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Lenovo Recalls LS-15 Power Cords

Posted by samzenpus on from the take-it-back dept.

jones_supa writes US Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that Lenovo is recalling a batch of laptop AC power cords due to fire hazard. The power cords have been bundled with IdeaPad brand B-, G-, S-, U-, V- and Z-series laptop computers and Lenovo brand B-, G- and V-series laptop computers. The recalled power cords are black in color and have the "LS-15" molded mark on the base of the IEC 60320 connector. The company seems to have been bitten by the exact same problem that HP faced this summer. Lenovo has set up an info page for affected customers.

2 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I confess to being a bit baffled at how these power cord defects keep happening. Your basic AC power cord is ancient by the standards of electronic gizmos and by far the simplest thing going into a modern laptop. Does that simplicity attract a tendency to live dangerously with the low bidder? Is strain relief just ugly enough that people who don't know better keep trying to cut it out of the design?

    1. Re:Why? by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No China shows a slightly different pattern. Even in 1950s Japan wasn't a simple outsourcer with no local products. They were local producers with local products sold internationally. The only problem is the products were crap. China on the other hand produces very little in the way of local stuff. Much of the engineering is not done in China, much of the design is not done in China, much of what is done in China is simply copied from other international manufacturers like Cisco.

      The difference is in Japan nearly all products were poor at the time. China on the other hand the products can be as good as you're willing to pay for. You want a $0.50 power cord with no quality control, with no list of chemicals that went into the plastic manufacture? We got that. You want a beautifully milled piece of aluminium with incredibly tight tolerances? We got that too. You want a highly precisely machined piece of optical glass for a telescope? Yep got that too complete with test certificate, but that will cost you.

      China doesn't produce cheap crap. China just produces. The West places orders for cheap crap and then cry about it when something doesn't go quite right.