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From: RnR on 28 Jan 2010 09:06
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/01/25/daily43.html?ana=from_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_austin+%28Austin+Business+Journal%29

Unfortunately they don't mention which laptop models the lawsuit is
about.
From: William R. Walsh on 28 Jan 2010 09:21
Hi!

Given the time frame mentioned (2003-2005), I'd have to think they
were speaking of the Inspiron 1100/1150 systems at the very least.

These were famous for developing overheating failures. So far as I
know, repairs did not last.

William
From: Ben Myers on 28 Jan 2010 09:23
RnR wrote:
> http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/01/25/daily43.html?ana=from_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_austin+%28Austin+Business+Journal%29
>
> Unfortunately they don't mention which laptop models the lawsuit is
> about.

Given the timeframe and the brand ("defective Dell Inspiron laptop
computers bought between 2003 and 2005"), the suit has to refer to the
Inspiron 5100, 5150, 5160, and maybe 1100/1150, all of which used more
or less standard Socket 478 Pentium 4 or Celeron processors that ran at
standard P4 voltages, required a lot of wattage and created a lot of
inadequately ventilated heat. The Socket 478 Pentium 4 CPUs did have
SpeedStep built in, unlike true desktop CPUs, so they could clock down
to 1.6GHz when running on battery.

Dell's crime here is that the sale of these so-called desktop
replacements was wildly successful compared to Toshiba and HPaq, who had
their own Socket 478 disastrous desktop replacements. Toshiba and HPaq
simply did not sell that many of these unwieldy beasts, so the
lawsuit-chasing lawyers went after the company with the largest volume
of sales, namely Dell. I've had my share of overheating Toshibas and
burned out HP Pavilions here.

Still have one Toshiba "gifted" to me by a client who could no longer
stand it. When I got it, it would run about a minute, then shut down.
With cleaning and thermal paste on the CPU, it now runs about a half
hour before shutting down. Wonderful reliability.

I suspect that Canadian class-action law is little different than the
US, so that the only people who will get anything out of this case will
be the lawyers.

Honestly, the desktop replacements in 2003-2005 were an idea before its
time and a damned stupid one, at that. For making the stupid decision
to sell these, Dell is not blameless.

Were I a lawyer defending Dell here, I would be questioning how people
used their laptops, whether they kept air ducts free of obstruction,
used them in a relatively dust-free environment or in a house full of
cat dander. Nothing against cats, mind you. It's just that they are
dirty filthy animals and sworn enemies of computers worldwide... Ben Myers
From: Ben Myers on 28 Jan 2010 09:28
William R. Walsh wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Given the time frame mentioned (2003-2005), I'd have to think they
> were speaking of the Inspiron 1100/1150 systems at the very least.
>
> These were famous for developing overheating failures. So far as I
> know, repairs did not last.
>
> William

Despite my own tirade against the Inspiron 1100's and 5100's, they CAN
be kept running and running and running with proper maintenance and
careful customization of i8kfangui. Still have a number of clients
using them, but they (the laptops, not the clients) are getting to the
end of the line.

Dell in the US also got pushed into a recall and an extension of
warranty period for the Inspiron 5100. Bought a dead one from a company
several years ago, looked up its service tag, got a free replacement
from Dell... Ben Myers
From: RnR on 28 Jan 2010 12:30
On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:28:01 -0500, Ben Myers <ben_myers(a)charter.net>
wrote:

>William R. Walsh wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>> Given the time frame mentioned (2003-2005), I'd have to think they
>> were speaking of the Inspiron 1100/1150 systems at the very least.
>>
>> These were famous for developing overheating failures. So far as I
>> know, repairs did not last.
>>
>> William
>
>Despite my own tirade against the Inspiron 1100's and 5100's, they CAN
>be kept running and running and running with proper maintenance and
>careful customization of i8kfangui. Still have a number of clients
>using them, but they (the laptops, not the clients) are getting to the
>end of the line.
>
>Dell in the US also got pushed into a recall and an extension of
>warranty period for the Inspiron 5100. Bought a dead one from a company
>several years ago, looked up its service tag, got a free replacement
>from Dell... Ben Myers

I like the last part. Nice.
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