Exploding Dell Laptop

There has been a bit of press these days about a laptop which caught fire at a conference in Japan. (More Info)  They even showed the video on the Today Show this morning.  In this case, I actually feel sorry for the folks at Dell who are getting the bad rap for this one.  While it was in fact a Dell laptop, the fire and explosion was due to a faulty lithium battery.  Overheating and fires aren’t new to Dell, but in the past they’ve been quick to recall faulty power supplies that suffered from overheating problems. In 2004 they recalled over a million power adapters. ( More Info )

The bottom line is, this kind of problem could happen to any laptop.  My niece is going off to college this fall and I’m still recommending a Dell laptop for her.  I’m not worried about purchasing an exploding laptop. I’m more worried about all the crap that Dell installs as startup programs on the laptop.  Before she goes away my job will be to help her remove all the startup garbage so she can actually use the machine for school. (Click here) to read about what Dell was putting on their laptops last December

 If you purchased a Dell laptop or replacement battery last year you might want to check into the Dell Battery Recall Program. (More Info )

Update: 08/16/2006