• Sony recalls 4,38,000 Vaio TZ laptops

    Jayesh Limaye, Sep 06, 2008 1023 hrs IST

    According to a Sony spokesman, there are currently around 72,800 computers in the United States alone awaiting recall.

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Japan's Sony Corp has announced that it will recall around 438,000 Vaio portable computers affected by a potential hazard that is likely to cause them to overheat or even burn the user. This is one of the biggest computer recall since 2006, the earlier one being by Dell Inc, when it recalled 4.1 million notebook computer batteries, which incidentally also overheated and caused fires.



According to a Sony spokesman, there are currently around 72,800 computers in the United States alone awaiting recall. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission said that Sony has received 15 reports of overheating and one of a consumer suffering minor burns.

The laptops in question are the Sony VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000 series, and the problem is related to "irregularly positioned wires near the computer's hinge and/or dislodged screw inside the hinge". This is stated to be a cause of short circuit and overheat.

Sony says, "This poses a burn hazard to consumers. Sony has initiated a voluntary program to perform a free inspection and, if necessary, a repair to ensure these units meet our high quality standards."
If you have been following the news, you may recall that in recent years, Sony has had to recall of laptop computer batteries due to overheating and catching fire.

The year 2006 saw Dell, Apple Inc, Lenovo Group Ltd, Toshiba Corp and some other PC makers recall more than 8 million Sony batteries. Sony has declined to comment on the potential cost that it will incur due to the recall.


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Discussion Board
(19) Comments
SD Paul
,Wellington, on Sep 09, 2008 11:32 PM
My Vaio VGN-CR25S/L also get heated at the left hand side.
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LeDawn
,Okinawa, on Sep 09, 2008 08:42 AM
wow! I've been having this issue. It gets so hot that I'm sometimes afraid it will catch on fire. I can't believe they've waited this long to recall them.
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Doug
,LA, on Sep 08, 2008 08:24 AM
Hey you're right Bob. My company got that "green" word from Sony and I truely feel sorry for any one purchasing Sony electronic products from now on. Being a QA person, I can't understand why Sony is expexcting their suppliers to use inferior parts.
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dr.syed nabeel
,mysore, on Sep 07, 2008 04:42 PM
VGN N37GH i bought a year back in Mysore india has the same heating problem.Plus battery back up has gone down. Infact its so hot after few mins that it cannot be kept on the lap without a cushion in between.
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Bob D.
,Riverside, on Sep 07, 2008 09:38 AM
Understandable due to Sony's insistance on their "green first" policy from their electronics suppliers instead of quality products. I can agree on a safe and green policy but when Sony disregards the QUALITY aspect of materials from their suppliers, this is exacty what will occur for aqll Sony products.
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Mr. Math
,Mathtasticville, on Sep 07, 2008 08:44 AM
wow 4 million, can't believe that.
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Text Limit = 25
,Text Limit = 255 Characters, on Sep 07, 2008 06:24 AM
Text Limit = 255 Characters
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MILAN PETRKOVSK
,Toronto, on Sep 07, 2008 05:43 AM
Is VGN-TZ37CN affected?
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subhadeep
,sunnyvale, on Sep 07, 2008 05:03 AM
i prefer dell and ibm. It rocks and works
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Joe
,=), on Sep 06, 2008 10:58 PM
How much is 4,38,000 exactly?
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Anonymous
,Bangalore, on Sep 06, 2008 09:51 PM
I never trusted VAIO and never recommended it! Apple is the Best and HP after Apple.
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Kevin
,Oregon City, on Sep 06, 2008 09:57 PM
Hp? Try being a computer consultant for a while and get back to me whether or not you still think so highly of them!
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Youhsaw
,Ogden, on Sep 06, 2008 08:25 PM
Truly cares about the consumers? 8 million computers had to be racalled because of fire safety harzards, those batteries had the name SONY on them. These Vaio's overheating have been a problem for a good long time. It's not until now that they (sony) has just started paying attention to the problem.
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Matthew Francis
,Carcassonne, on Sep 06, 2008 07:10 PM
Ummmm I got a major overheating problem with my VGN-FZ21M around the left hand side and top Left corner. Very nearly burning hot when I start to use it for large programs.
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Shaheen
,Calicut, on Sep 06, 2008 06:20 PM
a company which truly cares it customers. hats off to sony!!!!!!!!!!!! they are the no.1 and they will be...
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Susan Vidrik
,Golden, Colorado, on Sep 06, 2008 04:31 PM
Is there a problem with my Sony Vaio number FZ340E. I've always thought it got very hot.
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Daniel Ionescu
,Lincoln, on Sep 06, 2008 04:10 PM
The comma after the number 4 should be removed...
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Abhiram Sahu
,Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India, on Sep 06, 2008 03:45 PM
What a beautifull Laptop ! Thank Sony Corp
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Hightekk
,SanFrancisco, on Sep 06, 2008 12:03 PM
who taught you how to count?
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