We've discovered a worrying new feature in some Dell laptops: if
you touch them, you may get an electric shock. This discharge
can vary in strength from a gentle tingle to a sudden jolt.
Disturbingly, you could also be shocked when connecting
printers, PDAs and other peripherals to the offending laptops.
We know this because several CNET staff were hit with an
electrical charge while using Dell's new XPS M1530 -- and we're
not the only ones. Dell's forums are littered with user
complaints about the shocking experiences they've had with some
systems. The problem only seems to occur in Dell laptops that
have a brushed-aluminium finish. These include the XPS M1330 and
XPS M1530. It's caused by the two-pronged connection between the
mains lead and the power adaptor, which isn't earthed properly
because of its lack of a third pin. The laptop therefore
exhibits an electrical potential (voltage) between its exposed
metal parts (the brushed aluminium wrist pad) and earth ground.
Since there is no earth, the human bod