Dell recalls a million laptop AC adapters

Dell, seriously. This is ridiculous. We all know your R&D, design, QC, and fulfillment are totally for crap, but come on, you really expect to continue in the cutthroat notebook market after recalling a million (actually, 990,000 to be exact) laptop power adapters? Especially just after earlier this year you recalled 284,000 laptop batteries? Dell, is everything ok over there?

Now on the public service announcement side of things: if your Dell laptop was sold between Sept. 1998 and Feb. 2002 (check even if it wasn't), and your adapter bears the part number 9364U, 7832D, or 4983D, Dell's recalling that part immediately to avoid imminent risk of fire and electrocution. Wait a second, the Dell laptop we're working on right now has one of tho—

[Editor's Note: Ryan could not be contacted to complete this post. We will keep our readers apprised of the situation.]

[Via CNN]

[nathan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Read that at work yesterday, and we all use dell desktops/laptops there. After showing it to a co-worker, he leaves for the day with his laptop on his desk still plugged in.. pure genius..

[villem @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

These power bricks are from 2 to 6 years old... How many fires/electrocutions does it take before they decide to recall? Who pushed them into it?

[Ogunmola @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Another reason to get a Mac

[Zuerst @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Yes, because Dell is the only maker of PCs...

[william @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Ogunmola Dude, get a clue.

Macs are far from perfect. Mac has had it's fair share recalls as well. Dell didn't make that power chord anyhow. They jobbed it out to some company in either china, korea or taiwan most likely. The same place Apple gets it's faulty batteries and power chords that were also just recalled. d'oh!

apple laptop battery recall:
http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/08/20040819145521.shtml

apple power chord recall (570,000 of them)
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1769/CWD010709apple/
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-269555.html?legacy=cnet

[co1dfactor @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

spell check: priceless.

[MacHeadCase @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

...as in Apple's GarageBand?

[mtwo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

adapters is part of the recall. wonderful.

[Rainer @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

i have this ac adapter, and its the second one i've owned. the first one's wire insulation busted open w/ the wires exposed, and the thing quit working. so i sent it back in (was barely still under warranty) and got another. this one is beginning to do the same thing again, and since i'm no longer still under warranty, its nice to see this recall. it will be a pain in the ass however to have to be without this cord for a few days...

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

I bought a Dell Latitude in May of 2000. Here's what's
happened since then:

May, 2000: Laptop arrives 6 weeks late. It does not
include a power cord that goes from power supply to wall.

Late May, 2000: I receive a "replacement" in the mail.
It is another power supply. Still, no cord from supply
to wall.

Late June, 2000: Power cord arrives. 2.5 months after
I should have received it, my laptop works for first
time.

Late 2000: Integrated mouse button snaps off in my hand.
Dell replaces laptop body plastic.

Mid 2001: Certain keys fail intermittently, others
repeat endlessly. Dell replaces keyboard module.

Late 2001: Second integrated mouse button snaps off.
Dell replaces again.

Mid 2002: Keyboard fails again. Dell replaces.

Late 2002: Battery dies. I buy a new one from Dell
for ~100 dollars, after they diagnose the problem.
Six months later, I find out that my failed battery
had been recalled and that it should have been
replaced for free. Dell never mentioned this,
despite hours on the phone with me.

Early 2003: Keyboard fails for third time. I'm told
that even though it's still under warranty, I must
now replace the motherboard. Parts are covered,
but they can only be sent to an approved Dell
technician, who will charge ~150. This has not
been true for any of the many replacement parts
Dell sent me in the past. I decline, and still live
with a crappy broken keyboard that repeats the 's'
three times for every press.

Mid 2003 - I buy a replacement internal hard disk
from Dell. They send me an external one. Miraculously,
they refund my money when I send it back.

Late 2003-Mid 2004 - I bought a cheapo desktop and so
stopped using the godforsaken craptop altogether.

Mid 2004 - I start travelling more, and need the
laptop again. It limps along. The fan no longer
turns off, ever.

October, 2004 - I learn my power supply could burst
into flame at any minute.


I do not plan on making any more Dell purchases.

[Blake @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Hey fella's, read the Dell recall notice before you freak out.

http://www.delladapterprogram.com/Main.aspx

It's not based on part numbers alone; it's targeting specific adapters made by Delta. So, you may have the right part number, but if it wasn�t produced by Delta, you don't have anything to worry about. So, no need to knock Dell's R&D or product quality, this is an issue with Delta. On a related note, we had this same issue with Polycom Video Conferencing equipment with AC Adapters produced by...you guess it, Delta. I would expect to see more recalls from different manufactures that use adapters made by Delta as time goes by.

