. I loaded it up with a crap load of memory and a big HDD--it is a great development tool on the Commuter rail. I just always make sure to score a table in the middle of the double-decker cars. My right leg is getting scorched (kidding).
"Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs." -- Switchfoot, Ode to Chin
Yeah, they're good, but not perfect. They just recalled a RAID controller because it could randomly corrupt data. You know how much fun it is to call up a client and let them know the system will be down while we fix something that may have been randomly scrambling their data over the past few months?
- 40GB HDs that would only recognize as 8GB drives. The fix? Have them install MaxBlast or similar software.
That sounds suspiciously like a problem I've run into in NT4.0 (on non-Dell machines), rather than a problem with any particular Dell.
Well, it's not really a problem with the cells, it's either the battery pack or the charging system. LiIon cells WILL catch fire if they are overcharged. The battery pack will have sensors inside to detect the temperature and internal pressure of the batteries. The charger should respond to this and stop charging when the cells are full. It's entirely possible that this particular proprietary battery pack is defective (overcharges the cells in it) and catches fire, without there being anything wrong with the cells themselves. Catching fire is a known problem with LiIon, which is why you will never see raw LiIon cells for sale to consumers. They are supposed to be assembled into sealed packs with safety circuitry built-in. IOW, there's nothing wrong with the CELLS in this pack, there's something wrong with the design of the pack or the charger it plugs into.
Finally a long last programmer's dream is fulfilled. Finally there is a comp on which one can fry eggs.
For nearly 20 years people often dreamed, after long hours of hard work, about eating some snack right on the workplace. This dream was frequently remarked by the claiming that the "comp is so hot that one can fry some bacon with eggs". However the real temperatures where still well below the desired values. It was hard even to boil water and only a few brave overclockers could manage to achieve this. So one had always to rise his a.. to get some hot food.
Today that dream is reality...
I've only had moderator points once, and it was quite some time ago, but it seems to me that people will go through the entire list of comments before clicking the "Moderate" button. This means that they don't see that many of the good posts have already been moderated up while they were reading the list.
This has the benefit of seeing which posts were well-liked by many, but it does lead to other good posts being lost in the cracks while a few get high points.
What might prove interesting (at least, for a trial period) would be a secondary confirmation page that pops up when the moderator clicks the "Moderate" button and shows him what the results of his moderation will be on the posts that he's chosen to moderate. If it takes information from the Slashdot server, and not the previous page, the moderator can then see whether someone has already moderated them and can decide accordingly.
I dunno. Just a thought :)
``The evil Dr. Claw has taken over a Dell factory as part of his schemes. Investigate the factory and stop Claw. This laptop will self-destruct.''
Dell is hardly just a "me too" cloner. The fact of the matter is that they dominate the OEM computer market. It is not accident. They have excellent manufacturing systems, very low inventory (a huge issue in the industry), testing technology, high reliability, etc. In short, they're an economic powerhouse that is worthy of considerable respect. Sure, they have had a few slipups, but so have other manufacturers. They, unlike others, have quickly and fairly resolved the problems, so what's the beef?
Furthermore, not all of their systems require zero innovation, their laptops and servers are all significantly customized and require a fair amout of engineering efforts.
I put in a request for a new battery today (I have an I5000, and despite what Taco may say, it's been a great machine. Even survived a couple drops with no damage...), and it appears to work like this:
They send me a new one.
I send back my potentially pyrotechnic one.
When they get my old one, they send me *another* one.
So, I get two batteries out of this recall.
I'm happy.
C-X C-S
since 2 months owning an dell inspiron 4000, no problems at all, battery lasts ~ 5 hours (at least that's what the linux kernel apm says), and lasts at least 2 hours under heavy load (watching DVD video). performance is good enough for UT or CS @ 800x600 under windows, or Q3A @ 640x480 under linux, the linux DRI for ATI chips is not very good yet... Also I know several people owning all kind of dell machines and never had any problems...
What I think is: the people who don't have problems with any given kind of hardware/software/VCR/whatever are never known, but the people wh got the (few?) bad ones complain everywhere...
After the week-long recall, Apple replaced the LiIon battery with a NiMH one and cut the price by $100.
The PowerBook 5300 might be one of the worst computers Apple ever released. Everything that could go wrong with a design did go wrong. The original System software was so buggy, Apple posted an entire updated disk set for the 5300 up on its web site. The hinges broke, the power adapters would snap off, the casing around the screen would separate, the PC cards wouldn't eject properly...it was a mess. To top it off, performance sucked. No L2 cache meant that the CPU was constantly starved. Add in a 33MHz system bus, and you've got one heck of a problem computer.
Before my 5300 developed problems, I had been a huge proponent of them, but after my 5300 broke many, many times (something like 8 times in 18 months), I was disgusted and called Apple, demanding that they do something about it. They did. I was sent, for free, a PowerBook 1400 in exchange for that defective 5300. Apple won me as a permanent fan that day.
The 1400 is still working today. I've upgraded the CPU and hard drive, added Ethernet and Wireless cards, and it keeps on humming along well enough to prevent me from buying a new laptop to replace it (I did buy a new iMac, but portability is nice). That new iBook is looking awfully tempting, though.
-jon
Remember Amalek.
A co-worker of mine accidently left his 5K on the roof of his car after a house-call. Consequently the laptop slid off the roof and bounced down the road. Some nice soul picked it up and returned it. The only thing that seemed to be wrong with it was the ribbon between the vidcard and lcd was torn. Next day Dell sent a tech. (And we live right next door to East BumFsck rural area) They fixed up the box and thing is still cranking along.. Now hows that for reliability and responsibility for Dell... Now Their Financial institution is a completely different story...
-- Life: Hate the Game... Love the cereal
The machine smoked, and i don't know what would have happenned if i hadn't disconnected it....
:( ... bastards..
Dell's response? They sent a tech to us and replaced everything but the shell, not even a new laptop
I don't recall you beating your chest when this happened to a TEST MODEL that never left the lab of the subcontractor that made the batteries for Apple.
The hypocracy is so glaring, i'm putting on my sunglasses.
Dell should take as much shit as Apple had to take... for once in their lives.
