Is My Dell XPS 17 Safe to My Health? Very Odd Symptom

This is incredibly strange but I have finally figured out the cause of something I had felt on and off for a year. Often, when I touch my wife's arm in bed, her skin feels really weird. I honestly didn't know what to make of it but just thought 'ok, her arm has weird skin'.

All of a sudden, I touched her arm, felt that weird thing, and then two seconds later, touched it again and it felt totally normal. What changed? I took my hand off the palm rest of my XPS 17 and somehow the weird sensation stopped. I have now tested it many times and when my right hand is on the palm rest/pad, it seems to be putting some sort of current in my body that I can feel when touching her arm. I wouldn't care if it was 100% safe but it is really creeping me out because I have no idea if having that kind of 'current' or whatever it is in my body 7 hrs a day is very unhealthy. Any thoughts?

 

Are you trying to hint at a voltage leakage or something here? Have you tried this effect with the computer turned off, on sleep, with the battery, and without? What are the temperatures you are looking at when you notice this effect? Does this effect extend with other laptops?

While I can't really relate to what you are saying, it is an interesting dilemma you seem to be having. First and foremost I can say that I have dissected the L702X and can verify that right below the right palm rest is pretty much nothing but plastic. In fact, the "shield" that circumvents the touchpad and keyboard is supposed to be mad of plastic also, from what I've heard. Mess with the Quickset controls and see where you get.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am not really suggesting anything specific because I have absolutely no clue what is going on. Isn't the palm rest made of aluminum? I mean most of the computer is cased in some kind of aluminum over the plastic, right? As to some more general stuff, in all other ways, my computer seems to be working totally normally. It isn't particularly hot or anything strange like that. I was scared people might not know what the heck it is that I am talking about but it is hard to describe. To try to put it another way, sometimes, it'd be like touching her arm would feel this same weird sensation that I'd occassionally feel from rubbing a finger on the palm rest itself. I wish I could explain it better but I don't know how. All I do know is that the palm rest is causing some kind of strange sensation when I am touching it and my wife's arm at the same time and that makes me scared that something is going through my body and thus dangerous to my health.

 

Try to get a voltmeter and get her to hold it while you have your arm on the touchpad. That way you can measure if there is a flow of electricity.

 

Ugh, appreciate the response but not that practical for me. Anyone have any experience at all with such an issue or is it totally crazy sounding?

 

Try testing it plugged in in a different location. Either the machine is at fault and is not correctly grounded/shielded, or you have a faulty grounding connection which is potentially dangerous with other equipment.

 

Wow, now you have me really scared. As far as I know, it's always been like this and has nothing to do with being plugged in. You believe this is a guarantee the machine is at fault and I am at risk? I use the laptop all the time in bed with it on my lap (on top of a cooling pad and pillow). Should I see a doctor for anything?

For whatever it is worth, it has always the brushed aluminum was the 'cause' of the weird feeling but I have no idea.

I should also reiterate that besides this occasional weird feeling (not a painful or 'shock' feeling but definitely a weird feeling), the computer has been working without any issues at all for over a year. I also should say, the feeling I occasionally get (I can't replicate it any time I want because it is only sometimes) is the same feeling as when I am rubbing my fingers on the brushed aluminum on the palm rest or above the keyboard. This feeling is also not always or even usually there, but sometimes. I know this must sound crazy and I wish I could explain it better but ultimately, there is a once in a while weird feeling I get when touching the brushed aluminum on the computer and when I am having that feeling, touching my wife's arm makes her skin give off the same strange sensation.



EDIT: I just found this old article. Dell: Don't Worry About Laptop Electric Shocks | PCWorld Perhaps the 'tingling' sensation they refer to is relevant?

"Users of non-Dell laptops, notably Apple's aluminium-cased Mac laptops, have reported a similar tingling sensation."

 

Voltmeter is the only way to be sure. Anything else is speculation.

Voltmeter = science.
Science = knowledge.
Knowledge = p'wer.

