Laptop technology recalls....

Silvertwinkie · 02-09-2005, 03:02 PM

With so many of us taking laptops with us on the road.....

Anyone that purchased a Dell Laptop between 1998-2002 (or replacement adapter), there has been a recall of certain power adapters. These power adapters are being replaced at no charge. These adapters can overheat, which could pose a risk of fire or electrical shock.

For details point your browser here:

https://www.delladapterprogram.com/

Additionally, Apple has announced (a little while ago) a recall of batteries used in the 15" Powerbook line. Info on that campaign can be found here:

https://depot.info.apple.com/batteryexchange/

Similar situation...battery can overheat and cause fire hazard......and is also a free exchange.....

FYI.....

**Chuck** · 02-09-2005, 03:46 PM

Hey! I have one of those!!

Thanks for the tip.

(wonder why they didn't contact me, as the page you link says "we are notifying you because our records show ....that you bought one of these from us").

Silvertwinkie · 02-09-2005, 04:06 PM

Well, the funny part is that Dell sent this to someone here at work that was totally unrelated to the tech group that acutally bought the laptops.

So, I guess my point is that I'm not totally suprised by what you say since we only got this by chance. Even more amusing is the fact that when they want to sell me something they sure know how to get in touch with me, but something that could have burned our school to the ground, they send it to a janitor.

I ordered a new adapter and they say it could be several weeks as there is a fair backlog..... Make sure that you don't leave the adapter plugged in when you're not around in the meantime.....

Theo · 02-09-2005, 04:10 PM

I bought a dell.. all $3450 of it.. it had an accident and is no more.. I bought an HP, which was pure junk.. now I have a refurbished IBM thinkpad T21 and it is the best and most reliable computer I have ever had.

Theo

CaliforniaStreamin · 02-10-2005, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck

Hey! I have one of those!!

Thanks for the tip.

(wonder why they didn't contact me, as the page you link says "we are notifying you because our records show ....that you bought one of these from us").

I have one of those too that I use in my knitting room and it's always plugged in....thanks from me for the tip too!

I also have a 15" mac powerbook and though not on their recall list Apple did at least send me the notice. Dell makes a great unit but their customer service has declined a bit through the years IMO.

Barb

Silvertwinkie · 02-10-2005, 09:34 PM

I hear ya. When we called corp/enterprise support, we use to be shipped off to India. It was a TOTAL nightmare. It would take easily 6 calls to get things fixed. Eventually, the enterprise folks complained enough that Dell took the enterprise folks back to the US phone support and left the consumer phone support in India.

Jim & Susan · 02-10-2005, 10:14 PM

I know this is not the purpose of this forum, but here goes.

Companies that I will no longer buy from because they have sent their customer support to countries that don't speak the English language:

Norton (as in anti-virus software)
Dell (a formerly GREAT Texas company)
HP (they never seemed to get PC's right, anyway...Printers are great)
Delta Airlines (Not quit yet, tho, they are a hometown company and are struggling)

Truely, how much dang logic is there in sending your customer support functions to people who have no mastery of the English language?

wingfoot321 · 02-10-2005, 11:09 PM

I just happened to pick up my Jan 2004 Dell transformer the other night and it was hot enough to almost burn me. Hot enough to put it down right away.

Sounds like their recall is not complete.

I appreciate the heads up. Plan to contact Dell tomorrow.

Thanks.

Silvertwinkie · 05-04-2005, 07:58 AM

You all are not going to believe this one.....I walk into the office yesterday, and in my mailbox is a very small box. It's from Dell. I open the box and inside is a piece of paper...just a piece of paper and I'm thinking, why the box? Anyway......

I take it out, read it and it's the notice of the adapter recall from Dell!

I took care of this back in Feb....what a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

I suppose I should be happy that they finally sent the right info to the right place this time, but heck, I could have burned down the building in the time it finally took them to get the info to the right place....maybe they needed help packing all those little boxes with the one page messages.

overlander63 · 05-04-2005, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie

You all are not going to believe this one.....I walk into the office yesterday, and in my mailbox is a very small box. It's from Dell. I open the box and inside is a piece of paper...just a piece of paper and I'm thinking, why the box? Anyway......

I take it out, read it and it's the notice of the adapter recall from Dell!

I took care of this back in Feb....what a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

I suppose I should be happy that they finally sent the right info to the right place this time, but heck, I could have burned down the building in the time it finally took them to get the info to the right place....maybe they needed help packing all those little boxes with the one page messages.

I recently got another Dell PC, and when I opened the box, a piece of paper came floating out. It said "Your new PC does not require any restore discs. If you need to restore your PC, use the System Restore feature included on your PC." I called Dell, got someone in India, or somewhere beside the US, and carefully explained to them that the restore function doesn't work very well when you have gotten a virus that nukes your hard drive, and you have to go to Office Depot and buy a new one. After much cursing and gnashing of teeth, the restore discs arrived via FedEx the other day. I also noticed that my Dell laptop doesn't have the restore disc with it, either, hope I never have to use it...