Dell faces suit over 'substandard' Inspiron models

Dell Inc., the world's largest PC manufacturer which confronted with several issues last year related to exploding or flaming notebooks, on Friday faced another legal problem related to its notebook equipment.

A group of Canadian consumers who bought Dell Inc. laptop computers filed a lawsuit against the company for selling them defective Inspiron laptops, adding icing to Dell’s cake of woes.

Rochon Genova LLP filed the class action suit on behalf of lead plaintiff Thad Griffin, a resident of Aurora, Ontario, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, claiming that the plaintiffs’ purchases suffer from massive overheating and failure-prone motherboards.

The lawsuit applies to purchasers of five of the Dell laptops, including the 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, and 5160 Inspiron models, sold by Round Rock, Texas-based Dell's Canadian subsidiary, Dell Canada Inc. It alleges that the motherboards used in Dell's above mentioned Inspiron models were "substandard".

The suit further alleges that despite of knowing laptops suffered from problems, the company showed negligence in designing the computers and knowingly sold faulty laptops. The plaintiffs also said the problems occur just after the expiration of one-year warranty.

"Many people rely on their notebook computers as a means of earning a living and for educational purposes," said Joel P Rochon, a partner at Rochon Genova LLP. "This action seeks to deliver fair compensation to Canadian consumers who own these computers."

The lead plaintiff Griffin, who is a self-employed leasing broker, said he leased an Inspiron 5150 notebook from Dell in mid-2004. By the time, the model suffered from extreme overheating, making it impossible to place on his lap. “I could only use it as a desktop,” he said.

Instead of punitive damages, the suit is seeking only compensation as there have been no problems with these laptops catching fire or causing injury. The plaintiffs simply want their machines repaired or replaced free of charge. Dell was previously charging for the repairs.

Dell settled a similar lawsuit in the U.S., filed by the same firm carrying out the latest action, involving the Inspiron 5150.

Dell witnessed a rough year in 2006. Just five months ago, the computer maker issued a massive recall of notebook computers because of defective batteries. It recalled 4.1 million laptop powered by Sony made batteries in August last year because of reports of batteries overheating and catching fire. The report of an exploding laptop at a conference in Osaka, Japan last year also distressed Dell.

A spokeswoman for Dell declined to comment on the suit reports.

Dell shares had fallen 31 US cents to $26.62 on NASDAQ by the close of the market on Friday.