Dude, just because you're in the Netherlands doesn't give you any reason or excuse not to have
traded in your Dell laptop battery for one that isn't so, shall we say, explosive? This unfortunate Latitude (appears to be a
D610 D510) met its fate when, like so many others, it was cut down before its time in a violent and easily prevented explosion. We'd tell you more, but unfortunately the article is in a tongue we don't speak (sorry, we took Zulu in high school), but if any of our Dutch pals want to apprise us as to the situation, we'd be most obliged.
[Thanks, Jeroen]
Update: Jeroen gave us the skinny on this one. Apparently the unit's owner, Ewout, was on holiday in Hungary with the laptop when it caught fire; of course it would not be extinguished by mere water, so sand was found and thrown on the machine. Thankfully Dell was, um, gracious enough to replace Ewout's laptop, so there ya go.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Max @ Aug 18th 2006 10:01AM
This is why I have a Mac.
Could exploding laptops be a potential terrorist threat on airplanes? Seems feasible.
Gaz @ Aug 18th 2006 10:03AM
Oh no....thats the same model as mine...ok, now I'm scared!
Sam Cayze @ Aug 18th 2006 10:05AM
You Nob. Sony makes more parts for Apple than they do for Dell. Take you flames elsewhere.
Willy Wanka @ Aug 18th 2006 10:06AM
The Netherlands is a normal Western European contry guys. It is close to Scandinavia, but not actually in it. A Swede will not be able to help you out with the article.
In short: The laptop started to emit smoke while the guy was on holiday in Hungary (could the power outlets there have somthing to do with it?), After the smoke a flame appeared, after a second flame the battery continued to burn. When the fire was put out (the guys were asleep at the time, but due to one of them sleeping in the livingroom in which the laptop was situated a serious fire was stopped), they also noticed that the battery acid had leaked all over that gorgeous piece of TV furniture.
That's about it really.
thak @ Aug 18th 2006 10:07AM
http://www.appledefects.com/?p=76
for the mac fans...
Jason @ Aug 18th 2006 10:09AM
Mac loving idiots.
Lem @ Aug 18th 2006 10:12AM
I love my Dell, and my Mac...so I guess I'm just an idiot!
rutman @ Aug 18th 2006 10:13AM
You know, us Mac loving idiots are the ones who have machines that don't get viruses and can run windows faster than your pathetic Dells. Just remember that next time you feel it necessary to make yourself feel better by cutting us down.
SLy @ Aug 18th 2006 10:15AM
Grow up kids. No one cares if you have a Mac.
Matt @ Aug 18th 2006 10:15AM
@#1 "This is why I have a Mac."
-----
You know the Macs are exploding too, right?
unimental @ Aug 18th 2006 10:18AM
This is why I have an Averatec.
Uh...
Anyways, here's a real-life story that may possibly illustrate why folks aren't turning in their batteries. A conversation between myself and a friend with a recently purchased Dell laptop.
ME: Seriously, heed the recall, man.
FRIEND: Will everything on my computer get erased if I unplug the battery?
I'm not making that up.
doh @ Aug 18th 2006 10:20AM
why would a core duo macbook run windows faster than a single core centrino... why oh why... duh.
Brad @ Aug 18th 2006 10:22AM
Everyone keeps referring to this issue as "exploding" laptops/batteries. "Exploading" seems a bit over-the-top. Spontaneously combusting, perhaps, exploding, no.
iwit @ Aug 18th 2006 10:23AM
Right than, let's go and translate that page for everyone who want's to read it, but doesn't know any Dutch..
AMSTERDAM - Not only in America and Japan Dell laptops spontaniously catch fire. Now a Dutch laptop had the problem. Ewout Hooijer was on holyday in Hongary, when at night smoke started coming out of the accu of his laptop. Moments later the laptop cought fire. "luckily the damage was only material" says Hooijer.
De Duthcman had rented a home with some friends in Hongary. One of his friends slept on the couch in the livingroom. Bacouse of that the fire was discovered quickly. After the battery had cought fire it became clear that the battery was leaking. According to Hooijer the battery was melted to the tv-table on wich the laptop was standing.
