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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

#51

Post by tplpnm »

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/…

Oh my god I had those M990s in black. I thought there was something really wrong with my feet. Thanks for the closure.

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

#52

Post by Gigablah »

rurounijones wrote: post #48
Gigablah wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The keyboard smells like piss, therefore it's Dell's fault"

As opposed to....

Fedex? Your cat? I dunno. We don't know if it's a particular batch or all of them uniformly smell like that.

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

#53

Post by jsz0 »

jacob019 wrote: post #2

5 pages of comments, how bizarre. What could possibly go wrong in manufacturing to make electronics smell like cat piss?

Probably cost cutting gone wrong. Lots of acidic chemicals are used and they need to be carefully washed off parts or the smell will linger. Many cheap glues/tapes can also carry a strong acidic smell. The comparison to cat urine makes sense since the smell comes from its high acidity.

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

#54

Post by stock_toaster »

ketralnis wrote: post #20
joseph_cooney wrote: post #16

Yesterday when some apple users said their Macbook battery life had been impacted by the Mavericks upgrade the consensus on HN was that "people blame all kinds of problems on software upgrades". When some Dell users say their laptops smell funny, then Dell has a QA problem.

Was it a software upgrade that caused the laptops to smell like cat piss?

That would be one hell of a bug.

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

#55

Post by andrewflnr »

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.

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

#57

Post by interTrode »

joseph_cooney wrote: post #16

Yesterday when some apple users said their Macbook battery life had been impacted by the Mavericks upgrade the consensus on HN was that "people blame all kinds of problems on software upgrades". When some Dell users say their laptops smell funny, then Dell has a QA problem.

I, uh... I'd like to take some time and point out the following implicit logic veiled beneath your posit of pro-Apple fanboyism bias.

  Even if it's a software update, Apple bears the full brunt
  of all the acrimony, because when it comes to Macintosh 
  products, Apple takes credit for the whole thing, 
  regardless of  where the failure originates, be it 
  hardware or software.
Apple controls The Spice in that scenario (and thus, the universe). They are at fault for everything that sucks no matter what.

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

#58

Post by fchollet »

sandGorgon wrote: post #44
nilsbunger wrote: post #15

This was a fun read. My favorite post: '''When you write that the "problem has been resolved," do you mean that when I open my computer it will no longer smell like a pack of well hydrated feral cats have used it for target practice resolved, or do you mean that you have resolved the mystery of what has caused the problem? Jus' 'asking.'''

The reply is even more interesting . This is by an official rep. Really impressed by Dell. "As mentioned above, no biological hazard was involved and we do know that a manufacturing process was the root cause. That process was changed which resolved the issue on newly manufactured units. As for everyone out there with a unit that still exhibits the symptoms, we haven't forgotten about you and will make things right.…

Dell laptops are assembled by cats. Incontinent cats.

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

#59

Post by donniefitz2 »

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.

I used to work on VW's in the early 2000's and VW uses really heavy wax on all of the inner body panels to prevent rust. It's thick and nasty and smells very strong (especially in a hot climate). I used get that stuff all over me and it was tough to wash it off.

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

#60

Post by candydance »

sandGorgon wrote: post #44
nilsbunger wrote: post #15

This was a fun read. My favorite post: '''When you write that the "problem has been resolved," do you mean that when I open my computer it will no longer smell like a pack of well hydrated feral cats have used it for target practice resolved, or do you mean that you have resolved the mystery of what has caused the problem? Jus' 'asking.'''

The reply is even more interesting . This is by an official rep. Really impressed by Dell. "As mentioned above, no biological hazard was involved and we do know that a manufacturing process was the root cause. That process was changed which resolved the issue on newly manufactured units. As for everyone out there with a unit that still exhibits the symptoms, we haven't forgotten about you and will make things right.…

If they actually do a recall/replacement I'll be extremely impressed.
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