Who needs terrorists when we have Dell?

So, Dell has exploding laptops. Reminds me of the old days in Hollywood
when every computer in a Universal picture eventually exploded. Geeks
smirkingly called them the Explodatron 2000. Now instead of the
Explodatron 2000 we have Dell! Four million laptops apparently just a
time bomb (literally) waiting to go off. And it might go a lot further
than that -- lots of companies use the same batteries, including Apple,
HP, Sony.

On 15 Aug 2006 02:42:26 -0700, "cjcampbell"
wrote:

So, Dell has exploding laptops.

Not really. Dell sold laptops with SONY batteries in them, and these
SONY batteries occasionally burst into flame.

Credit where credit is due!

(Mine is one of the laptops affected.)


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email: usenet AT danford DOT net

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
In Search of Lost Time: www.readingproust.com

In article .com,
"cjcampbell" wrote:

So, Dell has exploding laptops. Reminds me of the old days in Hollywood
when every computer in a Universal picture eventually exploded. Geeks
smirkingly called them the Explodatron 2000. Now instead of the
Explodatron 2000 we have Dell! Four million laptops apparently just a
time bomb (literally) waiting to go off. And it might go a lot further
than that -- lots of companies use the same batteries, including Apple,
HP, Sony.

I had the same thought when I read the article in yesterday's Wall
Street Journal. If the terrorists learn what makes some batteries
explode and others not, the weapon will be undetectable.
Or, they just rig any existing battery pack by removing a couple cells
and replacing them with an igniter. The computer already provides the
timer and the battery the power and fuel.

On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 05:57:49 -0400, Cub Driver usenet AT danford DOT
net wrote in :

On 15 Aug 2006 02:42:26 -0700, "cjcampbell"
wrote:

So, Dell has exploding laptops.

Not really. Dell sold laptops with SONY batteries in them, and these
SONY batteries occasionally burst into flame.


It took a long time for lithium battery development to achieve the
point where the batteries were considered safe enough to be used
outside the laboratory. Lithium is a very reactive and light weight
metal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium
Lithium will ignite and burn when exposed to water and water
vapors in oxygen. It is the only metal that reacts with nitrogen
at room temperature. Lithium has a high specific heat capacity,
3582 J/(kg·K), and a great temperature range in its liquid form,
which makes it a useful chemical.

Lithium in its pure form is highly flammable and slightly
explosive when exposed to air and especially water. Lithium fires
are difficult to extinguish, requiring special chemicals designed
to smother them. Lithium metal is also corrosive and requires
special handling to avoid skin contact. Lithium should be stored
in a non-reactive compound such as naphtha or a hydrocarbon.

...

And in an attempt to include some on-topic content:

Carriage and shipment of some kinds of lithium batteries may be
prohibited aboard certain types of transportation (particularly
aircraft), because of the ability of most types of lithium
batteries to fully discharge very rapidly when short-circuited,
leading to overheating and possible explosion. However, most
consumer lithium batteries have thermal overload protection
built-in to prevent this type of incident, or their design
inherently limits short-circuit currents.

In article ,
Cub Driver usenet AT danford DOT net wrote:
So, Dell has exploding laptops.

Not really. Dell sold laptops with SONY batteries in them, and these
SONY batteries occasionally burst into flame.


If I recall correctly, Apple had the same problem a couple years ago
with Sony batteries, though I believe that Apple's issue was identified
and corrected quickly. I don't know what the specific defect was with
the batteries that caused them to "explode," but this story is only
significant because of the magnitude of the problem.




JKG

If I recall correctly, Apple had the same problem a couple years ago
with Sony batteries, though I believe that Apple's issue was identified
and corrected quickly. I don't know what the specific defect was with
the batteries that caused them to "explode," but this story is only
significant because of the magnitude of the problem.

Apple has a current recall on iBook batteries. It has been effect for
most of this year. Check out their website. www.apple.com

I see another Dateline special coming up "And now an episode you won't
want to miss, before you fire up your laptop, know that you may DIE,
watch Dateline at 9 to see how".

-Robert


cjcampbell wrote:
So, Dell has exploding laptops. Reminds me of the old days in Hollywood
when every computer in a Universal picture eventually exploded. Geeks
smirkingly called them the Explodatron 2000. Now instead of the
Explodatron 2000 we have Dell! Four million laptops apparently just a
time bomb (literally) waiting to go off. And it might go a lot further
than that -- lots of companies use the same batteries, including Apple,
HP, Sony.

("Robert M. Gary" wrote)
I see another Dateline special coming up "And now an episode you won't
want to miss, before you fire up your laptop, know that you may DIE, watch
Dateline at 9 to see how".


These days, 98.486% of all TV "news" can be viewed on a par with the likes
of: Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, A Current Affair, Hard Copy,
Inside Edition, etc, etc, etc.

I no longer watch my local TV news every night. Don't miss it one bit. In
fact, it's almost cleansing NOT seeing that stuff night after night after
night.

If I want to give an hour to TV, I'll watch a show about houseboats on The
Travel Channel.


Montblack
"Don't take any **** from the zeitgeist." - George Carlin

On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:24:49 -0500, "Montblack"
wrote:


If I want to give an hour to TV, I'll watch a show about houseboats on The
Travel Channel.

X-treem houseboatz? Light Sport Houseboats? Experimental houseboats?
Anchor mods? Vintage houseboats? Never Again -- I Learned About
Houseboats from That? Houseboat hangars?

Don

("Don Tuite" wrote)
X-treem houseboatz? Light Sport Houseboats? Experimental houseboats?
Anchor mods? Vintage houseboats? Never Again -- I Learned About
Houseboats from That? Houseboat hangars?


Stories From the Flybridge.


Montblack