http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
This just in: big and nasty company sells crap and lies to customers to save it's own ass. Film at 11.]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
All computer companies have component issues/recalls/late fixes. Its just to the degree in which its publicized that makes the difference.]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
I agree this is just politics (engadget 4 u)

Dell make great quality products, better than HP for sure.]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
I remember working @ a Hospital back on 2006 when we had an issue with this. Hospital Full of HPs and every day one / two would just stop working. We had no clue as to why, then HP put a Notice about "Bad Capacitors". We started opeing then and there you go.

Turned out alot of the PC makers wanted to save some $$$ that year, so they got the "Caps" from this company in China that was charge $0.03 less per Capacitor. Yea, awesome saving when you had to replace million of Motherboards.

Thing too is with HP, they would only replace the board if you complained, then on the replacement, they could nto garuntee that your replacement was not effected too and once they ran out, that was it.

Wonder if Apple got thier Antenna for the Iphone 4 from this same Factory??? Hmmmmmmm]]>Jun 30th 2010 9:07AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 9:15AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
I say, "Sell the freakin' company and give the money to the shareholders." Dell Computer, the once proud Windows PC vendor is likely to go out of business. Michael Dell amassed a huge personal fortune selling substandard computers while driving better PC vendors out of business. After all, that's what business is all about. When Michael Dell's company goes under, filthy rich Mikey will just retire to some tropical island while Dell investors and employees fight for the remaining scraps. Dell, another crumbling structure of the once mighty Windows empire will soon be a tiny mound of rubble.]]>Jun 30th 2010 9:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 9:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
Funny how the table has turned, now Apple is worth nine times that of Dell. But they're not going to go out of business because there will always be those putting up with cheap and crapware (see Walmart). ]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:01AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
Liar! Liar! Motherboards on fire.

Those Optiflex computers got the nickname of "Poptiflex" due to the constant popping sounds the capacitors made when they blew.]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
How does dell making great products mean it is unintresting, or shouldn't be reported when they don't or when they rip people off, you may think they didn't, I don't agree but why can't engadget provide the facts for you to make up your mind if dell can still do no wrong. Even the potential argument that dell makes comparatively better products then HP wouldn't mean this was a bad article, even if it was true. I think you've lost some logic here.]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/It's Flash's fault.]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 10:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
Ah, yes, the capacitor fuckstory... we replaced around 6500 defective GX270 motherboards with bloated or exploded caps.]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 11:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 11:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
dude your getting a dell! anyone remember the commercials, lol]]>Jun 30th 2010 11:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
dude your getting a dell! anyone remember the commercials, lol]]>Jun 30th 2010 11:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 12:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
My iMac G5 suffered from the same issue, very few computer makers were spared.]]>Jun 30th 2010 1:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
That was quite the opinion. You're right though, all companies that have a rash of component failures and use customer service to white wash it should close down. That includes every major electronics company though, including mighty Apple.]]>Jun 30th 2010 1:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 4:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/And yes their warranty extension is a joke because while Sony went ahead and gave everyone a THREE YEAR warranty extension, Apple offered coverage for 4 years from the date of purchase, and even HP threw in a 24 month warranty extension (which they got plenty of flack for), Dell gave everyone a whole 12 month extension so that these ticking time bombs would go off after it was no longer their problem. You stay classy Dell. Good job totally not standing behind your products and pretending like you don't know that you're selling defective goods.
This story just further reminds me why I'm never buying a Dell computer ever again. I'd rather give my money to people who actually stand behind their products when there are defects, not a bunch of greedy b@stards who are apparently not only willing to give unbelievably poor support when they sell you defective goods (even though nVidia was footing most of the bill for the repairs anyway) but are apparently willing to stoop to the unthinkably low level of pushing goods you know have a 97% failure rate.
Seriously, ASUS laptops all the way-because when they goof up and put out something defective they actually make it right ASAP. Much like most manufacturers who names don't rhyme with the underworld.]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/You will still get this with overpriced equipment. A company will always try to find ways on cutting down costs to increase profit.]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 11:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jul 1st 2010 6:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Yeah, that was classic. I love it when shady lawyers get screwed over by their shadier clients. haha]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Think about it though -- ALL of this is because of ONE chinese guy who was trying to get that paper...what a scumbag. I wonder if they ever found out who it was.]]>Jun 30th 2010 9:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/So blame the chinese guy? Come on, it starts at the top! If the CEO and investor don't push for better quality then there are bound to be tonnes of shortcuts and failef product but in the end 300M is nothing for them. So they made a lot more than what they had to pay! Not chinese guy fault and he most likely died from handling those chemicals if not committ suicide after few hallucinations and sleepless nights!]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
I've always hated Dell. Their computers are a bunch of cheap crap and aside from a select few are quite blocky and ugly. Not to mention all the bloatware installed on them. Every institution I have ever seen running Dell computers is constantly replacing parts that are broken.

