Dell notebook bursts into flames

[evoWalo]

Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

INQ reader's amazing snaps

By INQUIRER newsdesk: Wednesday 21 June 2006, 13:22
AN INQUIRER READER attending a conference in Japan was sat just feet away from a laptop computer that suddenly exploded into flames, in what could have been a deadly accident.

Guilhem, our astonished reader reports: "The damn thing was on fire and produced several explosions for more than five minutes".

Should you witness such an event, his advice is, "Don't try anything courageous/stupid, stay away, away, away!"

[One Dell of a bang]

"For the record, this is a Dell machine," notes Guilhem. "It is only a matter of time until such an incident breaks out on a plane, "he suggests.

Guilhem managed to catch all the action in these amazing pictures.

"Fire extinguishers leave a mess on your suit and belongings; pack your stuff (if you can) and leave, leave, leave!" he advises.

We don't have any further details of the model of the computer in question. In light of the evidence, however, we'd suggest you avoid actually using a laptop on your lap. Ouch.

http://www.theinquirer.net/images/articles/dell%20banger1.jpg

http://www.theinquirer.net/images/articles/dell%20banger2.jpg

[5vz-fe]

Law Suits :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[dutchmasterflex]

Just saw that article on the inquirer.. I wonder how the hell that is possible..

[evoWalo]

My bet's on battery repacking or a damaged notebook.

[dutchmasterflex]

Yea.. Battery would be my first guess.. but still, an explosion like that followed by a fire?

Is this the first instance of a laptop exploding?

[dutchmasterflex]

Yeah.. batteries exploding isn't new.. but this is the first time I've heard a laptop exploding and starting fires..

[DeMoN]

Bet Dell will say that it was an aftermarket battery or something. Since they can no longer prove the computer wasn't altered in any way, lawsuit may not be as bad for dell as expected.

[dutchmasterflex]

The news is fron the inquirer. Don't believe shit what that site publishes!

It's even worse then the british tabloits...

Whats wrong with the inquirer? They have a lot of fact and friction on their site..

The way the write?

[stracing]

i think there's some mission impossible thing going on there

[ZfrkS62]

i wouldn't say it's impossible for something like that to happen. If you've ever seen a capacitor short out, you'd know they explode. i'm sure there was a capacitor somewhere on the board.