Be careful with your XPS laptop, it could strike back, literally
Must have been a fun few days at the CNET offices recently where several staff members were given electric shocks from Dell XPS M1530 laptops. "This discharge can vary in strength from a gentle tingle to a sudden jolt", said CNET.
At first we thought that perhaps Dell had fallen out with CNET and simply sent them a batch of "take that!" electrifying-notebooks, but that isn't the case. Reports of similar incidents are rife on Dell's official support forums.
Dell has stepped forward by acknowledging the problem in a knowledge base article published two days ago. The article, tastefully titled "A Tingling Sensation May Be Noticed When Touching Metal Components of Dell Devices Equipped with Two-Prong AC Adapters", states that:
"The electric current on all Dell products have been measured and proven to be well within the safety limits per safety standards - IEC950, EN60950, UL1950, etc., even with an input voltage of 240 Volts. The voltage (tingling sensation) does NOT present any risk of injury to the user. It is recommended to unplug the AC adaptor from the parent device before attaching any cables or accessories, as this reduces the possibility of experiencing the tingling sensation."
Despite being "well withing the safety limits", customers are reporting that if affected by the "shocking" issue, Dell are willing to replace all two-pin power supplies with a three-pin connection.
CNET believe that "the problem only seems to occur in Dell laptops that have a brushed-aluminium finish", citing that the two-pin power supply isn't earthed properly due to its lack of a third pin.
Though the XPS M1530 certainly seems to suffer from the issue, it could be more widespread. In April 2007, Dell took the time to explain these "Tingle Sensations" on its Direct2Dell blog following prior complaints.
In an odd turn of events, my brother in law complained about shocks from his Inspiron laptop only two weeks ago. I called him paranoid at the time but boy do I feel sheepish now. I'll be wearing rubber gloves when I next turn on my Inspiron 1520...
Useful links, in case of shock:
Dell knowledge base article
Dell support forums
