Hot Hardware: Sony Issues Immediate Recall Of Vaio Fit 11A Due To Battery Fire Risk
Battery issues aren't as common as they once were, but every so often, there's still a model that pops up as being a potential threat to human safety. Slight exaggerations aside, Sony has just announced that some 26,000 of its newest Vaio machines posed a fire risk. The batteries are built by Panasonic, and Sony believes that they could "overheat and catch fire." Because of that, Sony's requesting that users of its Vaio Fit 11A laptop stop computing on them as soon as possible.
Presently, Sony has only received three reports of overheating batteries, but here's the kicker: they've caused "partial burns" to the laptops involved. The first report came on March 19th, with two more following on March 30th and again on April 8th. After that, Sony decided it best to go ahead and issue the warning.
Interestingly, this is slated to be the final version of the Vaio series as Sony winds down its personal computer business, and we're pretty sure this isn't how Sony wanted that iconic line to be remembered. Sony itself has called the decision to step away from that PC business "agonizing." To date, the company has moved just under 26,000 units of the Fit 11A globally, and if you have one, you should probably power down and contact Sony.
Presently, Sony has only received three reports of overheating batteries, but here's the kicker: they've caused "partial burns" to the laptops involved. The first report came on March 19th, with two more following on March 30th and again on April 8th. After that, Sony decided it best to go ahead and issue the warning.
Interestingly, this is slated to be the final version of the Vaio series as Sony winds down its personal computer business, and we're pretty sure this isn't how Sony wanted that iconic line to be remembered. Sony itself has called the decision to step away from that PC business "agonizing." To date, the company has moved just under 26,000 units of the Fit 11A globally, and if you have one, you should probably power down and contact Sony.