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
When the laptop arrived, I immediately stopped using my desktop machine. I also stopped using my machine at work. I now do absolutely everything on this laptop because it is simply amazing and wonderful and good in every possible way. It does get fairly warm after extended use, but it's not what I'd call hot.
So far, I'm extremely pleased with this machine. It's never failed me once.
--
Call me a nerd. Call me anal. But a rimshot is when the drum stick hits the rim of a drum typically the snare. What effect you're looking for is the double tom shots followed by a crash. Perhaps it could be represent with ba-dump chshhhh. I dunno. But people show that they have no idea what they're talking about when they start referring to that particular device as a rimshot. It's not.
--
http://cheeser.blog-city.com
I still have and use a DEC P166 laptop with no fan. It does get too warm to sit on your lap, especially when recharging the L-ion battery. But it's never caught on fire.
My laptop began to lock up once it warmed up slightly, about 2 weeks after I got it. Dell sent someone out with a new motherboard and cooling unit (fan, heat sink, etc.). The laptop continued to lock up while the tech was there. Dell shipped a new one out as soon as they could build it. No questions asked.
The cool thing is that I told them where I would be when the laptop came in, at my parents' house, visiting. They shipped it to that address without any problems. I was working as a consultant at the time and the morning that the tech was supposed to come out and fix it, I had just changed workplaces. I gave him the new address, and he was there a couple of hours later.
Definately the best service I've ever had. I build my own machines, but I buy/recommend Dell whenever a friend needs one, and when I need to buy them for businesses.
I've got an old Dell laptop (a 133MHz Latitude XPi) that has seen heavy use over its years, and it still runs as good today as it did when it came rolling off the assembly line. I basically use it for Internet browsing from the porch, the backyard, etc. (it's running Linux and equipped with a Lucent 802.11b PC card.) It works flawlessly; I have never had a problem with this machine .. nor have I had problems with any other Dell laptop I've used. To suggest that there is some sustained defect in these machines is sheer lunacy.
As a result, I now order Dell exclusively when I need new machines. I recently placed on order for a Dimension 4100 on a late Saturday afternoon, and it arrived on my doorstep the following Friday morning. Four business days for processing, building, testing, and shipping a new desktop. Pretty damned impressive, if you ask me.
Sure, there are plenty of companies in this business that deserve to be harassed and poked fun at, but Dell is not one of them.
We're going down, in a spiral to the ground
Yes, Dell is not the only manufacturer suffering the wrath of this little problem. I saw the "Battery Recall Information" link on many other sites while I was laptop shopping over the past two weeks.
I can't recall offhand the other companies, but it seems like Compaq and/or HP also were recalling batteries.
What I don't understand is, when Dell is just a me-too cloner bolting parts together and not innovating a thing, how can they not even be able to do that right and still stay in business?
Actually, Dell doesn't just assemble parts, I was offered a design engineering job for the 4-processor and above systems. I didn't take the job, but I did find out that they actually do a lot of design work, some with the OEMs, some with custom parts.
Oh, and I don't think this is the first time they've had laptops that catch fire. At their interview, I heard a vague reference to them cutting their first line of laptops because they had a tendancy to catch fire.
As a side note, their corporate culture was VERY "we wanna be #1 at EVERYTHING." I've seen employees that love their work, but some of them were just a little to psychotic about beating Compaq and their other competitors. Kinda freaky.
Now not to diminish Dell's fault or anything like that in this matter, but Apple had a similar issue a long while back. I believe the faulty batteries were in the PowerBook 5300 line that was introduced over 5.5 years ago. The problem was found quickly and the faulty type of batteries were replaced with another type. They didn't cause a fire but they could get hot enough under the right conditions to melt the battery casing or the case of the laptop. I've got a Sparc laptop at home (we call it the Sparcable) that weighs like 30lbs. Basically it's an IPC in a slightly smaller case with a battery and a screen attached. You cannot stand to have that thing on your laptop. Your legs will be nice and tanned after five minutes with that puppy.
--
Absolutely true... but don't you think it's strange (or at least, extremely unprofessional) for a news website that covers PC hardware not to disclose anywhere that is owned, even indirectly by VA Linux? And even if we cannot get that fig leaf of professional journalism, what about a simple disclosure on blatantly negative posts about VA Linux competitors? Something like "Dell laptops break all the time, but I should tell you that I am an employee of a direct Dell competitor"?
People rag on MSNBC for their Microsoft coverage, but every single MSNBC article I've read on Microsoft properly discloses their part-ownership by MS --this despite that the name of the site is a compound of "Microsoft".
... I've owned and administered dozens of Dells. I've had few if any problems, and always, always Dell has provided excellent support --and more than half the time they did't need to: support.dell.com absolutely kicks ass.
But interestingly enough, I am typing this on a broken Dell laptop --ironic isn't it? This machine is completely hosed, it will BSOD if you move it an inch (external keyboards rule).
Anyway, it's my first truly broken Dell machine --ever. A corporate machine, purchased in Minneapolis for our company office in Atlanta. I am sitting right now in an apartment in Thessaloniki, Greece, 7,000 miles away from this machine's "home". I hang up the phone with US Dell Support an hour ago (collect). Dell has promised me that they will have a technician *on site* with a new motherboard *tomorrow morning*.
I will be sure to post Dell's performance here tomorrow. In the mean time, CmdrT., you may want to go tell VA that they have a long way to go to compete with these guys...
I have nothing but positive things to say
about Dell laptops. I have had this laptop
for over a year now. It has performed flawlessly.
I had to have the keyboard and mouse buttons
replaced a while ago, because I plain wore them out.
They came out 48 hours after my initial call and replaced them in 5
minutes.. no questions asked. Yes the notebook does get a bit warm but
I dont think it would ever catch fire. After a year+ the battery still lasts 3 1/2
hours which is pretty good considering it originally lasted 4 hours. I am very
pleased how dell is handeling this recall. The fact that I am going to
get two batteries for the one I return is amazing. I will definatly buy all
my future laptops from dell and recommend them to all my friends.