"After the first flame, there came a nother big flame [I don't know what a 'steekvlam' is in Englisch, so I'll just keep it to flame], after wich the battery kept burning", says Hooijer. "we put the battery in a metal trashcan and put it outside. Putting water on it didn't help. With sand we finaly managed to put out the fire."
The laptop, a Latitude D510, was destroyed completely. Hooijer made contact with Dell from Hongary and they promised to get him a net Laptop. "That's nesecery because I use it for my daily work" says Hooijer.
On tuesday the American computermanufacturer announced a recall for 4,1 milion battery's because they could get overheated and catch fire. Untill now there are 6 known laptop fire's with dell laptops
A representative from Dell didn't want to tell Nu.nl how many laptop fire's there have been in the Netherlands. Neither did they give any information on how many battery's have been returned yet.
dc @ Aug 18th 2006 10:25AM
Dude, you're getting a translated webpage:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=nl_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nu.nl%2Fnews%2F805108%2F50%2FOok_Nederlandse_Dell-laptop_ontploft.html
Derrick @ Aug 18th 2006 10:27AM
Listen #8: Your flaming here only perpetuates the idea that the Mac community is full of arrogant, nose-in-the-air fanboys. Stop.
A Mac Owner.
B Long @ Aug 18th 2006 10:29AM
I have a D610 and a Mac Book Pro. Already got the new battery (from Apple) to replace the exploding one in my Mac. Still waiting on my D610 battery like 4 million other people. I just had BAD timing buying my new laptops I guess!
skype_fan @ Aug 18th 2006 10:31AM
So obvious, DELL is a terrorist organisation. Terrorising innocent people all over the world with sudden attacks. Put them to Guantanamo, NOW !!!
PDubNYC @ Aug 18th 2006 10:35AM
got to love the Dell ads on the page.
Laurens Verhagen @ Aug 18th 2006 10:44AM
The original story, including more photos, is published on the dutch news site NU.nl: http://www.nu.nl/news/805108/50/Ook_Nederlandse_Dell-laptop_ontploft.html
Token @ Aug 18th 2006 10:46AM
The Netherlands is not part of Scandinavia. What went wrong in your geography class, America? Copenhagen is not in holland, there is a big difference between being Dutch and Danish. Glad we got that straightened out.
kansei @ Aug 18th 2006 10:54AM
there's no less than 10 dell latitudes on my desk right now, all with batteries that need to be recalled. Yeah I'll send them in since the computers need other repairs right now anyway, but what about the other couple hundred latitudes in the building? it isn't that easy to just tell employees who chose laptops for the portability to give up their batteries for weeks while dell replaces them.
Will @ Aug 18th 2006 11:05AM
You people are the reason I want to use an abacus again. Anything manufactured is going to have defects. Do you know how many Dell's are out there?
I use Apple, Dell, HP, and they each have a strong point. When you start on the whole virus thing, you are just inciting people. So shut the hell up, and comment on relavent information in the story.
itanshi @ Aug 18th 2006 11:10AM
the laptops workwithout batteries, just don't unplug them
Ketsuke @ Aug 18th 2006 11:23AM
"This is why I have a Mac."
I have a Mac too, if you count a VAIO running OS X 10.4.6
I guess I should not be so smug, after all, I have a Sony oh noooooo!
Finished.Law.School @ Aug 18th 2006 11:26AM
Macs suck and they use Sony batteries as well...
Richard @ Aug 18th 2006 11:27AM
Dell is acting and responsibly. see www.ce.org and http://www.firemarshals.org/docs/Dean_to_WSJ_8.15.06pdf.pdf. Where are the others?
Trojan @ Aug 18th 2006 11:34AM
Hey Kansie, they don't need to go without their laptops for weeks. You identify whether your battery is effected and contact Dell. They ship you a brand new replacement battery, and a box and prepaid shipping label to ship them back the recalled battery. There is ZERO Downtime to respond to this recall. Turn around from a few friends who have been effected was 2 days. They got their replacement battery 2 days after contacting Dell.
