14 DAY TRIAL // Over the years, there have been many occasions when a personal computer supplier or another, regardless of how prominent, was forced to issue a recall of its wares. Most often, the problems consisted of manufacturing flaws that led to overheating. Apparently, Sony is faced with exactly this type of situation. To be more specific, a number of its laptops from the Vaio Series supposedly pose a serious danger of overheating.
Models from the Sony Vaio F and Vaio C lines sold since January 2010 supposedly carry a temperature-control defect that can lead to such high heat that even the shape of the laptop becomes distorted. Such machines also have the potential of causing skin burns, though, fortunately, no such incidents have been reported, not yet at least.
The total of mobile PCs recalled is 535,000. Of these, 103,000 were sold in Europe, 259,000 were shipped in the US, 120,000 in Asia and the remaining 52,000 in Japan. Japanese customers haven't exactly sent any reports to the company, but Sony did receive 39 of them from overseas, which is why it decided to take this measure. There is, however, another means by which the issue can be remedied and the need to turn the device in can be circumvented altogether. At least, this is what The Wall Street Journal claims.
Apparently, there is a program on Sony's Vaio website. If downloaded, this utility should be able to fix the temperature problem. Alternatively, customers can just have Sony employees retrieve the unit and do the repairs themselves. As for where this leaves Sony, the PC maker doesn't expect its earning to be impacted. In fact, it is expecting to return a profit this fiscal year, after two years of losses because of difficulties in the TV and video game markets.