Malice95
It always makes me laugh when I read one of these yahoo stories with glaring grammatical and/or spelling errors. Slashdot is one thing; it's a weblog that's SUPPOSED to be a buncha nerds arguing over crap and being opinionated. Yahoo (and Cnet, which is where the article actually came from), however, are attempting to be credible news sources.
Sentences like "Dell agreed to replace the memory was replaced free of charge." do not help the crediblity of Yahoo and Cnet.
Disclaimer:
I am not a grammar nazi. It's quite likely that this post contains grammatical errors. I, however, am not claiming to be a news source. Your mileage may vary. Removing this screw may void your warranty. MSRP based on standard package. Power windows, air, and seats extra. #include
So that's what's been happening with that over-unity excess energy thing -- batteries!
This post encoded with ROT26. If you can read it, you've violated the DMCA. Handcuffs please, sergeant.
That's funny because most of the major threads on any Dell-Linux board are how nobody can seem to get the APM to work properly. I own an Inspiron 7500 - which I'm very happy with, and which has never hinted at catching on fire - but I can't for the life of me get the damn AMP stuff to work properly. Perhaps you could elaborate on what you did to get it to work. Oh, and I do know what a taniwha is: only a kiwi would right?
We bought two Inspiron 3800s last June. My battery wouldn't hold a charge for more than 20 mins. When I called the support centre the tech was amazed it hadn't exploded yet. It was releasing its charge at a VERY high rate.
They replaced the battery and all has been well since (had to have to keyboard replaced after 9 months).
Two weeks later I saw the notice on their website regarding a battery recall. When I checked the other notebook's battery, it was completely dead. The user never noticed as he kept it in the docking station 24x7.
I don't blame Dell regarding the battery recall (I was even a victim).
What I don't like is their policy of using refurbished parts for replacements. My hard drive crashed a few years back on a Dell PC under full warranty. They quickly shipped me a 'new' drive. The refurbished sticker on it gave it away however. When I called to complain they said it was now their policy to use returned parts. I wasn't too happy having a 'fixed like new' drive as my storage medium. It took a strongly worded letter to our regional Dell office to get a factory new drive.
As a side note, my co-workers secretly opened the box and replaced the drive with an even more decrepid one, wrapped in plastic wrap.
I was incredulus! They got me good...
... I think 180 degrees F is higher than the thermostat setting on my car's cooling system!
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
I'm on my second Inspiron right now, a 5000e, actually. First one was a 7500. I haven't had problems with any of them, except for the time I drove about 20 miles when I realized that I left my 5000e on top of my car. Thank god it was found the next day, and the only thing that broke on it was the "LCD flex cable", a ribbon cable that goes from the computer to the LCD. The LCD itself wasn't even cracked. Dell replaced the whole laptop for me, free of charge. I didn't, of course, tell them it fell off my car, but they replaced it anyway. I think for a laptop to survive a hit about 6' in the air, at 35MPH sort of says something... they really *don't* break all the time, only when you abuse them :)
I used to own a Vaio too, which I replaced with an Inspiron, because the DVD drive kept dying. Sony made me *mail* them my laptop EVERY TIME, they replaced it THREE TIMES, refused to replace the entire laptop, so I sold it to some guy in Russia and bought an Inspiron. Been happy since.
CmdrTaco's representation of Dell here is highly unfair and irrisponisible journalism. It is the first time I have heard anyone do anything but praise Dell for its customer service. They are rated #1 by Consumer reports in customer service and warrenty repair; whereas Sony, who /. seems to be able to do nothing but praise for their Viao, has an abysmal warrenty repair record, and doesn't even rate in the top 10 in either customer service or warrenty repair. I am currently working on a Dell, which has been one of the best machines I've ever owned of any type, which I had to buy as a replacement for my Sony Viao thats screen spontaneously fractured and Sony refused warrenty coverage on despite it clearly being covered according to their warrenty card. Let's have some fair journalism here, maybe do a little reserch before unfair article like that.
You know I don't think I did anything special - I may have turned off ACPI in the Bios - and I'm running a 2.2.'something early' kernel. There is an obvious Bios bug in save-to-disk which means that it doesn't restore the video context correctly - you can get around this by flipping to a virual terminal (ctrl-alt-f3 etc) and back to force X to do it - also it WILL lock up if you dock/undock it without suspending first.
I write the KDE laptop support - my APM usage is really pretty simple - KDE polls /proc/apm for current battery state and exec's /usr/bin/apm to cause suspend/standby transitions. I almost never power off/reboot my laptop - it lives in the dock and I carry it around suspended (lasts a couple of days at least) so I get virtually instant-on - I only ever use save-to-disk when I get on/off an airplane.
Oh, and I do know what a taniwha is: only a kiwi would right?
Yup - that would be right ....
I love my 7000 laptop - keeps me toasty warm on those long nights :-) Seriosly though I've had no problems - it's one of the best Linux laptops I've used - has a great APM implementation (unlike the brand new IBM I have at work whicxh despite it's lovely display freezes whenever I try and suspend it)
Actually -- it wouldn't be hard to layer the batteries with plastic explosives that could detonate on demand using the power of the battery as the charge.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
I'm still trying to decide why everyone hates Dell laptops.
I looked over dozens of laptops before I bought mine, and the Dell won out in EVERY catagory, without even a close second contender.
Not even CLOSE.
It was a bit more expensive, but IMHO it was worth the money.
In the end, I only have three complains about my Insperon 5000e.
The first of which is that it's very loud... the fan and the hard drive clicking... I can't stand it. It's louder than my deskdop. But it's a minor complaint.
The scond complaint is that the built in speakers aren't that good. They're not as bad as some that I've heard, but they could be much better.
The last complaint is that I have to keep a fire extinguisher next to my laptop.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Here's the info from the recall page:
-----------------------
Nicotine free Amish .sig.
I wholeheartedly agree here. Dell has offered such outstanding equipment and tech support to me with my laptop, that I would never even CONSIDER buying from another company. Their service is second-to-none.
:)
I had a problem with the hard drive in my laptop about a year and a half after buying it (completely my fault), and had another hard drive at my door in under a week.
