Again? Another one bites the dust

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christopher_wolf · #1 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:05 am

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/28 ... top_burns/

That looks, well, fairly serious. Good thing nobody was hurt.

At this point, I know of several EH&S regulations that would begin to classify those things as safety hazards.

NS · #2 Post by NS » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:20 am

christopher_wolf wrote:http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/28 ... top_burns/

That looks, well, fairly serious. Good thing nobody was hurt.

At this point, I know of several EH&S regulations that would begin to classify those things as safety hazards.

Umm... Broken link...

I see this...

The page cannot be displayed
The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings.

christopher_wolf · #3 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:21 am

NS wrote: Umm... Broken link...

I see this...

The page cannot be displayed
The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings.

The link isn't broken; I just tried it again and it works just fine.

#4 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:29 am

I'm wondering if it's the batteries that are at fault or the electronics around the battery (a.k.a. the computer) that are causing this. Whetever the case, this really reminds me of the PowerBook 5300c which I've mentioned many times though in the PowerBook 5300 case, Apple managed to control the issue before the computers made it to the public.

christopher_wolf · #5 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:35 am

This *has* to be the batteries; I really doubt that there is any laptop out there that comes from the factory with the ability to combust in such a manner (without the help of the battery that is).

I think that alot of people have gotten used to laptops as, effectively, solid, abstract consumer electronics that have their own little world of isolated issues and don't tend to manifest issues such as, say, combusting. Yet the battery has actual chemistry in it *and* energy potential; they are designed to control the release of such energy in a pre-defined manner.

Although, I do remember when IBM had to recall all those Delta power adapters for getting too hot; after that, I believed that they required some additional tests to be performed on all the adapters that were made for the Thinkpads at their facilities. Still...Never saw or even heard of a Thinkpad becoming its own fireworks show in such a dramatic and physical manner (except for looks and a good screensaver that is).

Do you know what really bugs me though? I have what appears to be that *exact* same model of Dell and it has been having battery and charging problems as well and I haven't received any notices from Dell about it.

#6 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:49 am

Well Chris, if that Dell of yours happens to explode and kill you, can I have your ThinkPad?

In all seriousness though, I realyl do hope that Dell is looking into the issue because even one or two isolated incidents is enough to lead to total fiasco.

christopher_wolf · #7 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 2:01 am

AlphaKilo470 wrote:Well Chris, if that Dell of yours happens to explode and kill you, can I have your ThinkPad?

In all seriousness though, I realyl do hope that Dell is looking into the issue because even one or two isolated incidents is enough to lead to total fiasco.

Sure. (Thinkpads*

)

Further, my Dell M60 Precision has run its HDD hot enough to *singe the plastic and discolor it*. It looks like a large blackspot over the left part of the Dell's palmrest; imagine the charred portion in the picture flipped to the other side, which is where the HDD is in the M60. I still want to know how a HDD or the bay for it can even get that hot without some major problem; oh, don't worry though, it generated its fair share of minor-yet-big-enough-to-be-highly-annoying problems with the HDD, but it couldn't just let go (I am beginning to think that mercy wasn't in its vocabulary

).

#8 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:10 am

in the photo of the combustible DELL it melted and burned in the right palmrest area..
i suppose thats where the battery is..

a question:
this link to a forum on tom's hardware:
http://community.tomshardware.com/dellp ... aking-blew
is this a common example of what advertising looks like on a forum..?

christopher_wolf · #9 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:31 am

BillMorrow wrote: a question:
this link to a forum on tom's hardware:
http://community.tomshardware.com/dellp ... aking-blew
is this a common example of what advertising looks like on a forum..?

Errr, yes; but that particular one is a bit, well, dense with Ads. The top+right column or top+left column arrangement is common. Usually, though, some sites and/or forums keep the ads at top+bottom and leave the sides open for navigation/resource link bars.

JHEM · #10 Post by **JHEM** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:10 am

BillMorrow wrote:is this a common example of what advertising looks like on a forum..?

Tasteful implementation of ads in a Forum.

James

#11 Post by **JaneL** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:01 am

Yes, most forums are that bad and sometimes worse with ads, animated gifs and avatars, twiddly bits, images and the like. If you look closely, there's almost no content to that page and what content there is is hard to read. Now you understand why I'm such a witch about keeping that stuff out of here.

The example James posted is a good one, though, and most ads I've seen that come from Google's AdSense are discreet and unobtrusive. http://www.fatwallet.com/c/52 is another forum that is clean and easy to read.

