Faulty Dell Inspiron case reopened

Dell is alleged to have sold faulty laptops in 2004

Dell is being sued again over the alleged selling of faulty Inspiron notebooks that contained poor cooling systems and power suuplies.

A federal district court dismissed the charges in 2008, but the Court of Appeals in San Francisco has overturned the decision.

The Court of Appeals said in its ruling that the district court had "abused its discretion when it dismissed plaintiffs' action for failure to prosecute".

Dell is accused of breaking consumer laws by selling the notebooks containing flaws which cause the machines to shut down suddenly or fail to boot up.

The case is being pursued as a class-action lawsuit by Michael Omstead, Melissa Malloy and Lisa Smith, individually and on behalf of all others in similar situations.

The case is known as Omstead et al v. Dell Inc, number 08-16479, and was submitted to the Court of Appeals on 7 October last year.

Dell has refused to comment on the case.