"My lawyer sent them a letter, demanding compensation, which Dell chose to ignore, so we decided to sue," he explained.

So far in Zhang's case, Shanghai Luwan District People's Court has accepted the suit but no hearing has yet been scheduled.

Zhang's lawyer, Ma Jianrong, is clear about his clients demands: "We require a public apology from Dell, a full refund on the computer 7,995 yuan (US$1,000) plus a fine of the same amount and compensation for related costs," he said.

Attorney in the Xiamen case, Guo Zhongfang, is adamant he too wants Dell to be punished.

"Dell has defrauded Chinese consumers, and should be fined according to the law," he said.

"What makes things worse is that they have been arrogant and ignored consumers' complaints; we are not suing for money, what we want is to hear the truth."

Dell China says chip manufacturer Intel stopped producing the T2300 in June and the company was forced to use the T2300E chips instead, International Finance News reported. The problem, the company says, was an innocent case of accidentally forgetting to change information on its website and in advertisements.

When China Daily tried to contact Dell China yesterday, the company declined to comment on the case, but said it had previously issued apologies for the mistake and offered refunds to affected customers.

This has done little to assuage those who smell a potential lawsuit.

According to International Finance News, customers in Beijing and Guangzhou are already queuing up to sue, and attorney's Ma and Guo say they have received many enquiries about pursuing further cases.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)