Dell batteries, the perfect metaphor.

[Taxloss]

Dell's a big Republican donor. Like the Republicans, they sell their laptops on the premise that they increase your personal freedom.

But they're really only good at producing hot air and blowing things up.

[undeterred]

1. Yeah, but I have one

and I don't want it to blow up.

[Taxloss]

3. Will you be returning it? n/t

[undeterred]

5. Its my work computer- I love it.

I work in IT and I just told my supervisor about this story, which he hadn't heard. It probably affects 150 of our machines.

I've noticed it gets really hot for no reason, so if I have the opportunity to change batteries, I will.

[Taxloss]

6. That must represent an insurance nightmare.

If Dell has admitted the laptop is unsafe, you're going to have to arrange for the recall of those laptops, aren't you?

I read somewhere that it was a problem between Dells and a certain Sony battery, so I suppose a transplant may be possible. But then I know very little about computers.

[Deja Q]

2. The laptops get so hot, you don't want to put them on your lap... you'll

be sterilized rather quickly.

[AirmensMom]

4. Mine stopped working completely.

After just 2 1/2 years. It's definitely a heat problem. Now I have a $4,000 paperweight. x( ... and a new MacBook. :D

[Kutjara]

7. It would make a good newspaper cartoon.

Two jihadis in full stereotypical paramilitary gear. One says to the other, "Dude! You're gettin' a Dell!"

[Taxloss]

9. Seems like the "terror plotters" in this liquids scare missed a trick by

picking iPods as triggers ... they should have bought Dell, not Apple.

[AndyA]

8. A friend used to repair computers for a living, and he said the Dell

computers (not necessarily the laptops, but all of them) were pretty much junk. Many components made cheaply, with no hope whatsoever of any longevity. They want you to keep buying new ones. He said the ones that go for years without fizzing out are the exceptions, that most become junk in a rather short period of time.

So much for being friendly to the environment, too...toss the old one out, we have more new ones!

[undeterred]

11. We have several models and I find that there is great variety

among Dell machines. Some of our desktops have "thermal events". Some of our users put their laptops through some pretty rough treatment. We don't expect them to last forever, just 2-3 years.

[Horse with no Name]

10. I'm not going to complain too much

The Dell Foundation endowed my daughter with a $20,000 scholarship--along with 199 other deserving kids.
They do this every year.
They were also given laptops, printers and backpacks--which brings the scholarship value to about $21,000.
So if you have a company that endows 200 kids a year with a college education--they can't be too bad in my book--which by the way, comes to $4.2 million. They do this EVERY year.

[LeftHander]

12. You can carry an exploding Dell but not hand lotion on a plane...

How dumb.