Sony Recalls 18,000 VAIO Laptops

STFS writes "Reuters has a story about Sony having to recall 18 thousand VAIO laptops because apparently there is some risk of users receiving a small electric shock "if you have connected your PC (laptop) to external power, you have disabled your phone line, (while) simultaneously being connected to a grounded peripheral, and you are touching a metal part of the PC, and your phone rings"!" I can't begin to count the number of times that happens ;)

Comments

At Least Once

[Aadain2001]

I must have happened at least once, or they never would have done the recall. Basic formula, if the cost of a recall is less than the legal bills, they do a recall. Guess someone got zapped pretty good to scare them into a recall.

Re:At Least Once

[rmarll]

At least.

Being plugged in and your phone line connected isn't uncommon at all.

All you really have to do is leave one hand on your 'puter and muck with your scanner or whatever with the other.

Phone rings... B'zap.

Murphy's Law

[s20451]

That's Murphy's Law in its original sense: If there is more than one way that something can be installed or connected, and one of those ways leads to catastrophe, someone will eventually do it the bad way. In other words, given enough people and enough time, anything that can be done, however remotely possible, will eventually be done.

Let that be a lesson when designing hardware.

Re:Wow!

[pjrc]

I should have mentioned that the reason for the FCC's open-circuit failure requirement is because in the event that a high voltage power line or lightning strike hits the phone line, hundreds or even thousands of telephones will be destroyed. When the carrier attempts to restore service, if a significant portion of those damaged phones are conducting (equivilant to you answering the phone and leaving off the hook), they will tie up all the available circuits and service can't be restrored to that area without physically removing all those damaged phones.

The key point is that those tiny, seemingly harmless little telephone wires actually run out of your building and (often times) directly into large bundles strung on telephone polls underneath high voltage power lines. It is not safe to allow consumers to come into contact with those wires. It is also not legal, which is why Sony is recalling.