All computers have failures and faulty parts, but Dell seems to be the king.]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
I'm thinking this was quite a while ago, not sure why they are dredging it up now. The Inspiron 13 I bought over two years ago has easily endured consistent use (and abuse), and it was less than $600 for some pretty impressive specs. i guess it just depends on when/what you bought.

In any case, I'm quite sure that Dell has learned their lesson. Companies generally do when it involves a bunch of lost money and bad publicity. Do you really think that Apple will repeat their recent antennae mistake? I don't think so. ]]>Jun 30th 2010 1:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/25/hey-apple-youre-holding-it-wrong/

And this one too:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/apple-hiring-iphone-antenna-engineers-for-some-reason/]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
Yes it does. ]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Even right now, a week after the release, it's not even sure _if_ there is a problem, and if so, _what_ the problem is with the _supposed_ reception issues with the iPhone 4. All we know is some people see less reception bars when holding the phone in certain ways, and some people _claim_ to have had calls dropped, which _might_ also be a problem in the baseband software, a problem with the AT&T network, accidentally switching the phone off with your ear, whatever.

As of yet all there is to the reception problems is 10% anecdotal evidence, 10% video's that show the number of bars going down when holding the phone differently, and 80% fear mongerers that repeat everything they read anywhere on the internet even though they have zero experience with the issue. And every sites copies the same bullshit.

If there _really_ is a _widespread issue_ with the iPhone 4, which is an _actual_ design or hardware fault, and not just a different number of signal bars displayed in areas that already have weak 3G coverage, you explain to me: where are all the verifiable tests and reviews that confirm this? Where are the professional analysis of this problem? The hard facts, objectively measured?

Remember that many phone releases that had big media coverage quickly turned into widespread myths about something being seriously wrong with the phone. Not just iPhones, the N1 was supposedly also riddled with terrible issues of all kinds. The first iPhone supposedly was a time bomb that would fail within weeks, the 3G supposedly had screen issues, the 3GS supposedly had issues with the battery overheating and the case melting and cracking, and now the iPhone 4 supposedly has serious and widespread reception issues. Yet the only places you read about it are on forums like this, and news sites copying sites like this.

All these issues where supposedly 'widespread', and all turned out to be nothing more than some isolated cases blown out of proportion. I'm pretty sure this newfound source of hate against anything Apple will turn out to be just like all the other terrible design flaws Apple has sold to so many people: a myth blown out of proportion and spreading over the internet like a virus.]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
Bad Nichicon capacitors have affected Apple products as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichicon

"In the early 2000s, Nichicon is known to have produced and sold bad capacitors to major computer manufacturers, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple. Nichicon's capacitors were prone to pop and leak fluid, causing computer failure. "]]>Jun 30th 2010 8:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
Dont you think its ironic that Apple sells a new iphone thats built with an antennae on the outside with a nice glass design and NOW their selling bumpers?..BUMPERS to cover up the antennae that they spent a large portion of the keynote bragging about? The timing of both cant be coincidence..