#12 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:27 am

Even though this really bares nothing more than marginal relevance in that it involves a flaming computer, I thought it was good enough to post in this thread about the exploding Dell:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/bizcasfri3.html

Website · #13 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:36 am

AlphaKilo470 wrote:Even though this really bares nothing more than marginal relevance in that it involves a flaming computer, I thought it was good enough to post in this thread about the exploding Dell:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/bizcasfri3.html

HEY!! I thought that we had a rule against "flaming" posts!!

NS · #14 Post by NS » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:47 am

tfflivemb2 wrote:HEY!! I thought that we had a rule against "flaming" posts!!

But, funny "flaming" posts did not breach any rule at all?

Thanks, alpha for that funny little video. PC burned to a heap of ash & dust... <--cool!!

nonny wrote:Now you understand why I'm such a witch about keeping that stuff out of here.

@nonny: Yes, i admited that i like to tease you but i don't think there is a need for you to say you are a witch right?

Regards,

#15 Post by **K. Eng** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 11:54 am

It looks like a Dell D600 series. The battery is located under the right palmrest area, and it looks like it was the battery that exploded.

Well, its just one more reason for me not to like the D600 series...

BillMorrow wrote:in the photo of the combustible DELL it melted and burned in the right palmrest area..
i suppose thats where the battery is..

dsvochak · #16 Post by **dsvochak** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 12:11 pm

The links at the bottom of the article under "Related Stories" indicate this may be a wide ranging problem (Dell, HP (including "flaming cameras") Fujitsu, Apple, Lexar). And, if K. Eng is correct and it's a D600, there has already been a battery recall ( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2005/12/19 ... ry_recall/ ).

I found no mention of IBM except for the power adapter issue. Another reason to prefer ThinkPads.

aris · #17 Post by **aris** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:36 pm

Well i have to say this just makes me even more glad i cancled my order for a dell D620 and went for the t60.

christopher_wolf · #18 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:44 pm

Good choice Aris, you wont' regret it.

I think I have come up with a new word to describe such Dells; "Flawllable."

It is a mutation of the word "Flaw" and "Lawl" which is nubbish for "LOL"; indicating that a severe flaw, indeed, is severe enough to have a funny side.

Usage v. : e.g.

"Wow, that Dell is really Flawllable"

"The Pintos were pretty Flawllable"

#19 Post by **Kyocera** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:00 pm

Don't you mean "flammable".

bigtiger · #20 Post by **bigtiger** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:10 am

Dell used to be my choice. And the quality was not bad.

Oh, those old golden days.

christopher_wolf · #21 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:54 pm

Again; See,

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/31 ... sinagpore/

This has gone from Bad to Worse to Bizzare to The Far Side.

dsigma6 · #22 Post by **dsigma6** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:14 pm

BillMorrow wrote:is this a common example of what advertising looks like on a forum..?

i didn't see any ads!

NS wrote:i like to tease you

i just needed to look at that.

NS · #23 Post by NS » Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:23 pm

dsigma6 wrote:
BillMorrow wrote:is this a common example of what advertising looks like on a forum..?
i didn't see any ads!

Of course, there is no ads. Bill had been maintaining this place to keep it ads free...!

dsigma6 wrote:
NS wrote:i like to tease you
i just needed to look at that.

I am just joking. If i really do it, the next thing is they will start to go to user administration and click on the user delete button. *Disappear*

All Dell users,

pls tell me how long does your Dell last?

christopher_wolf · #24 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:36 pm

My dell's lasted, oh, 3 years; 1.5 years of which were average usefulness with problems, the rest of which had support making me wonder where I was going and why I was in a handbasket.

As a note, I switched on my remaining M60 and it has started making a *fizzing* noise and can't last long on battery; not only that, but I am sure it isn't the fan on that Dell M60.

Yup...Into several air-tight plastic bags, into the freezer, and eventually into a hazardous waste container that Dell battery is going.

dsigma6 · #25 Post by **dsigma6** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:00 pm

NS wrote:Of course, there is no ads. Bill had been maintaining this place to keep it ads free...!

thanks captain obvious! i was referring to the ad-riddled site referenced above.

bigtiger · #26 Post by **bigtiger** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:08 pm

I used to work with a Dell 8100. That one works for more than 3 years with not problems. The fan is very loud though.

I worked with another Dell 8500. That is my personal. It worked 2 and half years before I sold it on eBay. No problem at all. The palmrest does became black due to the heat though. Dell replaced the motherboard twice when it was still under warranty. The laptop was sold on eBay finally for $750 in January (unbelievable, right?)

Overall, I do not think Dell is that bad, especially those high end models. Low end models and some specific models do tend to explode

. I know Dell 600M is not stable. 5150 is a toast too.

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