In fact, using heart rate monitor gel or a saline solution on your hands would make for a better conductor.

Or...

You can put a laptop skin on the palmrests to insulate you from any capacitance or current. In the interim or to determine if a notebook skin would help, use Saran wrap, a plastic lunch bag, or a latex glove to repeat your simple experiment of touching your wife's arm. If you sense nothing, then all you need is some sort of notebook skin for the palmrest.

 

Thanks a lot. So say there is current 'leaking' or whatever it is that article discusses. Do you believe it is a threat to my health if I am using this computer 8 hrs a day or is it just s nuisance?

 

Ohh my god are you serious?

I have an M1530, and have exact the same as you! Also when I slightly swipe over the palmwrest with the top of my finger it feels like a sanding paper ( it's not ofcourse ), I always thought this had to do with some electrostatic discharge or something... thought that this was normal on a aluminium kind of surface... And now I read this...

Well, I have the laptop now for about 4 years and it didn't harm me...

 

I mean I know it won't cause any short term affects, but I am pretty paranoid about the long term affects of stuff like this. I mean there is so blatantly some kind of static passing through my body (and it sounds like many others with brushed aluminum laptops) and it just creeps me out that it could have long term health consequences. Can a Dell rep please comment?


Update: It just keeps getting weirder. I now believe it only happens when the laptop is plugged in. When I take the chord out, the sensation stops. What the heck is going on and am I in any possible danger?

 

I also found this dicussion: Macbook Air electric shocks and tingles - Page 4 - MacRumors Forums

What I cannot find is anyone telling me if my health is in danger or not. I am now suspecting it has to do with my computer being plugged in while in Europe where the voltage is 220V. Obviously Dell claims it is made to handle this (and it works just fine) but the tingling sensation is clear and very scary to me.

 

Well, no one can advise you on the subject due to two things;

1. Medical discussion on the forum is against forum rules.
2. You haven't noted any symptoms which could be attributed to something for which you haven't done any experiments on to rule out the notebook.

At most, I would say it is about as harmful as a TENS unit used by physical therapists.

I wouldn't worry about it. The psychosomatic effect of worrying alone will make you sick. And without doing scientific experiments, you'll likely mistakenly attribute the tingling as the cause for male patterned baldness or... fuzzy thinking.

 

I now think I have really narrowed down the issue and now just wonder what my options are and whether it is at all a health risk.

So here is the update on what I believe to be going on. With brushed aluminum bodied laptops, there have been cases in the past where people experience this strange electrical tingling. Dell had a reported issue with this around 3 or 4 years ago. Apparently some kind of 'fix' to this was to change the power chord plug to a three prong plug ( http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/0plugs001.jpg) rather than a two prong because somehow that reduced the electrical runoff.

My issue is that I spend a lot of time in Europe, with 220v and only a two prong adapter and so I am assuming this is why I am experiencing this. When I unplug the laptop, the feeling goes away. So my questions are A) is this electrical 'runoff' any kind of health risk? and B) Is there anything simple I can do when plugging in to a European outlet to give the adapter the sensation of being plugged into a three pronged outlet? I don't want to use a giant converter because those are more trouble than they are worth but I am not sure if a simple three prong adapter would make a difference?

What do you guys think about this: Warning: Laptop Use Exposes You to EMFs ?

 

And this discussion: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1030343

 

I get small electric shocks (enough to make me jump a little) from my palm rest. Laptop is at the side of the bed on a table, when I lie on my side to watch it, my elbow sticks through the headboard and touches the radiator behind our bed, this is when i get shocks. (most likely because I am being earthed via the radiator lol )

Never done any testing to narrow it down, will do some tomorrow and report back my findings.

Plugs in Germany have two pins, but on some when needed there is an earth strap on the out side of the plug.

I should point out as well, I think the earth would only go from the mains AC outlet to the laptops PSU/power brick, after that there is +/- DC wires and the signal wire for the genuine DELL PSU .