You seem very quick to take all blame away from Apple and say its all made up by the blogosphere. ]]>Jun 30th 2010 9:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Yes, but Apple and other manufacturers did not produce anywhere nearly as many defective motherboards as Dell (in the Optiplex line) and did not see any where near the failure rate. While you can bet that all companies try to submerge such issues (Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, GM....), Dell's market penetration of the defective products was so significant that it chose to try to blame whole installations (such as AIT) on over-use. Given that AIT is an Austin neighbour of Dell, that was just plain desperation. This cock-up is likely what caused Michael Dell to re-take the reigns. It could have been a company sinker (and Dell hasn't really recovered).]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
True, the entire industry was affected by the capacitor situation. I'm a PC tech and we still see computers coming in all the time from a variety of manufacturers that have them.

The difference is that while Dell tried to bury it, Apple provided a three year warranty extension for the issue on the two products affected (eMac and iMac G5). And supposedly used capacitors from a different source for the replacement boards. I personally took in an eMac with bad caps well outside the normal warranty... Genius Bar explained that it was a known issue, said they would order in a new motherboard, and I had the computer back the next morning. I know HP had a repair program for some of their machines as well.

The issue here is response. Dell knew there was a huge problem, denied it, and continued actively selling the product. I've personally also seen scores of those awful gray Dell Dimensions that everyone seemed to be buying back in 2003-2004 which have the same problems, and always with the same group of capacitors. The original problem may have been out of their hands, but how they chose to deal with it was not, and Dell did their customers a huge disservice there.]]>Jun 30th 2010 10:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Look, I never said no one has reception issues with the iPhone 4. As with any phone, some people will be unfortunate and receive a lemon, some areas will have bad 3G coverage, in some locations the baseband software isn't effective enough to fix a weak signal, some people will restore a flaky backup (especially relevant with backups fro jail broken phones, which already have proven to fuck up internal settings and cause all kinds of firmware issues), and so forth. There's many reasons beyond design problems that would cause connection problems. Annoying as it may be if you're one of the unlucky iPhone 4 owners, that doesn't make it a widespread issue or a design flaw.

That said, all I read about this supposedly widespread problem is second-hand, anecdotal and unverifiable blog posts, which are blatantly copied everywhere and start living a life of their own. Beyond that, there is literally no factual evidence that there actually is a widespread issue. No reviews make mention of it, in fact many observe better reception than the 3GS. No tests have been published that quantify anything. No official comment from Apple except a supposed 1-line email from jobs himself, again not verifiable and not backed up by anything that's indisputably legit.

Now, you accuse me of being an apple apologist or something like that. Someone who thinks Apple is infallible, doesn't ever fuck up, a fanboy whatever. I don't even own an iPhone 4 and I'm not planning buying one. I'm not saying it is impossible the iPhone 4 has reception issues. I'm just saying that there's very little to go on right now, no hard facts, no official statement, and still half the internet is jumping on this as if the thing is a worthless piece of crap that can't even make calls. There's no subtlety whatsoever, no nuance, no well defined inventory of the problem or possible solution, nothing. Just random people complaining anonymously on every possible occasion. Just look at any apple related post on sites like engadget, the 1st 5 pages of comments are people regurgitating what they read elsewhere. You really think all these people have iPhones with reception issues, yet no one who actually took the time to use the phone for an extended period and wrote a review, appears to suffer from it. Stories like this quickly spread like a virus and start leading their own lives. It happened with every iPhone release to date, and in the end all of these supposed widespread issues turned out to be isolated cases, completely blown out of proportion, or simply untrue. You don't need to be an apple fanboy to have reservations about the validity of such stories, these days anything can become an internet meme or myth if enough people want to echo it, and apple has always been a favorite target for many. ]]>Jun 30th 2010 1:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/
Very true, they should have replaced the capacitors with better parts instead of burying the story. Truly disappointing reaction by Dell.

]]>Jun 30th 2010 7:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/30/documents-show-that-dell-knowingly-sold-defective-computers-mis/Jun 30th 2010 8:12AM