Also, if you bought Latitude in 2000, I would guess that it may be a C600, which is by far the biggest mistake Dell ever made. Every one we had ended up needing motherboard replacements and hard drive replacements*. The boards could not be helped because it was a new chipset that Intel had provided but could not account for the increased temperatures that it was going to get in Dell's chassis, and sometimes they get a bad batch of hard drives from their vendors, but it's not a matter of Dell vs. Apple, Compaq, IBM, etc. All PC manufactures use components made by other companies, and sometimes they fail.

Dell is superior in the business arena for several reasons; product quality and techincal support (just to name a couple). All you MAC hippies take another toke from the bong and eventually you will realize that you are as obsolete as the platform you boast about.

*The HDD problem was as simple as making sure you give the HDD time to spin down so that it would cool properly. If you run it 24/7 it will fail because it is a notebook, not a desktop.

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Dell quailty is simply a joke. I am in charge of 400-500 systems and dell is down the most. I have had 4 hard drive crashes and 3 system board errors this month. The tech support, being a corp account, is at least in this country and I can understand them, but it still takes 3 hours to "troubleshoot" and error that is obvious. Hard drive making loud clicking sound, sounds like a hard drive. They outsource the onsite tech and at that are cutting the time to the least and always have extra parts.

[Misty @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

How do you know if it was made by Delta? I have the one of the recalled model numbers----but don't see an actual manufacturer listed anywhere...

[Blake @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

You should seriously have your Dell sales rep come in to show them these problems. We had issues with older C series laptops and they came out and showed us how we where causing the problems. If you have 400 - 500 systems, and you have a .008 and .006 failure rate this month alone. If you keep REAL metrics on your systems, share this information with your Dell rep and they can help determine the issue. You may also want to look into the Dell PremierAccess program (ask your rep). This will not only allow you to be certified on the systems you support, but it also keeps you from having to call into Tech Support. We drop ship our own parts and they arrive within 24 to 48 hours in most cases. We used to be a Compaq/HP shop and where bleeding money, now we are all Dell (dektop/laptop) and we don't have near as many problems as before. You seriously need a hug from your Dell rep dude; sounds like they owe it to you.

[Blake @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Check this site, it will show you where it should read Delta if it is from Delta. If you don't see Delta then you have one of the safe ones.

http://www.delladapterprogram.com/Main.aspx

[Liam @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

First let me say I am a senior web designer...I use a Dell Inspiron 8600, yes a designer using a Dell - by choice, and It's a damn good computer. I haven't had any issues with it at all.

On top of that I was involved in a serious motorcycle accident recently. I brusied my spleen, my bike was totalled and amazingly enough my Dell which was inside a plain old messenger bag survived completely intact. Go figure.

Before that I had a Mac fall off a desk, onto carpeted floor, it landed where the power cord plugged in. It separated the sound card from the motherboard and wouldn't charge anymore. I sent it back to Apple to be repaired. They installed a faulty sound card when they repaired it and didn't test it. When I got it back it still didn't work. I paid over $300 for this. Apple over charges for everything they make and do, as somebody has to pay for all the iPod billboards...and tv spots they have.

As far as I am concerned computers change far too quickly to drop almost $3000 on an Apple especially when I can get the same power in a Dell for almost half the price. That and Apple is always retooling their stuff and I can't swap parts as easily...drives etc.

So...call me a freak I like the Dell.

[alireza @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

could you give me some information about a price and good sugest for buy a labtop about the reng from 500� to 800�

[Good Dell @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

My Dell Latitude ran for a couple of years problem-free. With 512 MB RAM, 2.4 GHz Pentium, 40 GB 7200 RPM HD, it managed a heavy piece of graphics and database software, MS Word, and other software all at once - and ran like a charm.

I did notice that the power adaptor (transformer) was usually hot, but so is my Toshiba P25 - which I got only for the size of the screen. Dells are one of the best. They are very rugged, but remember that any computer that is dropped while the HD is in use can be dammaged for good.

I may have been lucky with that "hot" power adapter, but I did enjoy the hot performance of my Dell laptop.

[David Karlsson @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

How much are they paying you? ;) or Are you working for thir propaganda-department?

[mikeyc @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

the fans on my latitude laptop don't work. the battery won't recharge and the system crashes (presumably from overheating) after 20 mins. now i find out the adapter is faulty too.

apart from that it's great...

[Richard DeMaio @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

After the mobo went on my HP Pavilion back in 1998 i decided to build my own, been happy ever since.

[Mac @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

Give me Dell any time. I've had an Inspiron 8100 for several years. I've had two problems: 1. Faulty motherboard fitted as new. 2. A self-inflicted problem. Dell after-sales service absolutely second to none.And the new computer was delivered within four days of being ordered.

[JD @ Dec 19th 2005 1:03AM]

No wonder I've had to replace this sucker 3 times already for shorting out and fucking up