My love for Dell is dwindling.  I had two Latitude D600 laptops in my previous life.  I never had any substantial issues with either of them.  My first D600 was stolen from the trunk of a parked car while I was on a business trip to London.  My replacement D600 was equally as great as the first.

Since embarking on my startup quest , I thought of no other vendor than Dell for my mobile needs.  I’m regretting that decision now entirely. 

My Dell D610 gets so hot that it creates red marks on my (already brown) lap.  They’ll tell you that they “no longer refer to them as laptops” and recommend using their mobiles on a flat surface.  Where am I supposed to find a flat surface (except for the floor) at the gate waiting for a flight?  Typically, flat surfaces involve desks.  Most desks that I use have ethernet connections nearby.  What’s the purpose in having integrated wireless if I’m supposed to be near an ethernet port to use this thing?

When I first reported this to Dell through a form on their site, I got an automated response back that essentially was of no help at all.  I was hoping that someone would have taken the time to call considering the widely reported news of exploding laptops nor did I actually expect an automated email response at all. 

I had an internet chat with Dell a few weeks back.  Someone was dispatched to my house to replace the heat sink and the fan.  No luck —– this laptop is still hotter than Hades.  I have to use something more substantial as a buffer to prevent the device from completely burning my lap.  It’s not comfortable in the least.  I was able to sit in bed, sit on the couch, and sit at the gate at an airport with my D600 and work on things with no thought of it getting too hot.  I can forget about sitting in my pajamas working late at night or early in the morning while in bed unless I have something to protect my lap with my new laptop.

Any usage, other than when the laptop is idle,  causes it to become very, very hot.  My batteries are not subject to the recent recall though I wouldn’t eliminate this machine from possibly flaming up like the recent news of spontaneously exploding Dell laptops.

I filled out another form online today for people who are still have unresolved problems.  We’ll see where it goes.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 17th, 2006 at 4:14 pm and is filed under D610, Dell, Hot Laptop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.