Even better, three days before my warranty expired I broke the latch on the screen right off of the unit... I called, not really expecting much more than a "well don't be a moron next time"... but sure enough they took care of it. I didn't have to do a THING. Two days later, a UPS guy shows up at my house with a box with packing foam in it. He says, "Just take out the HD, RAM, and cards, and I'll take the computer." I did so, and as he was walking back to his vehicle with my laptop I asked, "Don't I need to address a label or something?" He responded, "It's all taken care of. Have a nice day." Six business days later, I had a new case, which replaced another crack that I didn't even care about. They paid for EVERYTHING, and took care of the problem very quickly, with no effort on my part.
I can't believe you're defaming Dell over a faulty battery they didn't even make that only had one incident of malfunction. They're recalling EVERY like battery at their cost, just in case. This doesn't even make me BLINK as far as recommending Dell laptops to others, and it shouldn't make anyone else think twice either.
Now, if only they'd make the mother-of-all laptops with one of the new AMD mobile chips in it... then I'd be a happy boy. That chip sounds bad-ass.
Can you imagine a Beowolf cluster of these Dell laptops? You can probably bbq an entire heard of cattle!
Sorta makes one wonder about the fundamental engineering behind Dell's notebooks. To be fair, a similar problem plagued certain Compaq notebooks.
how did that iMac commecial go...
"burn baby burn!"
Well, it was a first for Apple... sadly of course.
I have a Dell laptop and it's only broken down once. The return time was extremely fast (a few days), and they didn't bill me for anything.
I'm still trying to decide why everyone hates Dell laptops.
Bump this to number 2 on list of things to have on a desert island:
1. Jamie Presley
2. Dell Laptop - new with built in survivor kit!
3. Fresh water
...
120 characters isn't enough to explain it.
Wow, you remember every post from back in 1995? Someone's been taking their Ginseng! -grin-
"Eagles may soar, but weasels dont get sucked into jet engines."
I started getting mod points after about 10 karma, and every few weeks. Once I got past 25 I started having them almost all the time (only 3 or 4 days in the last month I haven't have them). Appearently, however, many /. users are getting them a lot, at all karma levels.
The Good Reverend
I'm different, just like everybody else.
Speaking of such things, has anyone else noticed (or been expiriencing) that moderation points are being handed out like they're going out of style? I've be a moderator 4 times in the last three weeks, and so have many others. This happening to anyone else out there?
The Good Reverend
I'm different, just like everybody else.
The US and British governments should get ahold of these for their spy agencies...they could set their laptops to self-destruct every time they're lost.
The Good Reverend
I'm different, just like everybody else.
I have a inspiron 7500 and this beast can get *very* hot. I have a habit sometimes of leaving it on after work and commuting while using it as an MP3 Player in my car stereo. When I get it home, sometimes it is so hot I cant touch any of the metal ports on the back and it is hard to type! Needless to say, I don't do that much anymore...
-Moondog
Since we're on this topic ... my wife needs to buy a laptop for a biostatistics class. We're currently an all-Mac household (I bring a Wallstreet to work, with a PowerBase at home that also runs NetBSD) but we wouldn't be averse to a PC if it made sense.
What laptops in the $1500ish range are better and cheaper the new iBook? I went to Dell.com (educational sales) and priced out a comparable Inspiron -- it was $150 more than the Mac! Not interested...
Dell didnt design the Inspirion 5000 or 5000e. Compal did. Both computers are rebadged Compal N30W series machines. I know because I'm typing this message on one :) (mine's sold as the MilwaukeePC Nomad 1500) It gets hot, and ironically enough when I need an extra battery I borrow one from my friend who has an Inspiron 5000 :) To the point: WILL MY INSPIRON CLONE CATCH FIRE? I dont know if we use the same battery vendors, but they're certainly compatible.
"Dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire" --Robert Frost
This isn't the first time that something like this has happened. Apple's powerbook 5300 caught on fire in the exact same manner.
At one point you could trade in the 5300 for about half off on a brand new pismo (firewire g3), but I don't think they have the same deal on the snazzy Titaniums.
On another note, I had a Compaq Armada die on one of my users the otherday. Airborn express picked it up on a wednesday night and I had it back from them on Friday morning, in great shape! A one day turn around! that was aweomse.
-C
I didn't buy a Panasonic, I bought a Dell. My contract is with Dell, and if anyone has redress against Panasonic, then it's Dell, not me.
It's Dell's responsibility to sell me a usable product. This may also involve them in a duty of care to validate their suppliers, so as to maintain this product's quality. As overheating Li-ion batteries have been a well-known problem since they first appeared, it's clearly incumbent upon Dell to ensure that their laptops are safe against it, their battery supplier can supply batteries that don't overheat, and their PSU (which is probably outsourced too) isn't likely to cause overheating (mis-charge any Li-ion battery and it will overheat).
Yeah, I'm on my 3rd keyboard and LCD screen on my 1 year old Inspirion 3700. The current LCD (#3) is broken and only works intermittently, but I just hooked up an old monitor I had lying around and am using that when the LCD is illegible. The keyboard seems to have stayed fixed this time though so hooray for that.
So, in short, don't but Dell laptops. It the like the computer version of Russian Roulette.
So far I've gotten all my Karma from telling people they are wrong... :)
Not that this is too hard to find at Dell's Support Site... http://support.dell.com/I5000Battery/
Ob Ref to Jargon File: The problem seems to be with the implementation of the HCF instruction: http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/HCF.h tml
I was thinking about picking out a laptop as my new firewall, I guess the Dell Inspiron 5000 is the one for me!
haha! ok that didn't make any sence...
Dell is quite familiar with this sort of thing. Last time, it was the Latitude notebooks that were going up in flames. The details from the horse's mouth can found here.
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I like to watch.
didn't someone write a book about dell laptops called "unsafe at any speed"?
Ummm, Jon, aren't you supposed to be dead...? - Otter(3800)
That said, Dell did offer a warranty and does seem to be making good on it.
-- ;-)
Kuro5hin.org: where the good times never end.
Imagine a beofwulf cluster of thoese - you can heat an entire state (read: california)
This is yet another example of how the Apple Macintosh has led the industry and everyone else follows.
Apple had flaming Mac PowerBooks years ago. PC vendors are just now getting around to copying.
Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!