Rynth @ Aug 18th 2006 11:35AM
Well, this is why i have an Alienware, errm,..
Oh, and that'll pwn both your dell and you mac, so _|_
Anyway, enough of that childishness.
When are people going to send there batteries back? surely theyre going to learn at somepoint..
astutefool @ Aug 18th 2006 11:37AM
"Just because your in the Netherlands..." WTF. What does that have to do with anything"
Relevance, Jamie?
Judd @ Aug 18th 2006 11:40AM
What a joke. You DELL apologists are making me sick. DELL can throw Sony under the bus all it wants, but this is a DELL issue, plain and simple. If DELL didn't use "rapid charge" and put some real technology in its batteries, you wouldn't see any of these issues. If you want a real laptop that doesn't have battery problems, buy a ThinkPad!
tiuk @ Aug 18th 2006 11:59AM
Trojan - Dell recommends (correctly) that you not use the defective battery while you wait for your replacement. Because of this, laptop users can only use their laptops when plugged into the wall. This bothers people who need mobility.
Guruboy @ Aug 18th 2006 12:02PM
People are so gullible. One or two hoaxes show up on the internet, and suddenly EVERYONE HAS AN EXPLODING LAPTOP. You people will believe anything you read.
theroyalbadger @ Aug 18th 2006 12:14PM
What is the big deal???
4 Million Dell Laptops sold in the past 2 years. 6 go boom. Not a devastating problem but certainly an issue anybody would think that they are spreading a disease.
All I really know on the matter is at least Dell warranty will assist you in this problem to a quick resolution compared to Apple who always seem to pretend to not be in when you call.."Warranty what warranty?". How come Powerbooks aren't making the same front pages?? iPropaganda
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/06/another-powerbook-violently-explodes/
Steve Farnworth @ Aug 18th 2006 12:27PM
Don't you guys reckon these people are just setting fire to their units to become news/to generate news stories?
Might have to go on eBay and buy myself a cheap one, and set light to it.
Jump on the bandwagon, I never heard of any laptop omfbbqg!!11!explosions before the original video and article last month or so.
astutefool @ Aug 18th 2006 12:40PM
Actually, royalbadger, I have had quite a different experience. Own a Macbook Pro, battery started malfunctioning around the time of worldwide recall, registered and got a replacement within three days.
So far as I know a macbook and a couple of powerook have "exploded". But this Dell recall is the largest in the history of the industry which is probably why they are making the front pages.
And, actually, when I was watching a BBC news report on this problems they made a point of explaining that Apple laptops have had serious problems with their batteries as well as Dell.
spil @ Aug 18th 2006 12:49PM
First off, stop this stupid mac vs. M$ stuff. I get it, macs are overpriced and they "suck" and M$ is horrible because they have a huge market share and they have a tendency to get viruses and crash more than a mac. I personally prefer the OS X interface, so does that make me a baddy? no. Practically every one I know uses a M$ box, and do I hate them for it? No. So, just stop all this mac/M$ flaming stuff, ok?
I must say that Dell is handling this the best. When you go to dell.com, there is a link to the battery recall page on the botom of the main page, and it shows you where to look to se if your battery could be more flame to the exploding battery fire. On apple's web site, you have to go to the support page and on the side, there is a battery recal window, and it has a selection of laptop models, and does not make it as simple as dell's to recall your battery.
These differences in how they are handling it may be because of the volume. From estimating, I would say that abou teh same percent of Dells are exploding as Apples. Dell has more because they have sold more machines, so it is not that Dells explode, it is mostly Sony's fault for making faulty or dangerous batteries.
Doug McKay @ Aug 18th 2006 1:09PM
According to CRN, the laptop battery that burned at Novell (http://kd7lrj.blogspot.com/2006/07/more-info-on-burning-dell-at-novell.html) wasn't manufactured by Dell. It's a problem with the manufacturing of the Li-ION cells (by Sony and/or their assigns; Dell seems to be caught in the middle of this mess.
