Suit Over Faulty Computers Highlights Dell’s Decline

[Osaban]

-{ Quote: "
After the math department at the University of Texas noticed some of its Dell computers failing, Dell examined the machines. The company came up with an unusual reason for the computers’ demise: the school had overtaxed the machines by making them perform difficult math calculations.

Dell, however, had actually sent the university, in Austin, desktop PCs riddled with faulty electrical components that were leaking chemicals and causing the malfunctions. Dell sold millions of these computers from 2003 to 2005 to major companies like Wal-Mart and Wells Fargo, institutions like the Mayo Clinic and small businesses." }-

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html?src=me&ref=homepage

[CloneRanger]

Dispicable and cold blooded fraud by Dell :thumbd:

Dell -{ Quote: "came up with an unusual reason for the computers’ demise: the school had overtaxed the machines by making them perform difficult math calculations." }-

What a joke, except it's not :(

-{ Quote: "Documents recently unsealed in a three-year-old lawsuit against Dell show that the company’s employees were actually aware that the computers were likely to break. Still, the employees tried to play down the problem to customers and allowed customers to rely on trouble-prone machines, putting their businesses at risk. Even the firm defending Dell in the lawsuit was affected when Dell balked at fixing 1,000 suspect computers, according to e-mail messages revealed in the dispute." }-

-{ Quote: "Dell appears to have suffered from the bad capacitors, made by a company called Nichicon," }-

-{ Quote: "They are not meant to pop and leak fluid, but that is exactly what was happening earlier this decade, causing computers made by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Apple and others to break." }-

Not just Dell :o

I've been using Nichicon capacitors for years in other equipment, and havn't noticed any duds. I'll be taking a closer look and testing from now on.

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "Not just Dell" }-That's correct. My independently built computer with a Gigabyte motherboard suffered the same problem.

The tech that built my computer changed the capacitors by hand.

I find it hard to believe that a company would purposely build defective computers.

[Osaban]

-{ Quote: "
I find it hard to believe that a company would purposely build defective computers." }-

I agree completely. The interesting point is how a company in such predicament reacts to the problem. I'm usually wary of huge discounts on computers, as they could have defective components which companies might try to compensate within warranty periods.

[YeOldeStonecat]

The batch of faulty capacitors affected many brands, as noted above...Gigabyte motherboards, as well as many Abits and MSI motherboards, and other brands.

Dell has honored hardware warranty on the affected models, replacing them under warranty even after the standard 3 year warranty had passed. About 2 years ago I had Dell ship replacement boards on a huge fleet of PCs at a school, and that was about 3.5 years after purchase. They made it very easy.

[YanK33]

wow i hope my XPS DELL dont give me those kind of headaches

[Bill_Bright]

-{ Quote: "The batch of faulty capacitors affected many brands, as noted above...Gigabyte motherboards, as well as many Abits and MSI motherboards, and other brands.

Dell has honored hardware warranty on the affected models, replacing them under warranty even after the standard 3 year warranty had passed. About 2 years ago I had Dell ship replacement boards on a huge fleet of PCs at a school, and that was about 3.5 years after purchase. They made it very easy." }-It was more than a "batch" - and it was caps from more than one cap maker too. But you are correct it affected the entire industry, not just Dell. It affected all motherboard makers. But Dell did a lousy job of handling it - initially - well, for a while, actually, until they started taking a lot of heat from consumers and the IT press.

I had a couple Gigabyte boards suffer from leaky caps and Gigabyte replaced them promptly - including one that was 6 months past the 3 year warranty - one reason I really like, use, and recommend Gigabyte boards.

[YeOldeStonecat]

-{ Quote: "It was more than a "batch" - and it was caps from more than one cap maker too. B" }-

I refer to the cheapo ones that came from Taiwan as a "batch". Yes there are/were several plants in Taiwan that made caps. The general lore about it, and it's pretty much widely accepted as true, is that industrial spying led to a capacitor electrolyte formula being brought to several super cheap Taiwan factories to make capacitors. That particular formula was partially complete..but they didn't know that. The incomplete formula did not include an important component to combat corrosion of the caps. So several plants in Taiwan made the electrolyte for the caps...not knowing they were using an incomplete formula..they hit the market and underbid the other cap makers in Japan and other places..won a lot of contracts (due to steep under bidding on contracts)...and the rest is history.