Dell has jumped to address a technical difficulty of a different kind, after it received numerous complaints that its Dell Latitude 6430u laptop smells like cat urine.
Customers have taken to online platforms to complain the new computers are giving off the horrible smell and they have been unable to get rid of it. On the Dell online support forum, one customer wrote that "the machine is great, but it smells as if it was assembled near a tomcat's litter box. It is truly awful! It seems to be coming from the keyboard. Anybody got any advice on removing the smell?"
Other customers also joined in on the conversation, saying they have experienced the same thing. "It's embarrassing taking it to clients because it smells so bad," reads one post. "Here I am Sunday doing some work on the couch and my wife says 'what stinks like cat pee?' I said I think it's this laptop. Puts her nose up to the keyboard and BAM! It really stinks," complains another. A few customers say they have sent the laptop back to have the keyboard replaced.
On its blog, Dell responded saying it investigated the situation after receiving the complaints and established the smell was the result of a manufacturing process. "We would like to reassure customers that the odour was not related to biological contamination nor did it present a health hazard. The manufacturing process has subsequently been amended and newly purchased Latitude 6430u [laptops] are not affected by the issue. Any customer who has a system with the odour can contact our technical support team and we will arrange to replace the palm rest assembly."
The Dell Latitude 6430u laptop is an ultrabook designed for business use and was launched in SA in September. According to the Dell Web site, the base model starts at $899, with the upgraded model with ProSupport service and more memory retailing at $1 281.
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