Just when you thought it couldn't get worse for Dell, news like this flies by: Qantas won't let you have the battery in while your machine is running on the onboard power. So it's either run on battery, or run on power without the battery. Not a hug imposition, but a another slap to Dell. Apparently, this is spreading to airports as well:

However, some airports are making people tape up their batteries entirely, which means your laptop's only usable if you plug it in.

To my mind, this is the end game of trying to be the complete low cost provider in a commodity space. Dell laptops aren't that much cheaper than anyone else's, but they've been having suppliers shave pennies to get where they are. I'd guess that their battery suppliers shaved a few too many. Add in their well known problems in support (same issue: cost), and you have a real PR nightmare.

Even worse, according to the Buzz out Loud (CNet) folks, Dell knew about the battery problem in October 2005, but sat on it until this summer. Sheesh.

Technorati Tags: dell, dell+hell