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JP : Dell Laptop explodes at IT conference!

Forums Life Computers, Gadgets & Technology JP : Dell Laptop explodes at IT conference!

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  • There have been recent recalls of Dell portable equipment due to power supply and battery design faults. Dell are investigating, but have been tight-lipped about possible reasons

    however an Li-Ion battery is a big chunk of chemicals which can go kaboom if overheated….

    Could have been even more nasty if that was on someones lap!

    dell%20banger1.jpg

    dell%20banger2.jpg

    http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32550

    Gotta love our new technologies

    Meltown wrote:
    Gotta love our new technologies

    IMO more a problem with cost cutting and management not listening to engineers when there is bad news/ design problems in a rush to get projects out to market

    Lithium batteries aren’t that new, they were being tested for use in emergency service radios when I was a boy.

    Initially they did not have the built-in circuitry which reduced incoming charge current – so the cops/firemen would leave the sets on charge for a day and the battery would go kaboom when it overheated (as all alkali metals will) – however over the years this was developed and Li-Ion batteries are a safe and robust technology (nowadays most of your portable equipment such as your mobile will use it)

    It must be at least 8 or 9 years since laptops first started using Li-Ion batteries. This is a very stupid mistake to make in this day and age.


      Staff

      Is it one of the more recent models?

      We have just bought one for our daughter

      angel wrote:
      Is it one of the more recent models?

      We have just bought one for our daughter

      Dell aren’t saying at the moment which model it is..

      I’ll keep an eye out for any more info

      these are some links for the US models but I can’t find anything about european models

      http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Dell+product+recall&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

      I reckon though such an event would not happen suddenly, you would notice the machine is getting uncomfortably hot.

      A good rule of thumb(!) is that if any electronic equipment is running so hot you cannot place your hand on it then something is wrong..

      The problem is them bringing out to much shit too quick. They obiously didnt give this model the time n test that it needed.
      Thats proberly put the shits up em though

      probably this model never made it to market or they would have had to issue a recall:you_crazy

      raj wrote:
      probably this model never made it to market or they would have had to issue a recall:you_crazy

      havent you seen fight club, first they gotta weigh up the cost of a recall against out of court settlements:crazy:

      Meltown wrote:
      havent you seen fight club, first they gotta weigh up the cost of a recall against out of court settlements:crazy:

      we read computer magazines for ?fun? and they would likely have slated dell for this if they hadnt…

      really my suspicion that its not on the market is that stuff at IT conferences is usually being touted before being released

      the incident happened very recently. Could indeed be a new model – OTOH given that Dell has a history of power supply design weaknesses you would think they would have been more careful.

      that said this problem can befall any company TBH if they have weaknesses in circuit board design.

      There is a phenomenal amount of power used in most IT equipment; it is low voltage but high current and if the power rails short circuit at any point things do have a habit of getting very hot….

      I have seen companies sell equipment costing hundreds of thousands of pounds to professional customers without adequate testing (leading to some spectactular failures including PSU short-circuits, customers businesses being disrupted).

      This is the way the market works- the early adopters are unpaid product testers. Its better TBH to buy last years model!

      General Lighting wrote:
      This is the way the market works- the early adopters are unpaid product testers. Its better TBH to buy last years model!

      This is VERY good advice. I also user this model when buying hardware.

      SdZ wrote:
      This is VERY good advice. I also user this model when buying hardware.

      Totally agree, I have been involved in production, design, testing and servicing of all sorts of electronics over the last 18 years, it doesnt seem to matter waht the volume is or to be fair what level of testing is carried out the early versions and likely to have “issues” / “product characteristics”..etc etc.

      Last years model will be cheaper and you will be getting the final revision levels which are likely to be the best, just be careful its not a model that was doomed and has been written off as a bad job although a quick search on the net on a mature product should reveal that anyhow.

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    Forums Life Computers, Gadgets & Technology JP : Dell Laptop explodes at IT conference!