A group of disgruntled Dell (News - Alert) Inspiron notebook owners filed lawsuit against Dell Canada Friday, claiming the computers were negligently designed and contain defects.

 

The class action lawsuit, filed with Ontario Superior Court of Justice, fingers the following Inspiron computers as being flawed: 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 and 5160.

 

According to the plaintiffs, who are seeking compensation for the allegedly flawed computers, Dell “knew or ought to have known of the inherent defects in the notebooks’ design but nevertheless sold, marketed and distributed the notebooks in Canada,” Canadian law firm Rochon Genova LLP (representing the plaintiffs) said in a press release.

 

The law firm noted that a similar suit in the U.S., involving Dell Inspiron 5150 computers, was recently settled.

 

In the Canadian suit, Rochon Genova claimed that a fundamental design defect problems with the notebooks named make the computers susceptible to overheating and premature motherboard failure. Often, the failures occur just outside the standard one-year warranty period.

 

 “Many people rely on their notebook computers as a means of earning a living and for educational purposes,” Rochon Genova partner Joel Rochon said in a statement. “This action seeks to deliver fair compensation to Canadian consumers who own these computers.”

 

Proposed plaintiff representative Thad Griffin of Aurora, Ontario, added in a statement: “I do not believe that I should be forced to spend hundreds of dollars to fix the defective motherboard, when Dell should have known about this problem at the time they initially sold the computer.”

 

As of yet, the allegations raised by the suit have not been proven in court.