Brad C @ Aug 18th 2006 1:23PM
I think Dell has done the best you could possibly ask given the situation. 4.1 million people in line and I got a new battery in 2 days. My next laptop will be a Dell too.
Guruboy @ Aug 18th 2006 1:26PM
"M$ is horrible because they have a huge market share and they have a tendency to get viruses and crash more than a mac."
You idiot. Computers are not some magical world where some have "tendencies" to get more viruses or crash. For a virus to infect a computer, someone has to write the virus. Everyone with a brain knows that Windows has a giant market share. So, if you're going to write a virus and want to infect the maximum amount of users, which OS will you write it for?
astutefool @ Aug 18th 2006 1:39PM
Your the idiot Guruboy, spil was trying to get people to shut the fuck up with their flaming, but you clearly haven't picked up that subtle point. He was just summating both sides silly arguments not trying to bash MS. Next time try reading posts in their entirety.
David Li @ Aug 18th 2006 1:40PM
Arg. I have a Inspiron 8600 which is what appears to be the same as the laptop in the picture.
My battery has overheated twice and it is not under the recall!
Talk about service...
Aaron @ Aug 18th 2006 2:19PM
I'm kind of glad I don't have a laptop now...
Anyway, I really hate to get in on the Mac bashing, but it's so much fun, so here we go. I built my desktop PC myself. Yeah, I know, to Mac users that sounds really hard and/or scary, but it's fun and easy. True story: I was playing some game online and a bunch of people ganged up on me and started talking about how great their Macs were. They used the classic arguments about how Windows machines crash all the time and have to reboot and get lots of viruses, blah blah blah... I was pointing out that you could build a more powerful computer for half the price of a Mac, and someone said "yeah, and fry it in the process?". That made me laugh, and just drove my point home. Macs users are oftentimes (not all, mind you) people who want their computer to be the digital equivalent of a tricycle. Easy, little to no customization, and hard to crash. Tricyles are "safe", but you still drive a car everywhere, don't you?
Macs don't piss me off, their owners do. I think I'll put that on a t-shirt...
What were we talking about? Oh, Dell batteries... Isn't it customary to, you know, test things before you sell them? Like, leave the computer on for a few weeks straight or something? Did they not do this? It's nice that they're replacing it for free, but why did this happen in the first place?
Guruboy @ Aug 18th 2006 3:43PM
Ha ha yeah right. The kid obviously loves Macs.
Bill @ Aug 18th 2006 4:20PM
I've got a kick-ass piece of paper 1.0 right here - It won't explode, spontaneously combust and there's no learning curve when upgrading to piece of paper 2.0 so all you Dell, Alienware, Tandy, Mac, Sparc, IBM, Commodore, Sun chumps can eat that!
psxp @ Aug 18th 2006 4:22PM
I hate people who hate macs and pcs
;-)
Erik @ Aug 18th 2006 4:34PM
Seriously people. C'mon, ok so Dells are catching on fire. Heed the recall and be done with. It's so sad that people get all butthurt and defensive about their Macs, ThinkPads, Averatecs, Dells, etc...you all sound like a bunch of nerds who REALLY need to get laid. Get a life why don't you, I'm betting the idiots who are getting all defensive brag about their notebook specs and play FF or WOW for most of the weekend. I have an HP laptop, and you know what, it barely gets used because I have a life. You idiots would probably pick a "souped up" notebook over a night out with women. Fools.
Adam @ Aug 18th 2006 4:59PM
I use a Mac iBook G4 and my battery never ever gets hotter than maybe 70 something degrees (room temperature). So when you hear about a battery exploding spontaneously, someone is seriously screwing up at Dell, even with the recall, hasn't anyone heard of quality control?
astutefool @ Aug 18th 2006 5:12PM
Different people want different things out of their computers, it's as simple as that. But of course everyone thinks they are better than people using other types of machines (Macs, PCs), myself included. Once we get past this, then we can have discussion about computer related posts without all of this fanboy drivel.
Bill @ Aug 18th 2006 9:22PM
http://expressen.se/index.jsp?d=10&a=578852
Where is the HP recall. I want a new battery for my HP before this happens to me