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August 16, 2006
Is Dell the only worry or do we have too many plugpacks and rechargeable batteries?
In recent news, Dell is issuing a massive battery recall. Although used in Dell equipment, these batteries are reportedly supplied by Sony. Which brings to mind, the proliferation in our households now of plugpaks, rechargeable NiCd, NiMh and LiOn batteries - I mean, if the cell phone is ubuquitous, so then must be the need to charge it. But it's not only cellphones. Landline phones are frequently wireless now and those come with a plugpack and a battery.
The outsourcing offshore isn't endemic to Australia - much of the western world now relies on oem factories in China and other countries to massively produce these batteries and plugpaks. You have major Japanese brand names as well as little known China / Taiwan / Korea brands who give you batteries and plugpaks with your equipment. Obviously, anything sold in the country must meet electrical standards of the country. But what if there is a mistake like in the Dell case. Will a smaller brand with less image to maintain (or with less resource to spread the message) be able to announce or afford a recall?
Now, it's not the major items that you buy. If you were to put money down for say a 1000 dollar notebook, you would expect some credibility in corporate standards of behaviour from the manufacturer. But it's all the little things. Deskbound calculators. Those more common reading lamps. Electronic console games. In the IT section, routers, modems, computer supplies, plugpaks for your speakers, radios, home printers, external hard disks. What about digital cameras? - the list goes on and on. In spite of this, I can guess controlling the release of plugpaks to the public would be easier - because these are mains operated devices and therefore the electrical authorities have some say in the matter, compared to controlling the sale of batteries that are charged by these plugpaks.
So, does buying a name brand appliance or battery/plugpak give you better safety odds than buying a lesser known brand? Do they come from the same oem factory? Are they built to the same quality standards? Does it matter? How often do we expect things to burst into flames? Do we wait for Time to Tell?
Posted by Anandasim at August 16, 2006 11:58 AM
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Comments
Good article!
Quality and testing considerations are something that many consumers do not take into account when buying their batteries/chargers/electronic devices. So many people look solely to the price.
Brand name manufacturers have a reputation to uphold and build, and thus will usually go through a longer, more thorough testing process. No-name Chinese battery chargers are often about copying someone else's designs. Sometimes they don't really understand what they are copying, and sometimes they get it wrong. Sometimes they are making to someone else's spec, and swap in cheaper components to improve their margin.
Dell have somehow messed up the QC process this time, maybe in a cost-cutting exercise. But now look at the cost of replacing all those batteries, and the indirect cost due to damage to the brand. I am certainly less inclined to buy a Dell laptop just now, but being a market leader in their field, they stand behind their product warranty and make it right.
Posted by: Kellie at August 16, 2006 12:55 PM
Yes... plugpacks. Why do they always have to be signicicantly larger than the socket they're plugged into so that they overlap the next socket?
Why do the 240 V converting electronics need to be at the plug end of it anyway? Think if the power adaptor for a flat screen monitor, or a Laptop: regular plug, then cable, then voltage rectifier, then cable to appliance.
I'm looking at Newman's Central Information Technology Power Hub now: a six outlet board. It's one of those that has three normal spaced sockets and three wider spaces ones for these plugpacks.
Narrow socket one: adaptor (normal width) to secondary handset for cordless phone. Socket two: regular four port powerboard going to the plug pack for my wireless router, powered PC speakers and external USB drive. Socket three: Regular black PC power cable, which splits into two: one for the PC one for my flat screen.
Wide socket one: plugpack for my Netgear switch. Socket two: plugpack for my cordless didital phone. Socket three: plugpack for my ADSL modem.
So, I have nine items there. Five of which use plugpacks. I think it's time for someone to invent a domestic DC supply: One plug for one unit, with multiple variable voltage outputs and an assortment of common adaptors. Why do I need half a dozen voltage regulators running?
Posted by: Newman at August 16, 2006 01:13 PM
just thought the article should have ended in the following manner....
' do we wait for time to 'DELL'.....'
:-)
Posted by: worthwyle at August 16, 2006 05:43 PM