Sony recalls about 438,000 Vaio laptops

Updated 8:13 AM PTD: Added the number of recalled laptops worldwide.

Sony is recalling about 438,000 Vaio TZ-series notebooks worldwide that may overheat and cause burns, the company said Thursday.

The number of recalled laptops sold in the United States is 72,800, a Sony spokesman said.

According to a statement issued by Sony and the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the problem is related to irregularly positioned wires near the computer's hinge and/or a dislodged screw inside the hinge, which can cause a short circuit and overheating.

The problem affects the Vaio VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series, and VGN-TZ2000 series, which were sold through the SonyStyle stores and Web site, as well as electronics retailers, as well as authorized business-to-business dealers nationwide from July 2007 through August 2008 for between $1,700 and $4,000.

Sony has received 15 reports of overheating, including one consumer who suffered a minor burn. The company said it would inspect and repair affected computers, if needed.

Consumers are advised to contact Sony toll-free at 888-526-6219 or visit the company's support Web page.

In 2006, Sony had to conduct a multimillion-dollar battery recall due to overheating issues.

[kelmon]

Interestingly, the BBC is reporting the number of laptops affected by the recall to be much higher - 440,000 to be exact:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7598344.stm

Someone is right and someone is, well, not so much. Fight it out amongst yourselves.

[kelmon]

Hmm, my comment now looks pretty dumb since the article was updated - a difference of 2,000 is hardly "much higher". Damn it.

[umbrae]

Sony has had this problem a lot. The are just a bad company when it comes to product design. Everything they have made since 1990 has had one significant flaw or another.

[RRosal]

Every company out there have flaws of some kind in their product design. If you're going to call Sony out for "everything" they've done since the 90's, then back it up with proof. And your list I'm sure will share design flaws by other companies who have released similiar products.

[RompStar_420]

My PS3 plays just fine and I don't have any problems with it. My SONY LCD TV also plays fine, My Sony Stereo works wonders, I don't have any problems with it.

I have never purchased a PC/Laptop, so I can't comment on that. I saw HP laptops at Fry's for $400, with no OS, and I can download and install Ubuntu for free and it works like a charm, I see no reason to spend $1000 or $2000 for a laptop anymore, unless it was like a Mac Pro model, that would be the only exception.

[DMBoricua]

I dont think Sony is good for making computers, they are well at everything else (game systems, TVs, cameras, phones, etc), their computers just never caught my eye. First, they're overpriced, I havent seen not one of their laptops with a dedicated graphics card, and they all come with vaio software that just plagues Vista worse than a virus. No Sony computer for me. Oh, and their laptops always had kind of a cheap plastic feeling to them.