Dell has recalled laptop batteries a couple of times: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/batteryrecall/en/main
And these recalls have bee due to fire hazards: http://news.com.com/Dell+recalls+notebook+batteries+suspected+of+fire+hazard/2100-1040_3-247023.html
The batteries short circuit and can cause fires.
I type this message from a Dell laptop as well. I think they make a decent product.
I think they make a decent product.
Generally they do, but when a POS makes it out of their doors they're super-squirrely about it. I had an Inspiron (can't remember the model#) on which the motherboard would consistently fail every 6 months, requiring a replacement. This was an issue known to be quite common with this specific model (a spot on the motherboard got hot, and some component would subsequently loosen. This made it so if you so much as looked at that corner of the laptop cross-eyed it would reboot.)
Every time it failed I had to go through the same red-tape to get them to send out someone with a new MB. Dell refused to recall the model, so essentially as soon as my warranty ran out I was screwed. I ended up selling it to someone who knew a guy that could do a fix for $100 to permanently replace the bad piece with a decent one.
After this experience with Dell, I'm a little soured towards them.
Lithium-ion batteries?
Yup, that would be my guess.
There was an article in the paper here today about FAA hearings related to a UPS plane fire in Philly. Shorted out lithium-ion batteries in the cargo was one of the things they were looking at.
I just got audited at work by the head ADG guy from the PHL hub. We were talking about the plane fire. He said that it most likely was lithium-ion batteries.