Sony Corp’s good name continues to endure a merciless beating when it comes to product reliability, after yet another worldwide recall was issued for a problematic notebook battery model believed to be prone to overheating.
Vendors forced to recall 100,000 Sony notebook batteries after overheating complaints. Image: Stewart/Flickr.
This latest recall involves some 100,000 battery units and follows on from the 440,000 VAIO notebooks the Japanese consumer electronics giant pulled from circulation in September due to faulty wiring issues.
According to a notice released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 40 reports of overheating have already been attributed to the Sony 2.15Ah lithium-ion cell, which is equipped in notebook computers sold by the likes of Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Toshiba.
Some of those complaints include stories of smoke and flames emanating from the battery, reports Sony, while four of them focus specifically on small burns and more than 20 note minor property damage.
In terms of regional vendor spread, AP reports the majority of the 35,000 faulty units sold in the U.S. can be connected to Hewlett-Packard (HP) hardware sold between December 2004 and June 2006. Affected system models are the HP Pavilion, the HP Compaq and the Compaq Presario.
The remaining affected systems include Dell Latitude and Inspiron models shipped between November 2004 and November 2005 and also Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops sold between April 2005 and October 2005.
In outlining the probable causes associated with the defective batteries, Sony has assigned responsibility to a possible problem with metal electrodes and also isolated quality dips following product line changes made between 2004 and 2005 -- no complaints have been made against batteries produced after 2006.
While 100,000 units may seem a substantial figure, Sony is keen to point out that it is a mere fraction of the 260 million units it has shipped since 2002.
It is also worth noting that 100,000 units is the epitome of ‘drop in the ocean’ when considering the massive 10 million faulty notebook batteries Sony recalled after similar overheating issues in 2006 and 2007.
Those computer owners who believe their notebook battery could well be one of those affected, should visit the safety commission’s official recall page, where they can check product numbers and find contact information for HP, Dell and Toshiba.
Any notebook batteries fitting the safety commission’s description should be disconnected immediately before contacting the appropriate system manufacturer for a replacement.
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)
Advertising
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)