Qantas first airline to restrict in-flight Dell laptop use due to fire-prone batteries

“Qantas is issuing an advisory to all passengers on its flights on the safe use of Dell notebooks following the recall of 4.1 million batteries announced by the PC manufacturer last week,” Louisa Hearn reports for The Sydney Morning Herald.

“The airline said that although passengers would be allowed to carry their Dells either as checked or cabin baggage, they could only use them on battery power or through the aircraft power supply available in some first and business class cabins once they have first removed the batteries from the unit,” Hearn reports.

MacDailyNews Take: How do people use a Dell laptop “on battery power once they have first removed the batteries from the unit?” Just asking, that’s all. They must mean using an external battery like a PowerPad or something, we guess.

Hearn continues, “Cabin crew will be advising passengers of the measures which apply to all Dell laptops said a Qantas spokeswoman.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David” for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: First, Dell laptops running Windows are not safe on the Internet, now they’re not even safe on planes. Have fun reading the in-flight magazine and overpriced catalog, Dell users. After that, enjoy staring at the seat-back (or listening to your iPod, of course). You didn’t blow your cash on a discontinued Dell DJ or DJ Ditty, too, did you?!

Imagine being a hapless Dell laptop sufferer, stuck in the middle seat, surrounded by gorgeous (and operating) Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

What’s next for Dell owners you ask? Why, Get a Mac, of course. You’ve had more than enough ugly (hardware and software) in your personal computing life.

Related MacDailyNews articles:
Dell profit falls almost in half; announces informal SEC probe – August 18, 2006
Dell issues largest safety recall in history: 4.1 million laptop batteries due to fire threat – August 14, 2006
Survey shows big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple Mac; Dell takes steep slide – July 06, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Time Magazine on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook: ‘Dell and HP should be very worried’ – June 07, 2006
Apple passes Dell in market value – May 02, 2006
InformationWeek: Apple Mac run Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux; Dell and HP should be concerned – May 01, 2006

38 Comments

  1. Too bad if you get a Mac (MacBook Pro), the magsafe adapters don’t work with powerplugs on planes yet, unless something has changed. I wish Apple would help with this issue. But hey, better than an exploding battery. ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />

  2. MDN said, “How do people use a Dell laptop ‘on battery power once they have first removed the batteries from the unit?'”

    You must have misread; that’s not what the article said. It said, “they could only use them on battery power OR through the aircraft power supply available in some first and business class cabins once they have first removed the batteries from the unit.”

    In other words, users are not allowed to charge their battery while on the plane, because it is during charging that the batteries are prone to catching on fire.

  3. Turbo….this sort of misinterpretation is due to crappy writing thus being subject to all sorts of misunderstanding by the masses. Sort of like the statements:

    Buy Dell as it is the greatest computer in the world.

    Vista…. a bug-free operating system.

  4. This is rather concerning though – I think we may all have laptop batteries banned from airline cabins if terrorists ever figure out a way to make explosive batteries look like the real ones on X-Ray inspection (the way Sony has, apparently).

  5. See!

    When Dustin Hoffman’s character in ‘Rainman’ said they could only fly Quantas, as they crash the least, not only was he a idiot savant, but a psychic idiot savant!

    I wonder if he saw Tom Cruise’s carrier being dropped from a plane too?

  6. Should MacDailyNews offer an apology to Dell? It seems that the idiotic recommendation to “Why, get a Mac, of course” as a solution would only cause more trouble. While Dell’s battery recall is going extremely well and fast, I was advised to wait 4-6 weeks for my iBook replacement battery. Wake up, hypocritical editors: there is over 2 million dangerous Macs there all ready to explode.

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