Dell investigates report of laptop explosion

[jdelpiero]

Dell on Friday said it was investigating why one of its notebooks exploded into flames at a conference in Japan this week.

Pictures of the flaming laptop were published this week on the tech site The Inquirer. The computer was on a table and no one was hurt.

A spokesman for the computer maker confirmed that the computer was bought from Dell, but declined to give any further details.

"We're aware of it, and we're digging into the details," the spokesman said. "There's an investigation going on right now. When something like this happens, we want to know why."

The Inquirer, which is published by VNU Business Publications, quoted an eyewitness who said the computer produced "several explosions for more than five minutes." The fire was put out with fire extinguishers.

Defective notebook batteries are known to have the potential of overheating and even bursting into flames.

[LoneWolf]

Wah laptop so dangerous ?:o

[Marky]

Wah... i using Dell lappy somemore!!!! Hopes nothing happens.

[Miracle]

First I read about mobile phones, now laptop... Everything that's mobile is so dangerous sia. :o

[mohn]

oh i read about it earlier, its even happened to mac laptops and another unnamed laptop burned somemale scientist's privates. They all mainly blamed it on the battery pack.
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=26749&sid=f02b2cfee0996eb4d8fd0febe64e6a91
http://www.axehole.com/2006/06/05/mac-laptop-explodes-into-flames/

[Marky]

I only heard b4 Dell laptops have batt problem.. but its not my lappy model and it happened just b4 i bought it.

[Koo]

The laptops i own before Asus, Fujiistu and now using a Toshiba.=D> Only Asus have problem retaining power after charging up.:cry:

[jdelpiero]

I was a Dell engineer, and I recently resigned from Asus..

there was a major recall for certain models of Dell batteries back in 2000/2001,
but not for this region, IIRC..

As for the Asus, if it's still within a year old, u may wan to bring the battery for replacement.

[wyvern]

Fortunately no one was hurt in this incident. But how do the users know if the battery or the laptop is faulty or suspected to be faulty...? Any tell tail sign...? :)

[jdelpiero]

what kind of fault?

if those explosive faults, then it's factory problem, and internal,
cannot see..

if charging problem, then you will know when it happens..

[FatalException]

After reading about the report, there was a link back to the Dell adaptor problem 1 or 2 years back. That time quite free so look up the link and to my horror discover that my adaptor belonged to the faulty one. Immediately submitted a change request with my serial number but 1 month liao still hear nothing from them, not even an acknowledgement.

[mohn]

A new explosion last week.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/laptops--desktops/laptop-became-a-flamethrower/2006/07/28/1153816375720.html

[bingren]

A new explosion last week.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/laptops--desktops/laptop-became-a-flamethrower/2006/07/28/1153816375720.html
Wah another one! I've gotta forward this to my colleagues man. They are using dell laptops.

[SKYW4LKER]

Dell going to suffer

[Fire]

this is so terible....who else dare to use dell laptops...?:o

[Miracle]

Dell can say bye bye liao unless they find out what's causing it and recall all their batteries to check sia.

[bingren]

There's a report of a Dell Laptop incident in the states too.
Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/07/31/dellonfire_laptopfire/

[Marky]

this is so terible....who else dare to use dell laptops...?:o

Me still using dell laptop leh...

[sheldon]

anyone wants a Dell laptop?

[Marky]

anyone wants a Dell laptop?

U wanna give away ah?? =)) u give i take.. :laugh:

[bingren]

Latest development. [Source (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2003498,00.asp)]

Abstract
On Tuesday, Dell plans to announce a voluntary recall of 4.1 million lithium-ion batteries used within its laptops, the company acknowledged late Monday.

...

The recalled batteries were sold with the following Dell notebook computers, Dell said: the Dell Latitude D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810; the Inspiron 6000, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 500m, 510m, 600m, 6400, E1505, 700m, 710m, 9400, E1705; the Dell Precision M20, M60, M70 and M90 mobile workstations; and the Dell XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710. The batteries were also sold separately, including in response to service calls, Dell said.

...


Edit: retained only parts of the information, for the whole story, visit the source.

[Koo]

anyone wants a Dell laptop?

How much you selling? What is the specs?

[bingren]

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/09/21/delllaptop_catchesfire_yahoo/

Dell laptop catches fire at Yahoo research building

Humphrey Cheung

September 20, 2006 21:18

Santa Clara (CA) - In what has become an almost daily occurrence, another Dell laptop has caught on fire, this time at Yahoo's Silicon Valley research center in Santa Clara. The fire caused several hundred employees to stream out of the office tower, but fortunately no one was injured. Employees returned to work approximately 45 minutes later.

http://images.tomshardware.com/2006/09/21/yahoo_dell.jpg

The burnt laptop, which appears to be a Dell Inspiron, was placed on a pedestal for everyone to photograph. Several pictures were on the web within minutes because several Yahoo employees have accounts on the Flickr photo sharing website. Yahoo conveniently owns Flickr.

A Yahoo spokesperson confirmed the incident by calling us with a short statement. "Yes, it did happen and no there were no injuries," said the spokesperson.

[Koo]

Yahoo! finally someone in Yahoo use the fire extingusher. See it pays to train your empolyee for emergency like this.;)