Darth Marsden
08-05-2006, 06:01 AM
I quote, not from a website, but from the Daily Telegraph, which came complete with a lovely picture that I sadly am unable to show. But still, it's a cool story.
Scattered reports of Del laptops bursting into flames have been emerging from around the world, but none more dramatic than the computer that ignited several boxes of ammunition and left a Ford truck burnt out.
Packing up after a fishing trip in Nevada, Thomas Forqueran, 63, put his Dell Inspiration laptop on the floor of his car, only to see flames emerging from the truck minutes later. He said: "Flames were shooting about three feet out the window. I ran to the driver's side door and the flames were rushing at me and the three boxes of bullets in the glove compartment."
He and a friend ran for cover as the bullets shot past them. The truck and everything in it was destroyed in the subsequent fuel explosion.
...
Last week in Illinois, office workers were evacuated and the fire brigade called when another Dell laptop burst into flames after just half an hour plugged into a docking station. One employee sat next to the volatile piece of hardware said: "I heard a small 'pouf' and a couple of cracking noises, then a hissing noise that sounded like a flare going off."
Onlookers said the laptop burst into flames eight to 10 inches tall. When fire extinguishers failed to put out the blaze someone ripped the still burning laptop out of the docking station and through it out of the window.
...
In late May a machine caught fire at a business conference in Japan where is was captured on a bystander's camera phone. A spokesman for Dell said "Obviously we do take [these incidents] quite seriously. We are investigating them. We have been in contact with the customer in Illanois and are confirming details."
In all three cases the battery is believed to have caused the fire. Eric Ross, an analyst at the US research house Think Equity, said: "It's not a good situation but if it as something actually designed into the laptop it would be a lot worse. A battery is relatively easily swapped out."
Scattered reports of Del laptops bursting into flames have been emerging from around the world, but none more dramatic than the computer that ignited several boxes of ammunition and left a Ford truck burnt out.
Packing up after a fishing trip in Nevada, Thomas Forqueran, 63, put his Dell Inspiration laptop on the floor of his car, only to see flames emerging from the truck minutes later. He said: "Flames were shooting about three feet out the window. I ran to the driver's side door and the flames were rushing at me and the three boxes of bullets in the glove compartment."
He and a friend ran for cover as the bullets shot past them. The truck and everything in it was destroyed in the subsequent fuel explosion.
...
Last week in Illinois, office workers were evacuated and the fire brigade called when another Dell laptop burst into flames after just half an hour plugged into a docking station. One employee sat next to the volatile piece of hardware said: "I heard a small 'pouf' and a couple of cracking noises, then a hissing noise that sounded like a flare going off."
Onlookers said the laptop burst into flames eight to 10 inches tall. When fire extinguishers failed to put out the blaze someone ripped the still burning laptop out of the docking station and through it out of the window.
...
In late May a machine caught fire at a business conference in Japan where is was captured on a bystander's camera phone. A spokesman for Dell said "Obviously we do take [these incidents] quite seriously. We are investigating them. We have been in contact with the customer in Illanois and are confirming details."
In all three cases the battery is believed to have caused the fire. Eric Ross, an analyst at the US research house Think Equity, said: "It's not a good situation but if it as something actually designed into the laptop it would be a lot worse. A battery is relatively easily swapped out."