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Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

en.community.dell.com

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Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#91

Post by slunk »

csense wrote: post #77

Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population. I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. We both thought maybe a staff member had been careless about rinsing hands after washing with soap. I later learned that some people have a genetic predisposition to perceive cilantro, an herb common in Mexican food, as a soapy taste [1…

Interesting theory, but read this quote from the first page of comments:

"Thanks.. I am having the same issue. When I started using the laptop at the end of last week I thought I smelt something odd. Well.. here I am Sunday doing some work on the couch and my wife says "what stinks like cat pee". I said.. I think its this laptop.. puts her nose up to the keyboard and BAM! It really stinks."

Some guy AND his wife noticed the smell. If you're right, that's one hell of a coincidence.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#94

Post by X-Istence »

andrewflnr wrote: post #55
whalesalad wrote: post #17

Reminds me of my sisters Volkswagen beetle. It's got some material under the leather that smells exactly like crayons. It's impossible to get rid of. Not as bad as cat piss but really strong. Gives me a feeling of nostalgia every time I'm in it haha. Google "Volkswagen smells like crayons" and you'll find a lot of VWs in the early 2000s have the same smell.

My Ford Escape's air conditioning smells like cat pee sometimes, when it's first waking up. Not too badly, but the resemblance is quite distinct.

That's generally because the moisture is stick in the filter and it needs replacing. It's mold growing =)

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#96

Post by hrjet »

csense wrote: post #77

Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population. I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. We both thought maybe a staff member had been careless about rinsing hands after washing with soap. I later learned that some people have a genetic predisposition to perceive cilantro, an herb common in Mexican food, as a soapy taste [1…

This is very much true in my own experience. I have an incredibly sensitive nose especially to alarming things.

I once woke up from my sleep due to a LPG gas leak in a different floor, and alerted them of the leak! People who were awake hadn't noticed the smell; but once alerted they could easily smell it.

Also, once when I was working on a new Dell laptop, it started giving out an acrid smell when running CPU-intensive apps. Most people couldn't believe that, but one another guy in my office floor could detect that smell as well.

I think there is a larger hypothesis that can be made: it is optimal for the survival of a species if individuals of the species exhibit slightly different behavior from each other. As a group, it helps cover more ground in the event of a threat or opportunity. It is also a way to jump out of a local optimum.

Is there any established terminology for what I am describing above?

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#97

Post by SolarNet »

slunk wrote: post #91
csense wrote: post #77

Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population. I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. We both thought maybe a staff member had been careless about rinsing hands after washing with soap. I later learned that some people have a genetic predisposition to perceive cilantro, an herb common in Mexican food, as a soapy taste [1…

Interesting theory, but read this quote from the first page of comments: "Thanks.. I am having the same issue. When I started using the laptop at the end of last week I thought I smelt something odd. Well.. here I am Sunday doing some work on the couch and my wife says "what stinks like cat pee". I said.. I think its this laptop.. puts her nose up to the keyboard and BAM! It really stinks." Some guy AND his wife noti…

Not if they are both of the same genetic pool. For example if they are both Dutch or Korean etc. Especially if the 'not smelling' it gene is the less common one (and on ethnic boundaries). For example all of the workers were Chinese and Chinese don't have the gene.

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#98

Post by rsynnott »

vidarh wrote: post #61
krenoten wrote: post #31

It's part of a hardening process that has been employed by weapon smiths for time immemorial, known as "quenching". After you form the laptop case / sword / rifle barrel, and it is still hot, it is to be submerged in urine. I'm surprised it's taken laptop manufacturers so long to catch up.

In the UK there's a TV show called QI ("Quite Interesting"), hosted by Stephen Fry, which likes to dig up "quite interesting" odd "facts" (in quotes, as sometimes they are twisting things quite far) and ask questions about them. Especially things that will get the celebrity panelists to give "obvious" but wrong answers (which they are penalized for). One of their questions years back was "why does the House of Lords…

> but the end contains a fuller description

That's a _terrible_ pun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling#Scouring

Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss

#100

Post by ddeck »

smacktoward wrote: post #21

Fascinating. I was shopping for new sneakers the other day and was shocked at how many people over the last couple of years had reported new pairs of New Balance shoes having exactly the same "smells like cat urine" problem (see: http://ask.metafilter.com/182458/Something-peed-in-my-sneake... , http://reviews.newbalance.com/9328/M990/new-balance-new-bala... , http://www.zappos.com/product/review/7944390/page/1/start/…

Not restricted to New Balance it seems:

Nike Complaints & Reviews - Shoes smell like cat urine (2009) [1]

[1] http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/nike-c255626.html

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