14 DAY TRIAL // It's a known fact that Sony has had a series of mishaps with a number of its laptop batteries in the past, with the company being forced to issue recalls for those affected models. Just last year, Sony batteries powering systems from the likes of HP, Dell and Toshiba were recalled, with 19 reports of batteries overheating received by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. On that note, Sony has announced the recall of certain power adapters that have been bundled with the company's range of Vaio laptops.
According to news on the Internet, the company took this decision after receiving four reports of customers that allegedly received electrical shocks from faulty adapters. Although no U.S. users were involved in said incidents, the PC vendor decided to organize the recall in association with the US CPSC. According to a government agency webpage, the recall includes approximately 69,000 units, with consumers being advised to discontinue using said products until further instructions.
“Sony has initiated a voluntary recall for certain AC power adapters which may short circuit and pose a potential electrical shock hazard,” the company said in a statement.
According to the aforementioned webpage, the recall concerns users of the VGP-AC19V17 adapters, which were issued from 2005, with the VGP-PRBX1 and VGP-PRFE1 docking adapters, and with the VGC-LT, VGC-JS240, VGC-JS250, VGC-JS270, and VGC-JS290 laptops sold after 2007. All of these reportedly faulty adapters have been manufactured in China and have been sold through the SonyStyle stores and Web site, or authorized electronics retailers and authorized business-to- business dealers nationwide from September 2005 through October 2009, said the CPSC report.
Sony clearly advises its consumers to stop using the affected computers, unplug them and contact the company in order to receive a free replacement of the affected AC adapter.