We bought six identical Dell Inspiron 5000e's for everyone in our program at school. Simply put, they suck rocks. If anyone's thinking of buying one, don't. They're too heavy and slow for the price. A lot of the problems we've had might be fixed by changing the batteries, but I think inherently they're shoddy and cheaply made. There are many negative reviews at CNet and the only thing we haven't had happen in at least one of our six computers is for pixels to go out.
Sounds like a headline their marketing department wishes they had come out with =-)
"Dell Notebooks Catch On Fire!"
I work at a company that uses almost exclusively Latitude laptops. The same thing happened within the last six months or so to the Latitude batteries. We were told they were being recalled because they had a few (it was definitely more than one) catch on fire. We've got a Premier contract with them, meaning that those of us here that are Dell certified can just order the parts and they'll appear like magic the next day. Whenever we replace *any* battery we have to enter all the numbers from the battery as well as the machine's service tag, and if it's been recalled, they'll physically send someone out to get the bad one, bring us a new one, *and* a coupon for a free battery. Pretty sweet. I think Dell's doing the right thing here, but I can't help but wonder if it's the same recall, but different laptop they were being used in.
Don't cry over spilt milk. It just makes it salty for the cat.
That's a pretty smoken computer ya got there!
I had a Latitude back in October when they went through the first recall. Battery died, even though it was probably fine, so I put in a brand new one. Sure enough, there was a loud crack and smoke started coming out of the machine. I didn't see any flames but I blew on it inside the fan part and the smoke eventually stopped. Machine started working after that, and I managed to ethernet it to my desktop and take everything off, then handed it in to my IT department.
ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
--
Once apon a time I was doing tech support for a department at a teaching hospital. The department head wanted all the doctors to have laptops (4 profs and 12 interns). I shopped around and Dell gave me the best price. Out of the 16 laptops I got, one went bad the first week. Dell shipped out a brand-new unit the same day. I put the broken laptop in the box the replacement came in, slapped on the pre-paid UPS sticker they sent, and shipped it back.
I'm not the biggest fan of Dell as a whole, but they do make decent laptops and they have kick-ass customer service, at least in my experience.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
Isn't there a software-way to controll the fan? motherboard monitor?
--- Metamoderating abusive downgraders since my 300th post.
I have a dell laptop, and whenever I convert this 100 page document to a pdf file, It starts to smell like something is burning. I can be working all day and it will be fine. Kinda scary.
The greatest risk of fire was when the systems were running Windows, as windows takes more power to run than linux.
There's actually a hint of truth in that. Using Windows 2000, my Inspiron 5000e ran damn hot, just word processing. Linux (RedHat 7.0) does run somewhat cooler.
"Old Rallydrivers never die - they just fail to book in on time"
They leave it plugged in long enough and burn down their house or office. It's not your fault -- you were only being nice and giving them a free computer
Fight Spammers!
That's one hot laptop! :)
-Zane
This sig is worse than my last.
All I know is, Dell had the guts to recall the system after one fire. As far as Dell quality, I've had the opportunity to beat up, drop, and generally abuse many 7000s, 7500s, and 8000s, only to have them keep ticking. But, I will keep my fire extinguisher handy...
The curious thing about the PB5300 connection is that Michael Dell was once quoted during Apple's dark days of '97-'98 that Apple should close down and liquidate its assets to pay off the shareholders. I think he may have been pushed into a corner by the press, but Mac folks like me are inclined to giggle up our sleeves and talk about "karma backlash". It's just not professional to shoot your mouth off like that.
/Brian
Wow, you must have completely slept through the fire safety classes in 5th grade. Everyone knows it's SDR - Stop, Drop, and Roll, not just Drop and Roll.
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Tonight on Fox: Deadliest Executions Part XVII
Is it just me or does it seem like notebooks catch on fire too often? Granted it doesn't happen all that often. But even once is too often. Perhaps a little more testing is in order before they ship these things off.
--------------------------------------
If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.
>(I browse at +3)...
Not that you'll see this message, but that must make it hard to read your own messages, no?
;-)
[From the man that has his limits set at -1, always. Never want to miss a thing (you'd be surprised at the interesting stuff that gets modded down to -1). A little ASCII art and nasty words never hurt anyone (well, not as far as slashdot goes, I'm told). Of course, as an ex-BBSer, I've probably grown a thick skin against the trolls. Sometimes you can even appreciate them (sometimes). eg. AYBBTU.]
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
And incidentally, once you're inside the pay site, the navigation is the same as always. There are a few ads at the sides, but that's the only difference.
--
TO BUY A NEW CAR WOULD MAKE YOU SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE.
Apple wasn't happy :-P
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TO BUY A NEW CAR WOULD MAKE YOU SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE.
Now that our facilities people have banned space heaters (despite the building being freezing all day long) because they are a 'fire hazard', I guess I can put my inspiron under my desk so I don't loose my toes to frost bite. Roast some marshmellows too.
BigCat79
BigCat79
"The dead have risen and are voting Republican!" --Bart Simpson
Especially because at the time I was only posting on local BBS bulliton boards. Honestly I didn't catch this news item in 1995 because my interest in technology was not as high then. However from what I have reado of the apple recall I believe that I would have thought the same thing that I do about the Dell recall. "Hey, A problem happened. They are fixing it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Good job." Thank you for backing someone up when zealots are posting with no thought. Personally I would classify the multiple "Apple" posts that my post generated as either trolls or flamebaits. I guess it depends on the original intentions.
Pithy, yet ultimately meaningless, phrase expressed with gusto!
Pithy, yet ultimately meaningless, phrase expressed with gusto!
Furthermore it is not completly Dells Fault. These batteries were completely manufactured by another company. Come-on slashdot. Are we trying to do News For nerds or is this site going the way of other journalistic sites where they put up whatever will sell more papers/get more page views.
Pithy, yet ultimately meaningless, phrase expressed with gusto!
It was released earlier today for the 5000x series. Earlier Latitude and Inspirons had problems a few months ago.
However, IBM was very good at it. They exchanged mine within one week.
Funny thing is that the mailman who was doing all these recalls were saying that he had to do more than 200 exchanges at Waterloo, Ontario area. Nice eh?
