More Dell quality problems

[JSMCPN]

Battery recall in effect.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/dell/another-dell-laptop-goes-kabloom-190579.php

http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/31/dell-laptop-number-3-explodes/

[Kibo]

I sure am curious about the cause of the fires. When I read about the first one, it was unknown whether the battery was Dell original. With the number of cheap replicas (often labeled and branded identically) that proliferate eBay and other sources, who can say for sure?

I wonder if it's a design or manufacturing problem. I'd lean towards the latter...some component (perhaps even the cells themselves) that isn't up to spec. It's more common than you'd think--the crappy electrolytic capacitors that plagued early 90s electronics (including 1G ECUs) comes to mind.

It will be interesting to see what comes of all this.

[JSMCPN]

I'm sure you know about the leaky caps problem Dell, Apple, Asus, MSI, ASRock and tons of other mobo manufacturers are having. I replaced over 100 Dell GX270 motherboards in the 05/06 school year, and I expect to see more once teachers report back for 06/07 and find their machines are dead. I'm talking a >40% failure rate within 3-yr warranty period. I've got a customer's mobo on my bench at home right now with leaking caps as well.

Also, a batch of flyback transformers is costing us pallete-loads of CRT displays that are out of warranty. The cheapo transformers can't be replaced, they're some odd type that is non-adjustable for focus and screen voltage.

It's pretty sad, techology products really are disposable these days. HP inkjet printers are a great example - most consumer models are made in one huge batch, a certain percentage are kept in stock for whole-unit swap during the fantastic 90-day warranty, then that's it. No repair parts are even manufactured for most models...they just warranty them out for 3 months and expect you to buy a new one after that.....and pay $3000/gallon for ink that gets clogged 80% into a printhead's life-span.

I'll try to post a video I got from Eco-Cycle about the rampant dumping of eWaste on 3rd world countries for recycling. It made me sick watching little kids getting paid 1 cent per day to disassemble laser toner cartridges by hand, faces covered with toner, while separating components into piles. Or how about the woman with no shoes walking through a 4-foot deep pile of computer wiring, cutting connectors off, torching the pile to burn off insulation and then salvaging the copper (again by hand with no gloves).

[Kibo]

You've mentioned the recent leaky cap problem before, but I forgot.

Are you familiar with the RoHS directive? Companies everywhere are struggling comply; the deadline has passed, and there's still a large portion of the electronics industry that are non-compliant. One can argue that it's a necessary step in the right direction from an environmental view, but the impact on small companies (cost concerns) as well as product quality (especially restriction of lead solder) is pretty significant.

The 'disposable' phenomenon has been going on for years in all sorts of consumer products; it's just that the epic volumes are beginning to catch up with the world.