Sony Forced to Recall VAIO TZ series Due To Burn Hazard

Overheating and short circuiting in its latest catchy notebooks, forces Sony to recall,400,000 pieces world wide, with around 73,000 VAIO TZ series laptops, recalled in US alone, as they might prove to be serious burn hazards to the users.

Applying to all notebooks built and sold in the US as well as Japan, the series covered are - Sony VAIOs VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VG-TZ2000 series.

The overheating is suspected to result from irregularly positioned wires near the notebook's hinge or maybe a dislodged screw inside the hinge, as per the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. The commission has released a statement asking consumers to immediately stop using the recalled product.

According to Mike Abary, VAIO senior vice president, the voluntary recall programme involves, free inspection and repair, if the piece so demands, in order to meet the company’s “high quality standards". "The issue involves a small number of units which may overheat due to a wiring problem," said Mike.

The company has offered to make free on site, inspection and repair for all, with the option of shipping the affected laptops to the VAIO service center also available.

The affected VAIO notebooks, sold for approximately $1,700 and $4,000, between July 2007 and August 2008, were mainly sold through Sony Style stores and its Website, in addition to electronics retailers and authorized resellers.

Over heating is not a new problem with Sony laptops. In 2006 also a similar recall for almost the similar reasons was done by the technology giant. Back then it was the batteries which had caught fire, injuring a few users and forcing Sony to recall thousands of the faulty pieces.

The company however has assured users that there had been no incidents so far where, any fire was caused by the laptops, and however, burns might result if the heated area is touched. Sony has till now received 15 reports of overheating and one where a user suffered a minor burn.

Users are advised to go to the recall Website and input the product code and serial number located on the bottom of the notebook to determine if their VAIO notebooks are affected. Alternatively, they can contact Sony toll-free at (888) 526-6219 anytime, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.sony.com/support.