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Sony Recalls 73,000 Vaio Laptops Due To Burn Worry
alphadogg writes "Sony is recalling 73,000 Vaio TZ laptops because of a possible manufacturing defect that may cause them to overheat, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday. The recall relates to a problem with wiring near the computer's hinge, which could short-circuit and overheat in certain circumstances, perhaps burning the user. One person has suffered a minor burn as a result of the latest defect, and Sony has received 15 other reports of overheating computers, according to the Commission."
The recall relates to a problem with wiring near the computer's hinge, which could short-circuit and overheat in certain circumstances, perhaps burning the user.
That sounds like a design defect, not a manufacturing defect.
I had a sony walkman once, it blew up in my pants. did wonders for my sexlife.
Apparently, the famous CD rootkit wasn't good enough at preventing piracy. Well, this new tool in the fight will burn your fingers clean off. I'd like to see you try to pirate a CD when you can't even pick it up.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
You joke, but I used to purchase Sony products because they represented quality. Need a top of the line Palm Pilot, CRT, television, laptop, CD player, etc.? Sony was the place to go.
These days Sony's quality IS the joke. :-(
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guess i'll need to wait until I can call their hotline or something. (1-888-526-6219 if you're that interested...)
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Sony and IBM are the only electronics I will buy because of their superior quality and affordability.
...possibly true for hifi, TVs etc., but having once worked for a Sony laptop repair shop I can say that the evidence suggests they have never really perfected the art of laptop design - bits fall off, break, or the system boards/screens develop early life failures.
We used to repair Sony, Toshiba, Dell, Compaq, IBM etc. and he Sonys were the worse for 'it just happened' faults as opposed to 'I dropped it' or disk failures etc.
AT&ROFLMAO
The recall relates to a problem with wiring near the computer's hinge, which could short-circuit and overheat in certain circumstances, perhaps burning the user.
Users generally get burned for buying Sony anyway.
Sony inhabits a small but select club for me - companies who's products I outright boycott. Some companies have made it on my list due to shitty products, some due to shitty customer service, some due to shitty business/social/environmental policies, and some due to various combinations of all the above.
... but Sony ranks right up there.
I think that I may hate Creative just slightly more than Sony due to profound psychological trauma I suffered as a result of their hardware and drivers
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
What ever happened to that? My dad has a Sony tv that he got around when I was born. When I hit about 12 he got a new Sony tv. And it died, and the old one is still ticking.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
Up to 440,000 laptops now.
Sony made PDA's that ran the PalmOS (the Clié series). They were generally regarded as a very desirable/quality version of a Palm.
Since they ran the same OS/software, it's obvcious that the GP was referring to "Palm" the platform and not the brand of device.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
I know exactly what happened. Follow along. Prior to about 1990, most electronics systems were made of more parts (less system on a chip type stuff) and the technology for putting those parts together was different. When you use a 4-7 layer board, with lead containing solder, and few if any surface mount components, the connections are more reliable. Some might argue, but it's true. The technology for using lead free solder and surface mount components is almost an art. You're not going to get joe at the tv repair shop to fix your mp3 player very often these days. Consequently, design techniques and technology also changed. Reliability is not something they design in for the 'lifetime' of the device because life expectancy is not 15 years any more, it's about 3 years tops. It's not designed for obsolescence, it just happens that way, so 15 year reliability is not a big bonus anymore.
With surface mount components and technology, most consumer devices have become 'throw away' technology. That is to say it's cheaper to build a new one than to repair the broken one. It's been that way for some 15+ years. So it has become a gamble: make something that lasts long enough for the next model to come out, just replace any defects. Most "repairs" in the last 15 years are nothing more than putting a new case on the outside. Note that Apple has had some problems as have other manufacturers. The Razor sucked as an example.
Despite many such failures in consumer products, I have yet to find anyone complaining bitterly about Panasonic or sharp. Does anyone have horror stories from them? Sharp makes the Sidekick, and I have to say I'm rather impressed with that product.
This is why extra warranty time is a rip-off. If the product is going to fail, it will fail in the first year, if not, it will probably last for 7+ years... well past typical usefulness to most markets.
RoHS in manufacturing programs are also causing things to happen that will bit by bit reduce long term reliability. That's just how it is. Perhaps some nanotech will come along to fix the problems induced by current manufacturing technology trends. I hope so.
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I think the recall relates to something more than the general trend toward laptops running hotter...
But to your point, a few things.
First, heat as waste energy... well, sort of. All of the energy that goes into your computer comes back out. (Remember, using energy doesn't mean the energy is gone.) If we exclude the energy that's deliberately converted to light for the monitor, a good chunk of that is ultimately coming out as heat regardless of what happens to it in the mean time.
Yes, a more energy-efficient processor (and other hardware) will run cooler, all else being equal. However, dividing the energy that goes into a computer into "useful" vs. "waste heat" isn't really accurate.
But my real point is, it's not as if a laptop today is equivalent to a laptop 5 years ago except less energy-efficient. Newer laptops are smaller, which makes it harder to dissipate the heat generated. Also, processors are faster (and by other measures "more powerful"). Transistor counts go up, so does power consumed... and again, "consumed" mostly means "dissipated as heat".
I wouldn't say that we're "designing hotter laptops"; I'd say we're designing smaller/faster laptops and increases in efficiency haven't kept up wtih the level of cool running we'd become acustomed to.
I specifically buy Sony optical drives because
1. I've generally not had problems with them and
2. I get a real good chuckle when I make illegal copies of audio discs recorded on their label.