Another Dell laptop ignites

Today's "Dell laptop bursts into flames" story brought to you by "Henrik the Automation Engineer" of Vernon Hills, Illinois. Quick on the draw with his 7.2 megapixel camera, "Henrik" managed to document the amusing / scary saga of his coworker's notebook, well, pulling a Dell -- and as the placement of the gaping hole in the lappy's burned-out husk indicates, there's little doubt as to the cause of this blaze. C'mon, Dell, enough with the inquiries: if you've really been aware of this dangerous defect for several years now, it's time to fess up and let your customers know the full extent of the problem. Because until you do, these little incidents are going to continue to get a ton of press -- and models from HP and Gateway are going to continue looking more and more attractive to consumers who value life and limb.

[Thanks, Blake]

[khamel @ Jul 28th 2006 10:22AM]

sweet, dell's blowing up in my home town. seeing vernon hills on the front page of engadget made my day.

[n2 @ Jul 28th 2006 10:22AM]

What model is this?!

[Brad @ Jul 28th 2006 10:23AM]

Dell should make their laptops out of metal...that way, when they explode you still have a branding iron.
Sideways branded E's anyone?

[Jnetty @ Jul 28th 2006 10:23AM]

Dell laptops need to be banned on Airplanes.

[bob @ Jul 28th 2006 10:27AM]

did it beat the macbooks top temperature though whilst on fire? lol (joke)

[Brad @ Jul 28th 2006 10:33AM]

Dell branding irons anyone??

[icebin @ Jul 28th 2006 10:33AM]

oh god. dell??

[icebin @ Jul 28th 2006 10:34AM]

oh dell? how to explain it

[Mike @ Jul 28th 2006 10:40AM]

What models fall under the "highly flamable" category? Anyone know?

[grayskies @ Jul 28th 2006 10:41AM]

Keep in mind that its only Dell laptops that have the battery failure which is causing this fire, but ANYTHING with a lithium-ion battery has the potential to go up in a very hot, firey mess.


Don't poke holes in lithium-ion batteries. They hurt.

[Roy McKenzie @ Jul 28th 2006 10:41AM]

Way to stick it to the man!

[matthew @ Jul 28th 2006 10:43AM]

haha its my hometown too, it as well made my day haha

[Darius @ Jul 28th 2006 10:44AM]

haha awsome, im waitin for mine to expload, cmooon i want a new laptop.

[Mark west @ Jul 28th 2006 10:48AM]

Sweet! Thats our standardized notebook we use at work, the 600 series. GO DELL!

[Sithlord @ Jul 28th 2006 10:48AM]

WTF how did they take the fire out? By throwing sand on it?

[Finished.Law.School @ Jul 28th 2006 10:50AM]

What is more dangerous, a Dell laptop or an Apple laptop (which Apple insists should not be used on a lap).

[Finished.Law.School @ Jul 28th 2006 10:51AM]

This looks like perfect material for a lawsuit.

[Kevin @ Jul 28th 2006 10:54AM]

Finished.Law.School:

No one called them Laptops anymore. They are called Notebooks. Apple is no the only one to "insist" that it shouldn't be used on the lap. For a lawyer you sure are stupid.

[TeleCustom @ Jul 28th 2006 10:55AM]

That's the one thing my Inspiron 9100 hasn't done in the two years I've had it. Everything else has broken though...maybe it's time I got a fire extinguisher?

[Richard Lai @ Jul 28th 2006 10:58AM]

omfg! I was seriously considering getting an XPS from Dell at the end of this summer, but this second explosion has put me off for real this time. Yes, I'd rather spend a few more bucks in exchange to keep my limbs.

[Fred @ Jul 28th 2006 11:07AM]

I know that I find it tough to coupe with stuff all the time, but that's probably because I have a station wagon.

[Eric @ Jul 28th 2006 11:09AM]

Dude! You now lack a dell!

P.S. Kevin stop being a jerk.

[Kevin @ Jul 28th 2006 11:16AM]

P.S. Eric stop telling people to stop being a jerk.

[PPC @ Jul 28th 2006 11:16AM]

Not a good way to cook your breakfast

[Rubicon @ Jul 28th 2006 11:17AM]

Dear Kevin,

I found your response to Finished Law School somewhat amusing. First off it seemed there was really no reason for you to call anyone stupid for referring to a notebook as a laptop. I agree most manufactures now refer to their products as notebooks, but for many years these handy little computers were always called by all, laptops. So I think you have to let that slip up go now and then. What I found most interesting was, you assumed lawyers were all smart and Finished Law School was an exception. Do you really believe this? Who’s the “stupid” one now?

[Rare1 @ Jul 28th 2006 11:18AM]

Imagine if it was on your lap?

That would have been a HUGE lawsuit.

[NeoteriX @ Jul 28th 2006 11:19AM]

*Yawn*

While a Li-Ion battery exploding is pretty darn scary, so is getting hit by a bush or being struck by a bolt of lightning.

Like greyskies said, this is the nature of batteries, especially lithium ion batteries, and it just seems to me to be a general risk of life that we deal with for power on the go. Maybe someone more versed in this can explain, but I don't see how you can necessarily get a 100% perfect manufacturing process or a testing procedure that will weed out every dud of a battery. Dell's the one getting the publicity, but I bet it's happened to the others too. Dell just has the luck of having folks with digital cameras around.