============
============
Mathematics will always come back to hunt you down, in so many ways
Try this: run down your battery all the way. then charge it all the way. then run it all the way down without stopping. repeat once or twice. this is called "reconditioning" the battery and should improve the life somewhat. or not.
-fohat
Is there heaven? Is there Hell? Is that a Tuna Melt I smell?-Primus
They oviously haven't tried NOSMOKE.EXE...
-= jester =-
Sorry, but one usually means more, and in this case I have personally witnessed a brand new Dell laptop catch in fire earlier this year. Guy in front of me had just gotten it that morning, and was playing with it. We have those lame half-height cubicles, and he was sitting in profile to me typing away when I heard a noise, looked up, and smoke was pouring up the back of his display. We had a good laugh, Dell replaced it the next day.
--
Vidi Vici Veni
Vidi Vici Veni
Thanks for the sig
Once again, an Apple innovation is stolen by a PC company six years later.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
When I'm just doing it to do basic compilations, however, the laptop stays as cool as a frozen cucumber.
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
Dell's Latitude CPI A line had the same problem. In Dell's Defense they don't manufacter the battery, its an OEM part from a major battery maker(I knew the name but draw a blank at the moment) they had a bad run is all. Also in Dell's defense I love my Dell Laptops. The latutude line is the best damn machine I have worked on, hands down.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
They should just rename it the MI-Laptop. Mission Impossible, this laptop will self-destruct in 10, 9, 8, ...
3 S.E.A.S - Virtual Interaction Configuration (VIC) - VISION OF VISIONS!
When I was at a Dell conference, they were rolling out their new laptops, and crowed about how their batteries were really high tech, and so they'd never have the problems those *snicker* Apple laptops had *guffaw*. Nice to see Dell nail themselves like that.
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
You don't think one notebook PC BURSTING INTO FLAMES is any cause for alarm? It's completely Dell's fault, as they were the ones who designed a system that can CATCH FIRE when used under normal circumstances, because they failed to do adequate research into the specs on the batteries. A massive recall of the faulty batteries is the LEAST that should be expected of them.
Furthermore, you shouldn't complain about bad journalism until you learn proper spelling and punctuation.
The question is not that the batteries have the potential to catch on fire. This is a known fact. The question is who at Dell and Panasonic knew, when they knew it, and if there was any attempt at covering it up by either company. The second question begs to be How did these defective batterys get past both Panasonic's and Dell's Quality assurance teams. It does not seem reasonably possible that no one at either company knew about the problem until one happened to catch on fire...
:P
--
When I'm good I'm very good, when I'm bad I'm better, But when I'm evil you better run
"GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 51230 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Setec Astronomy)"
This was a big problem with Lithium Ion batteries many years ago. Although Apple caugh a lot of the flak for having laptops that caught fire (as duely noted in previous posts), many laptop manufacturers at the time had similar problems. It's too bad that we are seeing this again.
I had one of these (PB 5300, well known as the Exploding PowerBook due to Li-Ion batteries that caught fire) - mine didn't explode, but it did squeal like mad when it was charging the battery. I am now much happier with my G3!
sulli
RTFJ.
I still have mine, but did get a G3. There were some awfully tempting trade-in programs a couple of years ago - for whatever reason I failed to participate. Oh well!
sulli
RTFJ.
When my TP240 got blazing hot in the sun and the screen started to glow white before I had to both unplug the laptop and take out the battery before it stopped glowing. Now that is my idea of fun. (cough) Only three burnt pixels from that experience, thank god.
Go Kathryn Thurber!
Looks like another job for nosmoke.exe .
About a year ago they recalled batteries on the 3000, 3500 and 3700 model laptops for the same reason. Of the ~300 or so laptops I admin'ed at the time, none of them caught fire. (unfortunately)
Press any key to continue, any other key to quit.
Ok, my dad has a Dell Inspiron 5000 and I'm running another 5000e. Who (or what) will notify us if we're going to be faced with spontaneous combusting laptop batteries? I was pretty happy when I mothballed my heater after acquiring an iMac, but this laptop forces me to keep all the windows open! Computers should not have to substitute for heaters, and that scares me. Any advice on what to do would be much appreciated.
--
Blessed are the geeks for they shall Internet the Earth.
Remember when DEC decided to make desktop systems without fans? They kept going up in smoke. It was pretty hilarious because all you had to do was look at the thing to realize that heat dissipation would be a problem. But to be fair, heat management is not as simple an issue as it may seem.
Didn't Dell have a bunch of monitors that started flaming out too? I'm pretty sure I have a couple of replacement flyback transformers that they sent out to resolve a wiring clearance problem. (I never installed them, I'm always willing to watch a monitor go up in smoke as a way to break the monotony of a Tuesday afternoon.)
-- We all have enough strength to endure the misfortunes of other people. La Rochefoucauld
This post marks the beginning of what may come to be known as the greatest rush for 'Funny' mods seen in Slashdot's storied history.
From hell's heart I fstab at /dev/hdc
Hey, Apple has been taking a beating for years over their alleged combustible notebooks, also the fault of an outside vendor, also recalled responsibly -- and in that case, there were zero real-world cases of fires.
Hmm, I've been spending a lot of time defending Apple around here for the last couple of days. ;-) Fact is, though, that while there is plenty to dislike about the company, they also take a beating for things where they genuinely deserve praise, like their contributions to free software and their innovative, top-quality (if expensive) hardware.
Unsettling MOTD at my ISP.
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
i always knew my laptop was hot :o)
This sig is intentionally left blank
Dell is the originator. Their first line of notebooks caught fire also. They got out of the notebood business outright for a couple of years due to that. I can't find the links to this but it was very early 1990's.
I think they were relabeled sony machines.
I love the smell of Karma in the morning
I've heard the DEC Multias get pretty hot too and sometimes overheat, but I think it has a lot to do with large hard drives and RAM people put in, beyond their original design.
...when the same exact thing happened to Apple with the Powerbook 5300 (though very few if any computers had actually gotten into the hands of consumers in that instance), and the media and Apple/Mac-bashers were exaggerating the severity of it?
