Hello everyone,
I want to apologize for the delay in getting the Direct2Dell post up with information on the 2 prong adapter discussion. I indicated that the post would be up a couple of weeks ago, but as more information began to circulate we needed to ensure a solid plan of action and reasonable resolution for the concerns brought up by our customers, mainly in this thread. The post is live and can be found here:
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archi...4/24/8522.aspx. I encourage you to read the post and respond to the survey so we can get a better idea of exactly how many of our customers would prefer the 3 prong adapter to their current 2 prong setup.
In addition to the post I would like to clear up a few rumors that have been floating around this thread putting more concern in areas that we have already covered. First, the tingle that is felt with the 2 prong adapter is not a defect. It is inherent of the type of power supply used on these notebook systems when certain environmental conditions exist. I would like to remind everyone here that Dell has always acted quickly and accurately when any sort of product shows a possibility of harm to our customers and users.
Next, I would like to reiterate the fact that the voltage is not harmful to the user or the notebook system. There was a link provided that talks about stray voltage being measured on electrical items in the streets of New York. It is important to remember that these are not related. Viriiguy added an update to his original post on March 12th stating “The concerns for personal safety have been addressed and is no longer a concern. The laptops do give off fairly high voltage, but 0 current. So there is no danger to personal safety. Dell has promised a response to the rest of the issues, we are just awaiting to hear form them.” Although I can see where a correlation can be made, I’m a bit confused as to why this link would be provided after this concern has already been agreeably put to rest. In any sense, the voltage will not harm you or anyone else using your system.
These adapters are not causing failures with other components on the systems. I’ve read reports on this thread ranging from dead video cards to dead USB devices. It’s very easy to attribute failure to one issue or another, but we have to be reasonable in our troubleshooting. As a technical analyst I’ve troubleshot pretty much every type of system that Dell has put out since the early 90’s and the one thing that remains constant is that despite how similar some symptoms can be, it’s a rarity to find commonality in the cause. There are more than a few reasons that a video card or a motherboard can go bad and any technician on this forum can attest to that. My concern is that every problem brought up by this thread is immediately attributed to the voltage. Some members of this thread have provided 2 valid points for this discussion 1. There is some form of failure on their system and 2. There is measurable voltage. What’s missing is actual evidence that shows that the voltage is the cause of any particular failure, only that there is a failure and voltage. The only issue that these adapters have is the tingle effect, and I hate to be repetitive, but I must say again, the tingle depends on environmental conditions. The fact remains that the components are outside of the transmission path that the voltage travels on. They were intentionally designed this way.
Last, there seems to have been a miscommunication in my messaging to Viriguy about the involvement of our legal department in this discussion. Our legal teams had nothing to do with the technical decisions being made on the 2 or 3 prong adapters, nor did we feel that our responses would instigate legal action from our customers. We are certain that the 2 prong adapters are safe, functional, and convenient for our customers. As with any global corporation, there is a process to responding to the public regarding any kind of issue. As this may be seen as “Are they afraid of being sued if they admit there is a problem or what?” it has more to do with, is the right information being published? Are the points valid and useful? Does the response answer the intended questions? And so on… There were many other departments other than our legal team that this response has gone through, but it was to make sure that all of the concerns are addressed, that our position on the topic is clear, and that we are able to effectively gauge the impact this issue has on our customer base.
I would like to thank every single person that contributed their knowledge and opinions to this thread and invite you all to continue with any unanswered questions or concerns at the Direct2Dell site.
Thank you,
Mike.
Dell customer advocate
at last I arrive my AC adaptor with 3 prong and the issue is resolved, they sent me for mistake 2 adaptors of 2 prong.
