Singapore man's notebook explodes

AFTER TWO well-reported incidents of Dell laptop computers catching fire, a Singapore man has come forward with pictures of his 'exploding' PC.

"It wasn't quite an explosion, but white smoke began to pour out of the machine, completely filling up the room, and there were flames coming up the sides of the laptop," the man told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Back in early November 2005, while the man was working from home when the computer suddenly began to make "popping noises".

The man grabbed the machine and raced it to a sink of water to douse the flames, but when he pulled it back out, it once again began to smoulder. After seeking advice, he removed all the batteries from the machine, and soaked it in water overnight.

The man took pictures not only of the disintegrated laptop but also the burn mark it perpetuated on his desk.

Dell replaced the machine with no questions asked but failed to provide any explanation for the fault. Consequently the man has become paranoid that the same thing will happen to the replacement machine.

"I'm now so paranoid that will it happen again that I don't use my laptop on flights anymore," he man said.

Previous incidents took place in Osaka, Japan and in government offices in Illinois.

From the pictures it looks very suspiciously like the machine's battery was to blame. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries can present a fire hazard if they are either damaged or suffer a short circuit.

More on this at the Sydney Morning Herald.