Personally, I think Dell and its big-mouthed, "I think Apple should close down and return the shareholders' money" CEO are long overdue for a taste of overblown, bad publicity. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Ah, yes, Dell, so very proud of wresting the education sales crown from Apple, I just can't wait until the first schoolkid gets burned by one of their laptops and the hordes of lawyers descend.
Also gotta love that they are continuing their stringent QC from a year or two ago when they shipped CD-ROM modules for their Latitudes that did not fit any Dell laptop that was in production at the time. That was a real fun time for me where I worked. What I don't understand is, when Dell is just a me-too cloner bolting parts together and not innovating a thing, how can they not even be able to do that right and still stay in business?
~Philly
Or should that be Flaming Bait!?
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Yes, you register on the Dell site and they ship a new one out to you. Then when supplies allow it they will ship an additional battery out to you. Its kind of like saying "Sorry for the trouble".
I have two batteries in my Dell Inspiron 5000e and both are recalled. I will eventually get four batteries to replace my existing two. Its really nice to get my 10 month old batteries replaced for free. I am going to like this. I think the flaming laptop is a "worst case" situation.
I also don't know what cmdrtaco is talking about. The Dell laptops work great with linux and are very stable.
In the cell phone industry. Though I've never known of one to catch on fire, some software versions of the Sony CMD-600 and a few other phones in the original CDMA phone line up had some software issues that caused them to in certain circumstances drain their batteries so fast that the batteries would heat up to the point of burning at the touch, in only a few minutes of usage!
All your base belong to ---===*> XO
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
Kinda. The battery on the IBM thinkpad t20 can actually get so warm, that I can't keep it on my lap.
-Kraft
-Kraft
Live and let live
The bulk of the moderators use their moderation points to reinforce their views rather than reward good commentary. It's been that way for quite a while which is what allowed karma whores to operate. If you can figure out what to post to increase your chances of upwards moderation you'll get moderated up.
I browse at -1, I no longer moderate though. I got tired of being hammered in metamoderation for doing what the moderation FAQ asked for: Reward good commentary, not views you sympathize with. Since I don't post often moderation put me in danger of ending up with negative karma.
Chris Kuivenhoven is a thief, beware
Apple notebooks had this innovation long ago. They have since moved on to more advanced features. This is another blatent case of Windows hardware playing catch-up to the Apple Wunderkind driven machina.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
WRONG.
"Customers are encouraged to go to support.dell.com/i5000battery or contact a Dell call center in their country, where they will receive replacement instructions. The instructions include how customers can receive two new batteries for each recalled battery that is returned."
To top this off, according to their site:
"Customers will receive one replacement battery for each battery identified as subject to recall. Upon return of a recalled battery, customers will receive an additional battery at no cost."
Thats TWO brand spankin new batteries, one upon registering the defective one and one upon receipt of it... I just ordered an Inspiron 8000 two days ago, and service like this make me damn glad I went with Dell.
Ask Dell, and I'm sure they'll agree with me.
Squozen
That these notebooks could set themselves on fire was no design flaw. They were meant to hold top-secret information.
;)
"This Notebook will destruct in 5 seconds..."
Catch my drift?
I use to work at Dell in the portable section as a senior tech and one of the hardest things we had to overcome was explained to the customer that these ARE NOT laptops. These are portable computers. With the advent of technology in the last three to four years it has become increasingly difficult for computer manufactures to develop "laptop computers." With the current processor speeds and other advanced requirements that people demand in a portable computer, its difficult to squeez all that power into a tiny compartment. One of the draw backs to that is that these systems put out A LOT of heat. If I recall correctly when Dell started shipping the Inspiron 3200 or 7000 (I think it was the 7000 not sure off the top of my head), they started including a warning letter describing to customers that this was infact not a Laptop and used pretty strong language warning against resting it on bare legs or cunductive materials. Think of it this way take the case off your desktop computer and hold your hand against the heat sink..... of course your not going to do it because you'd burn yourself. Well in a portable computer there is maybe 1/8-1/4 inch separating the outer casing from the processor. So if you run that thing all day and decide to rest it on your legs so you can turn arround and relax theres a good chance your gonna burn yourself. Now instead of putting it on skin say you place it on carpeting. Theres a damn good chance it might catch fire. Anyway thats all I have to say. Although I am glad I dumped all my stock in them.
//Argash
I browse at +3 (actually, it's at -1 but with a highlight threshold of +3...) just because I don't really have the time to wade through 500 messages.... although some gems might be missed, in general, it picks up the interesting ones... and its easy enough to follow a thread if one wants to...
Although the obvious surplus of mod points lately is screwing up my system... there's no way my 'this is how the mod system works' message was worth a 5... a 5 used to be something you had to work for... now they're everywhere; almost everything that gets a 3 ends up as 5 as too many people are dishing out the points...
--
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
- Nietzsche
Read up on how the moderation system works... moderation points are given out randomly to any logged-in /. reader. (Except maybe those with negative karma.)
/. news posters editorialize in their headlines.
/. the only message board on the internet that's actually worth reading...
So saying they're hypocrites is a bit silly, as its impossible to generalize. If you want to complain about anything, complain about how the
If you really want to see all the "SPORK!" messages, just change your setting to browse at -1 - you'll see everything that's been posted. Me, I'm glad the idiot comments get modded down and the intelligent ones get modded up (I browse at +3)... it makes
--
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
- Nietzsche
Are you crazy? If one of them caught on fire (because of a known, acknowledged product defect) then others will catch on fire. This is very serious product defect - its quite possible that one of these laptops left unattended for a few minutes could burn down an entire building (millions of $$ damage, not to mention possibility of dozens of people being killed). What if you had bought one of these laptops, put it on your bed at home and turned it on, gone out for ten minutes to go buy some milk or something, and came back to find your home half burnt down already? What if you had small children or a baby in the home? Would you still feel the same?
This is not just a "defective product", its a defective product that can potentially kill people and cause large property damage. A recall is the least they should do.
This isn't like a heater or a stove, which people know to be dangerous, and expect that they can cause fires, and thus (mostly) keep away from curtains, beds etc. This is a laptop computer.