[MaXKiLLz @ Jul 28th 2006 11:22AM]

That yellowish-white powder all over the laptop is from a Dry Chemical Extinguisher.

http://www.fire-extinguisher101.com/

[blackout @ Jul 28th 2006 11:23AM]

pffft..


just another reason NOT to buy a dell

they suck
-_-

imho they're gonna need to do something good to get back in my good books.

[Richard Lai @ Jul 28th 2006 11:24AM]

Dear Mr Dell,

May I suggest your company to provide an upgrade option for a Dell fire extinguisher (or two, with a 10% discount) with your notebooks? I have a feeling that your future customers will NOT regret purchasing this option.

Also, I will duly appreciate a T-shirt
with "I luv my flaming Dell" plastered across it.

Thanks and have a good day!

Regards,
Richard Lai

PS: Kevin, it sounds like you work for Dell. If so, would you mind passing this letter to your boss? Thanks.

[Kevin (or am I?) @ Jul 28th 2006 11:26AM]

yes, I am a jerk.

[tiuk @ Jul 28th 2006 11:31AM]

Wow, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad I was cheap and got a Compaq notebook.

[Fred @ Jul 28th 2006 11:33AM]

Someone asked what's more dangerous? An Apple laptop that you're advised tno to use on your lap or a dell laptop that bursts into flames.

I think it should be patently obvious to anybody that something that bursts into falmes is just a little tiny bit more dangerous than something which is hot. While I feel uncomfortable using my macbook on my lap it's not impossible. If I had a cool to the touch Dell laptop (which it's not) that I put on my lap and then it burst into flames I would be a bit more than uncomfortable.

[Fred @ Jul 28th 2006 11:36AM]

Maybe an internal fire bottle like on aircraft engines?

[Jason @ Jul 28th 2006 11:41AM]

OMFG - I am still laughing my ass off over Kevin's comments to Sithlord!! Keep it up.

[js @ Jul 28th 2006 11:43AM]

Dude you got yourself a dud!

When they put that flaming paint job on their XPS model, they weren't kidding.

Dell fanboys to your battlestations!

[Jacquester @ Jul 28th 2006 11:51AM]

Looks like a Latitude D600 or a D610. Of the business fleet variety.

[Maurilio Venturini @ Jul 28th 2006 11:55AM]

Dell has already published how to check and how to replace defective bacteries.

"As part of the recall announcement, Dell set up a web site, DellBatteryProgram.com to assist customers with suspect units in replacing suspect notebook batteries:
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com"

[Ganz @ Jul 28th 2006 11:55AM]

All I can say is that one of these days I'm going to witness something like this... I work at a campus help desk and ~90% of the laptops we service are Dells... I do believe one day soon our service area / server room will go up in flames due to a faulty Dell li-ion battery. We've run into every other hardware failure with Dells, this seems like the next logical progression.

[Darius @ Jul 28th 2006 11:58AM]

ewwww, there are DELL fanboys!???
WHY!?? That really doesnt make any sense at all.
Apple fanboys sort of make sense cause of thier different OS but even then it doesnt make any sense. Superior brand does not always equal superior product, apple used to be a great example with thier crap power pc processors.

[Maurilio Venturini @ Jul 28th 2006 11:59AM]

Dell has already published how to check and how to replace defective batteries:

"As part of the recall announcement, Dell set up a web site, DellBatteryProgram.com to assist customers with suspect units in replacing suspect notebook batteries:
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com"

[Kaphis @ Jul 28th 2006 12:10PM]

does the method for checking defective batteries include running a program for a long time to see if the battery blows up ? O.O

[Jeff @ Jul 28th 2006 12:12PM]

Interesting. That looks just like my Dell, and the CD/DVD drive is on the right. The battery is on the left. Perhaps this is a Photoshop. I have yet to see a CD drive go up in flames.

[K @ Jul 28th 2006 12:13PM]

Shouldn't that last line be "who value life, limb, and laptop"? Oh Engadget, you missed a chance to make a bad pun--for shame!

[inthesphere @ Jul 28th 2006 12:15PM]

Perfect! I have to move soon, so now i can leave my 5100 (which is known for overheating) on a stack of newspapers next to the gas-powered heating unit. Sooner or later there will be a Boom, and then my out- of-court settlement/insurance reinbursment. Insurance fraud and moving have never easier.

[Njoli @ Jul 28th 2006 12:36PM]

if there was a real problem with the dell notebooks actualy igniting i think dell would be more proactive in contacting cust who may have defective devices. like microsoft did with the defective Xbox pwr cords. i would worry more about your notebook battery not working propery that i would about it setting on fire.

[Tom Reinke @ Jul 28th 2006 12:50PM]

The image could be reversed...?

[Mark Conrad @ Jul 28th 2006 12:58PM]

I wonder if this was the guys wallpaper?

http://tinypic.com/cl15k

[Perrey Z. @ Jul 28th 2006 1:13PM]

Yikes! As an extra "bonus" Dell should now include a handy fire extiguisher with every notebook purchase just in case...

[v8v @ Jul 28th 2006 1:15PM]

Easy as... Dell®