Exploding Laptops?

The paranoids were right … sort of.

Transcript

Hi everyone, this is Leo Notenboom with news, commentary and answers to some
of the many questions I get at askleo.info.

I think we all know someone, perhaps a family member, an acquaintance, or an
employee, that takes some of our terminology just a little to literally. For
example if you say that a program “blew up” – something us software geeks say
all too often – there are folks who’ll take that to mean that the computer
literally exploded.

Computers are very mysterious devices to many, and yes, there are those who
actually live in fear that there’s something they could do by mistake that
could cause their computer to blow up. For real.

So, with that in mind, I’d like to take a moment to thank Dell for feeding
the paranoia this week.

A couple of months ago you may have seen photos circulating on the net of a
laptop that had burst into flames.

Most folks reacting by saying, yes, that’s cool and all that – stuff happens
– but it’s an anomaly and pretty darned unlikely.

But more reports came in … culminating in this weeks action by Dell, who
is recalling some millions of laptop batteries because of a manufacturing
defect that could, in fact, cause the batteries to spontaneously burst into
flames.

Great. Now all those folks who’ve been worrying that their computers could
explode have a little more ammunition. Because, of course, they’re right – it
could happen.

There’s still nothing you can do by simply using the computer or making a
mistake to actually make it happen … and yet, simply using the computer puts
you at risk of it happening.

Thanks Dell.

Just when I’d convinced folks that using their computer was safe.

Now, to Dell’s credit, they’ve provided full information on exactly what
laptop batteries are involved in the recall at dellbatteryprogram.com – though for
some reason it’s a secure site, and the security certificate isn’t recognized
by my browser. Dell loses points for style on that.

So definitely go check your Dell’s batteries. I’ve checked mine, and I’m not
at risk of spontaneous combustion – at least not because of my battery.

I still need to check my wife’s laptop.

Hopefully it won’t explode before she gets home.

I’d love to hear what you think. Visit ask leo dot info, and enter 10628 in
the go to article number box. Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.

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