Whether or not the batteries were manufactured elsewhere is irrelevant. Its Dell's system, therefore the responsibility is on them to test the product and make sure it works. Most of the parts in most PCs have been manufactured by 3rd parties. So what? A seller is responsible for what he/she sells to his/her client. To the end user, Dell is responsible for a broken product. Likewise, the battery manufacturer is responsible toward Dell. The battery manufacturer has no obligation to Dell's clients, they have an obligation to their own client, which is Dell. I mean come on, if you had bought one of these defective notebooks, and you called Dell to change it and they said "look, this isnt our fault, its the battery manufacturers fault, so take it up with them", would you feel that was acceptable?
These batteries were completely manufactured by another company
Excuse me, but SO WHAT??? Almost every product you buy these days (and especially PCs) is built up of numerous components all manufactured by various 3rd parties. Warranty obligations exist between a seller and a buyer. Thats the way it works.
Ah...now I see how "insightful" this must be compared to the first post to be modded 6 points higher. This really IS a nice bunch of idiots and hypocrites, especially if they give someone a five for explaining how the mod and threading systems work.
Actually, this is a new story, but yes, YET ANOTHER Dell recall due to fire.
m l
m l
m l
Note, links are in text so nobody is Goatse paranoid this far up:
C|Net's version of this story the day BEFORE yahoo ran it:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5804151.ht
Oct-2000 Dell Fire Recall:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-3180603.ht
Oct-2000 Compaq fire recall
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-3311416.ht
Hehe. The Ford Pinto of notebooks, eh?
The article I originally read on yahoo stated that Panasonic was the manufacturer of the batteries, so we can not necessarily blame Dell for this.
Even so, not *everything* works correctly all the time. If this was the case, we wouldn't have this thing called innovation.
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w00t w00t raise da r00f!
While this will certainly prove embarassing and marginally costly to Dell, it's important tot keep in mind that this disaster is mostly not Dell's fault, because Dell definitely outsources its power supply production out to some company in some third world country, which produced the faulty batteries though assuring Dell a certain quality level. The cut-throat competetion between these overseas component manufacturers to bring price down no matter what is what leads to these problems.
The same thing happened to Apple with its explosive notebook battery problem, and again the true culprit was its outsourced manufacturer. At the time everyone thought it was just another sign that Apple was doomed, but they are still around, and so will Dell. As for the component manufacturer, I'm sure Dell will sue them well into bankrupcy to pay for costs incurred in this debacle.
I put an extra 7 case fans In mine. Talk about overclocking. The only residual problem is that by put I can't put it in any lap but that of my greatest enemies.
-------- 42
This may be common knowledge to some but for those that it isn't, be wary of Dell products. They are notorious for breaking and if the system has been modified in any way, without the assistance of a Dell technician, they'll will refuse to give you support. I speak from personal experience. After upgrading from win95 to 98 (perhaps I brought this upon myself by actually considering the installation of Windows) I was unable to locate the correct drivers for my video card (this is because Dell also likes to customize some of the hardware). When I called tech support, just to ask where I could locate the drivers, they refused to tell me because I had installed the operating system by myself!
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silence is poetry.
I mean really, how many people do you think are actually going to take advantage of the recall to send their batteries back to Dell... and wait a few weeks to get a new one.
That's like sending your gas tank back to your car manufacturer and waiting while they UPS you a new one =) well, kinda.
I've had my Inspiron 5000 Since the beginning of August and the only complaint I have is that they released the 5000e two weeks after I got my 5000. AH well, Linux runs much nicer on the 5000's video chipset anyway.
I got a free additional battery with my laptop. Turns out that only one of my batteries is being recalled. I've had no fire and no other problems, so I'm happy. Hell, I'm even going to have 3 batteries when all is said and done since they'll send me a replacement and another one for free. Hah! If only I had more use of 3 batteries than 'none at all.'
unf.
Remeber the old joke/debate/urban_ledgend about if automobiles had advanced as rapidly as computers? If it only took one laptop to cause a recall for dell, but 49 deaths to cause a tire recall from FORD...I would say that the forces at work (competiton, hackers, civil lawyers)seem to have a niche for finding "major" flaws in rather stable products, instead of "Exploding, Death-inducing, bone-breaking flaws" in mass market products get recongition only after regulations and lawsuits.
"Get them before they get....
A week after that we got another box of new chargers. Now we had 2 for each machine. Odd.
A couple of weeks later we got another box of new chargers. Now we had way too many chargers and we were starting to try and figure out alternate uses for them. Too light for wheel chocks, too much cord for paperweights, not strong enough for rappelling.
Anybody need Dell chargers? Cheap.
-Coach-
Perhaps the world's greatest tragedy is that ignorance is not impotence.
Back when I worked as a sysadmin for Netscape/America Online-Time Warner, the fuckers at Dell refused to help me with a hardware issue.
Why?
I installed Windows 2000. The laptop (Dell Latitude CPx, entium III/650) had originally shipped with Windows 98. I insisted that it was a hardware issue (it was, the same issue occured when I had linux on the thing) and they insisted that they would not service me because I had altered the machine.
Fuck Dell. Fuck their service people. I'm happy you are getting yours fixed. I wish I had the same luck.
Oh yes. Mine also had the battery recalled last time they had this battery issue. I never got a battery back.. I had to loot IS for one.
Meanwhile, both the Powerbooks I've owned (AOL replaced my Dell with a Powerbook G3/500 that worked perfectly, and I have a Powerbook G4/400 at my new job) have worked fantastic.
Techsupp: 'help ya? Me: My laptop is on fire! Techsupp: Sir? Me: Fire! Fire! The computer just burst into flames! Techsupp: Did you try to reboot Windows? Me: What? I said it's on fire! Techsupp: OK, you need to use Quick Restore then call us ba....[fire engine sirens in the background/screams of pain] Sir! Drop and roll! Drop the laptop and roll on it! Then use the Quick Restore CD!
Quote from the home page of dell.com;
...they're just living up to their claims of *blazing* performance!
"Notebooks & Desktops
Harnessing the power of emerging technology for blazing performance, serious multitasking & high productivity."
I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said I don't know. ~Mark Twain
$1:
hcf
jmp$1
They need a patch, not a recall....