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HP is still having trouble making PC components that won’t kill you

Published Aug 27th, 2014 9:45PM EDT
HP Power Cord Recall

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HP has been on fire over the past year… and that’s not a good thing. HP announced this week that it will be recalling roughly 6 million AC power cords that were sold between September 2010 through June 2012 after discovering that the cords are liable to overheat and catch on fire. HP says that the affected power cords shipped with “HP and Compaq notebook and mini notebook computers, as well as with AC adapters provided with accessories such as docking stations.” Customers who sent their power cords back will have replacement cords shipped to them at no cost.

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HP has seemingly had a lot of problems in recent history with computer components that catch on fire. Late last year, for instance, HP and Google recalled HP Chromebook 11 chargers that were found to frequently overheat and melt. And back in 2009 HP had to recall laptop batteries that were, you guessed it, susceptible to overheating and catching fire.

Given all this, it seems that HP consistently has trouble building hardware that isn’t liable to spontaneous combustion. Should you find yourself needing to buy an HP computer for some reason, we recommend storing it in a secure concrete vault while you’re charging it since you don’t want its flammable components to take your whole house with you when they go.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.