In a pretty spectacularly embarrassing incident for Dell, it seems as though a batch of their Latitude E6430u laptops that were manufactured prior to October suffer from a fault that means the keyboard/trackpad area smell strongly of cat urine. A Dell customer first raised the issue on a customer support forum, claiming that their newly purchased computer “smells as if it was assembled near a tomcats litter box.” It wasn’t long before other chimed in with similar complaints, with one user stating that they “thought for sure one of [their] cats sprayed it,” and that they found it “embarrassing taking [the laptop] to clients because it smells so bad.” 

Dell customer service were quick to play down the fault, advising users to clean the keyboard with compressed air. But once reputable media outlets like The Guardian picked up the story – they conceded and agreed to replace laptops affected by the problem. No official statement  has been made to outline exactly what caused the stank in the first place, but the company was quick to point out that it wasn’t linked to any toxic materials used in production – which is a relief, I guess.

So in summation, my Macbook might make me a hipster wanker – but at least I’m not tainted with the tell-tale whiff of cat piss and despair that marks out Dell’s market share.