Sony forced to recall 534,000 VAIO notebooks

by Stevie Smith - Jul 1 2010, 14:37

Japanese consumer electronics specialist Sony Corp. has this week announced a worldwide product recall that affects more than half a million units of its popular VAIO notebook computer.

According to Sony, the recall covers certain models in the VAIO F and VAIO C series and has been issued in light of a temperature-control defect that can lead to the production of potentially dangerous levels of heat within the hardware.

Sony is looking to receive around 259,000 units sold through the U.S. market, along with 103,000 units from Europe, 120,000 from Asia, and a further 52,000 from the Japanese market. All of the affected models were sold after January 2010.

Although Sony is keen to point out that no VAIO F or VAIO C owner has suffered any physical harm because of the problem, it has chosen to act after receiving a total of 39 reports (26 of which came from the U.S.) detailing high heat output and instances of chassis distortion.

In offering direct assistance to those customers with a potentially defective VAIO model who perhaps don’t want to part with their computer, Sony has said the overheating issue can also be fixed by simply downloading a program through the VAIO update system or via its official website.

While 534,000 VAIO computers may seem like a steep recall figure, it’s comparatively small fry when gauged against the 9.6 million faulty notebook batteries Sony was forced to recall back in 2006.

Registered VAIO users that fall within the boundaries of Sony’s recall have been informed by email.

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