My entire house smells like cat piss! I'm not a Dell fan, but I do have a very territorial cat.
Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
151–160 of 166 posts
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#152For what it's worth, wine enthusiasts refer to this cat pee smell as 'boxwood' and pay extra for it.
Does cat urine smell different from regular urine?
Oh yeah, it is one of the strongest, most distinctive odors out there. If you've ever smelled it, you'd know it immediately, and it is damn impossible to clean out of anything. Washing fabric in a washing machine that has been peed on by a cat does nothing for the smell.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#153Maybe 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…
There's also the genetic predisposition to perceive brussels sprouts (and other foods) as too bitter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster IIRC this is one of the SNPs that personal-DNA-sequencing companies like 23andMe can test for.
There's a simple test you can do with a strip of paper (http://supertaster.com/) tainted with that particular flavor. Most people can't taste it at all, but those that do are gagging from the awful taste.
I'm in that group and brussels sprouts are easily the strongest, most offensive vegetables out there.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#154It'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.
Supposedly BMW did that to their turbo F1 engines in the eighties. They would have a bunch of blocks sitting out in the cold, and they would pee on them to age them. That and welding the cylinder head to the block gave them 1500 hp out of a 1.5 liter engine for one lap. http://www.autoevolution.com/news/turbocharged-engines-in-fo...
Hah! I have some friends who had some beautiful (copper?) gutter pipes installed at their house. The metal had a wonderful worn look to them. When I asked how they got it that way she replied that her partner had peed all over them for some time. I've never heard of it before but it seems true.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#155Fascinating. 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/…
Interesting. I get the same "cat urine" smell from neoprene (a rubbery material used in a lot of athletic equipment, like pads and such). I wonder if that has something to do with it.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's also the genetic predisposition to perceive brussels sprouts (and other foods) as too bitter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster IIRC this is one of the SNPs that personal-DNA-sequencing companies like 23andMe can test for.
There's a simple test you can do with a strip of paper ( http://supertaster.com/ ) tainted with that particular flavor. Most people can't taste it at all, but those that do are gagging from the awful taste. I'm in that group and brussels sprouts are easily the strongest, most offensive vegetables out there.
I think there are people in the middle. I can taste PTC, but it is only slightly bitter, and I don't mind brussels sprouts (don't particularly love 'em), I can definitely taste the bitter.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#157I work in an enterprise IT shop during the day and we received 300 of these laptops which we are sitting on until Dell comes up with a resolution. It's not a faint odor, or one that only a few people will notice. It's a rudely foul room clearing gag inducing vapor released as the case heats up. We can't hand them out as they are.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#158Fascinating. 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/…
Interesting. I get the same "cat urine" smell from neoprene (a rubbery material used in a lot of athletic equipment, like pads and such). I wonder if that has something to do with it.
Since Dell is offering a fix that consists of replacing the laptop's palm rest, it might be related - maybe the palm rest is made of neoprene or something similar.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#159Specifically cat urine, not other urine? I must be thankfully smell-deficient because I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and I grew up with cats for 20 years
"Growing up with cats" is a disadvantage in this case - people don't really notice the 'default' environment that they're used to, your nose 'turns off' that specific smell and doesn't record it. My relatives who have cats (especially in the plural) are unable to distuinguish their own items that smell of cat from similar items that don't.
It's similar for smoking - nonsmokers can easily identify traces of smoke smell (like, this particular jacket was worn recently to a place where people smoked) that are not noticeable by the smoker itself.
Re: Users complain their Dell 6430u laptops smell like cat piss
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mmm old Saabs used to have the crayon smell when the glue under the carpets eventually deteriorated. I used to leave a box of crayons in the back to explain it to people. Was quite funny.
My 2000 Saab 9-5 Aero has the crayon smell in it, too. IIRC, it was the glue used to assemble the interior. They changed the process in 2003ish, so more recent Saabs don't have the crayon odor. My wife has a 2002 9-3 SE has no crayon smell, but she used to have a 1999 Viggen with the crayon smell. I love it.
awww bro, a viggen? Awesome awesome car, definitely wanted to get one at some point.