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Old October 9th 04, 05:30 PM
Zaq
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DOC wrote in
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Dell Recalls 4.4 Million Notebook AC Adapters
Recall involves Latitude, Precision and Inspiron laptops
By Steven Burke, CRN
1:35 PM EDT Fri. Oct. 08, 2004

Dell on Friday voluntarily recalled 4.4 million AC adapters for
its notebooks after receiving seven reports of the adapters
overheating, posing a risk of fire or electrical shock for
users.

Dell announced the recall--which involves Latitude, Precision
and Inspiron notebook adapters--in cooperation with the U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC). The recall only
affects the adapters and not the notebooks, Dell said. About 2.9
million of the adapters were sold in the United States.

The CSPC said businesses and consumers should stop using the
recalled adapters immediately. The AC adapters were manufactured
by Delta Electronics of Taipei, Taiwan. Delta also was the
vendor involved when IBM announced an AC adapter recall for its
notebooks in September. That recall, also done in conjunction
with the CSPC, involved 225,000 AC adapters.

The Dell adapters involved in the current recall have the words
"DELL" and "P/N 9364U," P/N 7832D" or "P/N 4983D" printed on the
back of the unit. They were shipped to customers between
September 1998 and February 2002. The adapters were also sold
separately, including in response to service calls, for between
$30 to $70. The advanced port replicators and docking stations
sold for $300 to $600.

Dell will send consumers with recalled adapters a free
replacement. Those who believe they are affected by the recall
can call Dell at (800) 418-8590 or go to Dell's Web site. The
latest recall follows a Dell power adapter recall for 28,000
systems in July.

Tyler Dikman, chief executive of CoolTronics, a Dell reseller,
said his company will be on the lookout for the adapters when
servicing Dell notebooks. Dikman added that he doesn't expect
the recall to affect his Dell sales and that, overall, he is
happy with the quality of Dell notebooks.

Most of the components for notebooks--whether they are from
Dell, IBM or Hewlett-Packard--come from the same suppliers,
Dikman noted. "Dell is lucky this involves just a power
adapter," Dikman said. "Ocne you have to get inside the notebook
system, that costs a lot more money. You can't have an end-user
customer taking out RAM or pulling apart a [notebook] screen
assembly."

The recall could end up costing Dell tens of millions of
dollars, given the $30 to $70 price tag of the adapters, Dikman
said. "The question is, how many of these computers are still
being used, especially the ones from '98," he said. "It is rare
you will find a six-year-old notebook."

A Dell spokesman said the company doesn't expect the recall to
be "material" to business and, therefore, not have an impact on
quarterly results. The spokesman declined to comment on how much
the recall could end up costing the company or if Delta
Electronics or Dell would be responsible for the cost of the
recall.

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See what can happen if you don't keep that BIOS updated :-)