Toshiba recalls 41,000 overheating T130 notebooks

by Steven Mostyn - Sep 3 2010, 10:14

Following on from Ferrari's decision to recall the entire fleet of 458 Italia sports cars due to potentially deadly fire risks, consumer electronics giant Toshiba has issued a widespread product recall affecting its T130 Series notebook computer.

While perhaps not likely to suddenly erupt in flames like the aforementioned Italian supercar, Japanese computer maker Toshiba has recalled 41,000 units of the T130 Series after receiving 129 reports of overheating units, and even instances of melted casings.

According to Toshiba's official website, the problem is caused by a defective harness that may “overheat to the point of melting the computer's base at the location where the AC adaptor plugs into the unit.”

While Toshiba has also received two reports of minor burns and minor property damage, it is keen to note that there have been no reports of serious injury.

However, with the temperature “sufficient to pose a burn hazard if specific parts of the DC-In Jack or plug are touched when they are overheated,” the computer manufacturer is playing its better-safe-than-sorry card by announcing the recall.

T130 Series models affected by the recall include the Satellite T135, the Satellite T135D and the Satellite Pro T130.

Although advised to contact the Toshiba call centre to arrange a warranty repair, owners with a potentially defective model should first update to the latest version of the BIOS in order to determine if their computer's harness is failing – at which point external power should be disconnected and a call centre representative should be sought.

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